Businesses to pay £1.1bn in new packaging fees to councils July 26, 2025 Councils in England are set to receive a share of £1.1 billion in recycling funding taken from money charged to companies for the packaging they produce. Under the current system, local councils have footed the bill for disposing of items such as milk bottles, cereal boxes and soup tins using taxpayers’ money. But the new [...]
IMF warns UK faces ‘significant challenges’ amid trade war July 25, 2025 The Chancellor could be left at risk of breaking her fiscal rules by unexpected economic shocks and faces “significant challenges” in delivering the government’s agenda, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned. The IMF said the UK’s “limited” so-called headroom on its public finances gave little room to manoeuvre and called on Rachel Reeves to [...]
Lionesses final: Tax windfall expected from beer sales July 25, 2025 The Women’s Euro final this Sunday could bring a £5m boost to the UK economy, with an extra 1m pints expected to be poured as fans cheer on the Lionesses — but British pubgoers will pay over 10 times more in beer duty than their Spanish counterparts. New figures from the British Beer and Pub [...]
Record number of farms shut after inheritance tax grab July 25, 2025 A record number of farms closed in the year after the government announced it was ending a carve out that allowed farmers to pass down their estates without paying inheritance tax. According to official data, 6,365 agriculture, forestry and fishing businesses have shuttered over the past year, the highest number since the data started being [...]
Rightmove profits rise amid rental and commercial property growth July 25, 2025 Britain’s largest property portal, Rightmove, posted a rise in revenue and profit on Friday, buoyed by estate agents upgrading marketing packages and growing demand across its rental and mortgage arms. The FTSE 100 firm told the market that revenue rose 10 per cent to £211.7m in the first half of 2025, up from £192.1m last [...]
UK-India trade deal will be major boost for financial services July 25, 2025 Yesterday, as the UK-India Free Trade Agreement was signed, it marked a landmark moment forBritain’s financial services sector. Not only is this the government delivering a trade deal that was talked about for many years butnever happened – it is delivering a real strategic partnership with the world’s fastest-growing majoreconomy. It’s an agreement that perfectly [...]
Here’s what private equity and venture capital need from Rachel Reeves July 25, 2025 Changes to carried interest, non-doms and wealth tax rumours are putting investors under pressure. Time for Rachel Reeves to adopt a more pragmatic, pro-growth approach, says Michael Moore In her October Party Conference speech, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves declared that ‘If growth is the challenge, investment is the solution’. She is right. The Chancellor has [...]
Lloyds reports strong growth as UK economic conditions improve July 24, 2025 Lloyds bank has reported a strong financial performance in the first half of the year, achieving income growth and showing continued momentum across the business. The FTSE 100 giant, which includes Lloyd’s, Halifax and Bank of Scotland recorded a statutory profit after tax increase of £2.5bn, up 4 per cent year on year, with a [...]
BT profits fall but group insists it remains ‘on track’ July 24, 2025 Telecoms giant BT Group reported a 10 per cent drop in reported profit before tax on top of a three per cent decline in adjusted revenue, while reaffirming it is ‘on track’ to achieve full-year guidance. In a trading update for the three months to 30 June, the FTSE 100 company informed shareholders its reported [...]
Swatch moves London headquarters to new Canary Wharf office space July 24, 2025 Swatch has signed a five-year lease for 9,500 sq ft of office space in a multi-purpose office building in Canary Wharf. The watches and jewellery manufacturer will move its London headquarters from Dockside Road to Docklands site Sierra Quebec Bravo (SQB). Swatch did not respond to a request for comment and did not disclose the [...]