VAT-free shopping debacle has sent tourists packing Opinion Five years on from the demise of VAT-free shopping, retail and hospitality chiefs say the impact is still causing pain as the industry seeks change, writes Joanna Hodgson Five years ago this month a change came in that might, on the surface , have prompted the average British shopper to get their smallest violins out: [...]
Hotels and shops to be hit by fresh Reeves tax raid hospitality Hotels and supermarkets are set to be hit by extra taxes at the upcoming Budget as Chancellor Rachel Reeves hopes to raise more than £20bn in taxes. Reeves is planning to allow mayors to hit holidaymakers with an overnight levy on hotel and rental home stays at the Budget, opening up new cash streams for [...]
Why a charity should own 10 per cent of your company’s shares Opinion The Notebook, where the City’s movers and shakers have their say. Today it’s James Reed with the pen The traditional model of capitalism is outdated and unsustainable — and I’m on a mission to change it. Yes, free markets based on short-term shareholder returns have delivered opportunities for people to succeed, encouraged innovation and entrepreneurship [...]
Corinthia London: Profit slashed at five-star hotel despite revenue spike August 14, 2025 Profit has been slashed at five-star hotel Corinthia London despite its revenue spiking by 80 per cent, it has been revealed. The hotel, which is located on the corner of Northumberland Avenue and Whitehall Place, has posted a pre-tax profit of £67,600 for 2024, new accounts filed with Companies House show. The figure is down [...]
Sir Rocco Forte enjoys record pay day after hotels empire deal August 13, 2025 The hotels group founded by Sir Rocco Forte has issued a record dividend for the first full year after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) became a major shareholder. Rocco Forte Hotels has paid out dividends totalling £8.9m for the year to 30 April, 2025, to its shareholders. The international hotels group, which is headquartered in [...]
Ministers urged to reinstate tax-free shopping to deliver Brexit boost July 22, 2025 Ministers have been urged to reinstate tax-free purchases for international visitors to make the UK a ‘global shopping capital’ and help the country benefit from its position outside the EU. “With Britain no longer in the EU, we have the opportunity to become the best place in the world for shopping,” Derrick Hardman, chair of [...]
Wealth tax: City bosses warn Labour of entrepreneur exodus July 8, 2025 A wealth tax would spark a fresh exodus of entrepreneurs from the UK, according to City grandees as calls mount from within Labour to explore the policy. Sir Martin Sorrell, Sir Rocco Forte and Sir Philip Hampton warned in The Telegraph that business owners could flee Britain en masse. Hotelier Sir Rocco said: “Labour has [...]
UK to miss out on tourism boom due to ‘layer upon layer’ of taxes June 4, 2025 UK tourism is at risk of suffering a decline as visitors are deciding against going to Britain due to the Treasury’s stringent tax policies, a key industry official has said, in the latest sign of the toll tax hikes are taking. Julia Simpson, the former British Airways chief who now heads up the World Travel [...]
Eat, drink, sleep, repeat: Out on the town with Evolv boss Martin Williams May 21, 2025 Last week, my Evolv Collection exec team and I were invited to visit Domaine de Mirabeau, the home of pink pleasures. In a world where wild yeasts are added to wines not only to assist primary fermentation, but to ‘influence’ the flavour profiles (think apricot, raspberry or peach, regardless of grape profile), it was inspiring [...]
Reeves’ tax hikes are ‘death blow to London,’ Britain’s richest warn May 18, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is under renewed pressure as Britain’s top business leaders and entrepreneurs blasted her economic agenda following The Sunday Times Rich List revealing a record drop in the country’s number of billionaires. Reeves’ crack down on “non-dom” status has accelerated an exodus of leading business bosses fleeing the UK to avoid the Chancellor’s [...]