Andrew Bailey warns investment delays hitting UK growth July 1, 2025 Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has warned firms are delaying investment plans due to global turmoil, damaging the UK’s economic growth prospects. Markets have restabilised since April when President Trump’s sweeping tariffs threatened to damage international trade while oil prices have fallen since a short-lived conflict between Iran and Israel. But Bailey has warned [...]
From deathbed to boardroom: Omaze CEO reveals how flatlining changed him forever July 1, 2025 Matt Pohlson “was supposed to die” when he was born and certainly not hang around long enough to found Omaze, the global juggernaut aiming to revolutionise the high-end property market. Born with a stomach twisted into a knot, Pohlson underwent surgery to save his life – an experience he thought was supposed to happen once [...]
Reeves told Lifetime ISAs rules are ‘nonsensical’ and costing savers June 30, 2025 Lifetime ISAs require deep reform, as strict rules on cash withdrawals mean customers are left with less money than they initially deposited, leading Britons to make worse investment decisions, while the government sets aside too much spending for bonuses, senior MPs have told Chancellor Rachel Reeves. Reeves is a fortnight away from her flagship Mansion [...]
Biggest manufacturers expected to pay £685m more in tax June 30, 2025 Manufacturers across the UK will have to cough up £685m more in new property taxes next year, new research has suggested, adding costs to several businesses which are struggling to boost output and already cutting back on headcounts. The government last week said it was ready to address high electricity prices for up to 7,000 [...]
Private sector braced for sharp decline, CBI warns June 30, 2025 Private sector businesses across the country are braced for a sharp decline in activity in the next three months, the UK’s largest industry body has warned, as Chancellor Rachel Reeves struggles to reverse low business confidence trends. Reeves may have hoped that the industrial strategy, plans on infrastructure investment and pension reforms aimed at boosting [...]
Streeting’s junk food crackdown labelled ‘nanny state mission’ June 29, 2025 Retail bosses have hit out at a government plan to stop supermarkets from selling junk food in favour of fruit and vegetables as a “nanny state” policy that would add to red tape faced by high street shops. Under new plans to tackle the NHS’s £11.4bn obesity bill, the government will set supermarkets a “healthy [...]
British Business Bank set on delivering Labour’s growth ambition June 28, 2025 Arguably one of the biggest winners from Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ latest spending splurge, the British Business Bank had its lending capacity beefed up and pledged to back the UK’s innovators with its expanded range. The bank had its funding capacity increased to £25.6bn in the Spending Review from near £15.6bn as it targets eight key [...]
Kemi Badenoch: I’ll only support welfare bill if government pledges no tax rises June 27, 2025 Kemi Badenoch has said she would only support Labour’s welfare bill if the government pledges not to raise taxes further at the next budget. More than 100 Labour MPs had threatened to vote against the bill in its original form amid concerns over a reduction in personal independence payments to their constituents. The government has [...]
Is Labour changing its mind about the OBR? June 27, 2025 Labour is becoming increasingly disillusioned with the OBR as the reality sets in that no anount of forecasting can solve Britain’s spending problems, says Paul Ormerod How fashions change! Less than a year ago, Labour politicians were falling over themselves to praise the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). Labour was elected on a promise of [...]
What do founders really think of Labour? June 27, 2025 The mood among Britain’s founder community has shifted, with 84 per cent now saying they don’t believe the Labour government understand their needs as entrepreneurs, says Eamonn Ives Last week, the government announced that serial entrepreneur Alex Depledge would be joining the Treasury as Britain’s first-ever entrepreneurship adviser. New polling from The Entrepreneurs Network suggests [...]