Nepal: Where making a profit is a crime March 13, 2025 Maoist policies have made the Himalayan nation of Nepal one of the poorest in Asia, says Rainer Zitelmann On December 11 2023, I landed in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. Nepal lies between China and India and has a population of around 30m. Kathmandu is located in a valley in the middle of the Himalayas [...]
What can small businesses expect from Reeves this spring? March 12, 2025 Small businesses (SMEs) are preparing for slumped growth ahead of this year’s Spring Statement, with increasing concerns over upcoming National Insurance (NI) hikes and business rate relief cuts due to come in in April. Business leaders remain wary of tax increases and spending cuts that could further squeeze SME margins, despite a lower interest rate [...]
PMQs: Starmer accused of ‘trash’ talking and ‘job-killing’ by Badenoch March 12, 2025 Sir Keir Starmer was accused of talking “trash” and leading a “job-killing” government by Kemi Badenoch at a fiery Prime Minister’s Questions session. The Conservative Party leader hit out at the Prime Minister amid clashes over the state of the UK’s economy, councils and Labour’s Budget in the House of Commons on Wednesday. Badenoch responded [...]
Eat, drink, sleep, repeat: Best Japanese restaurants in London March 12, 2025 Last week I was busy spending time dining charitably with sporting heroes. It began by sending Shawsey off on his ‘Legends of Telemark’ mission (he raises funds for MND) with a lunch where beautiful beef wellingtons reigned. It took place in the company of former Scottish international, Ryan Wilson at the Black Lamb in Wimbledon [...]
This is how UK small businesses are managing despite rising costs March 12, 2025 According to the latest Sage small business tracker, rising operational costs, mounting financial pressures, and pivoting business strategies are creating a challenging economic landscape for SMEs. But despite growing headwinds and challenges, such as higher costs and economic uncertainty, small businesses across the UK are adapting to the changing environment. Profit slows as costs rise [...]
If crises are the test of a nation, Western Europe is failing March 12, 2025 The financial crisis and the pandemic have shown how modern Europe deals with crises. And it's not pretty, writes Paul Ormerod.
Persimmon: Housebuilder posts uptick in profit amid housing market recovery March 11, 2025 Housebuilder Persimmon has reported an uptick in house completions and profit after two years of steep declines. The York-based company completed 10,664 homes in the year ended December 31, up seven per cent year on year. Revenue from new housing rose £2.86bn from £2.54bn while underlying profit before tax rose 10 per cent to £395.1m. [...]
Is nanotech the next big iceberg for business? March 11, 2025 Nanotechnology is being hailed as the next medical revolution, promising everything from precision drug delivery to real-time disease tracking. The same advancements that could wipe out chronic illnesses, however, also open the door to unprecedented biosecurity risks, says Paul Armstrong The fifth anniversary of Covid-19 was a reminder of how fragile global health systems remain [...]
Why are women still shut out of venture capital? March 10, 2025 Venture capital (VC) remains overwhelmingly male-dominated, both in terms of who controls investment decisions and who receives funding. Despite women founding one in five startups in the UK, only two per cent of VC funding goes to all-women teams. This is the lowest figure in five years. “That’s not just a statistic – it’s a [...]
Reeves eyeing spending cuts as fiscal walls cave in March 10, 2025 Rachel Reeves is expected to take the chop to spending in her upcoming Spring Statement, as the government’s fiscal headroom disappears. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is set to show a depletion in the Chancellor’s headway, according to BNP Paribas economists. This leaves the government with little options beside further tax hikes or spending [...]