What changes to the pension salary sacrifice scheme could mean for you? June 11, 2025 A new report from HMRC has raised concerns around changes to the pension salary sacrifice scheme. A report on workplace pensions by HMRC has fuelled speculation around changes to salary sacrifice schemes. The report looked into employers’ behaviours and attitudes on salary sacrifices and looked into how potential reforms to tax reliefs could change these. [...]
Retail shrinks by over 360,000 jobs in a decade June 10, 2025 The number of retail jobs in the UK has shrunk by more than a tenth since 2015, according to new data. There were 2.76m jobs in retail in March 2025, 360,000 fewer than in 2015, according to the latest report by the ONS. The number of full-time jobs has fallen by 117,000 since 2015, while the number [...]
Bellway: Completions surge at FTSE 250 housebuilder June 10, 2025 Bellway has said it expects to see a surge in home completions amid an increase in consumer confidence and reservation rates. The FTSE 250 housebuilder and property developer said it was well-positioned to deliver cumulative volume growth of 20 per cent over the two years to end July 2026. In a trading update, the Newcastle-based [...]
Firstgroup: Profit at Avanti West Coast owner beats expectations June 10, 2025 Transport giant Firstgroup has extended its share buyback program by £50m after annual revenue came in ahead of forecasts. The additional £50m buyback program follows Firstgroup’s return of £92m to shareholders in the 2025 financial year. The group also raised its dividend to 6.5p, up from 5.5p last year. The FTSE 250 company told markets [...]
Unemployment creeps up as firms cut jobs following Reeves tax raid June 10, 2025 The unemployment rate has crept up to 4.6 per cent from 4.5 per cent, official data has revealed, putting Chancellor Reeves’ ambition of growing the UK economy and getting people into work under threat. It is the highest unemployment rate in three years, with the UK economy then recovering from the pandemic. Figures released by [...]
Legal & General CEO: Urgent action is needed to get Brits saving more, earlier June 10, 2025 For a happy retirement, savers need a £220,000 pension pot. That means urgent action is needed now to get people to save more, earlier, says António Simões Whether it’s families around the dinner table or government around the cabinet table, pensions deserve to be a part of a national conversation. The government has rightly put [...]
UK GDP growth expected to slide after Awful April June 10, 2025 The UK economy is expected to have contracted in April as the double whammy of tax hikes and higher energy prices help reverse the 0.7 per cent growth gains seen in the first three months of the year. A Bloomberg poll of economists said City analysts are pencilling in a 0.1 per cent reduction to [...]
Winter fuel U-turn could lead to ‘unfair’ and ‘complex’ tax system June 9, 2025 Treasury calculations on savings made from a means-tested winter fuel payment for nine million pensioners may be significantly reduced due to a “new complexity in the tax system”, an economics think tank has warned. The government has claimed that £1.25bn budgeting for winter fuel payments represents a cost reduction of up to £450m compared to [...]
Trustpilot shares sink after analysts downgrade to ‘Sell’ June 9, 2025 Shares in review platform Trustpilot sunk on Monday after analysts slapped a ‘Sell’ rating on the firm and warned of economic challenges ahead. Trustpilot’s stock tumbled over eight per cent in early trading to around 216p. Panmure Liberum analysts Sean Kealy and Johnathan Barrett cautioned the “deteriorating” state of the US economy would “test the [...]
Spending Review: Biggest winners and losers in transport and infrastructure June 9, 2025 Rachel Reeves is set to unveil billions of pounds of investment this week in the spending review, as she looks to fend off criticism over recent cuts. This has made transport and infrastructure one of the big winners of Wednesday’s official announcement. Some £15bn has already been earmarked for public transport projects outside London in [...]