UK government plans to end North Sea windfall tax March 5, 2025 British oil and gas drillers could face a new tax regime following the energy crisis, which pegs levies to fluctuations in global oil and gas prices. The mechanism is intended to replace the notorious “windfall tax” and was outlined in a consultation on the North Sea published on Wednesday. The consultation also seeks to unravel [...]
Bank of England warns ‘age of uncertainty’ stopping rapid rate cuts March 5, 2025 An “age of uncertainty”, especially over the path of inflation, means that rapid interest rate cuts are unlikely to be coming to the UK, top Bank of England officials have said. Huw Pill, chief economist at the Bank of England, said the central bank was unlikely to make “larger and more rapid cuts to interest [...]
Legal sector continues to grow despite rising costs March 5, 2025 New research indicates that the legal sector remains resilient in uncertain ties after law firms' average earnings experienced single-digit growth.
UK jobs cuts accelerate as firms fret over stagflation March 5, 2025 UK service firms are cutting jobs at the sharpest rate since November 2020 as fears about the state of the economy spread. S&P Global’s latest UK Services PMI, which measures business activity in the services sector, found that 24 per cent of firms cut their employees in February, compared to only 13 per cent which [...]
M&S to invest £95m in staff pay despite higher wage taxes March 5, 2025 Marks and Spencer will invest £95m into higher pay for its retail staff, despite “cost pressures” from the government. From 1 April, the rate of pay for UK Customer Assistants will increase from £12 to £12.60 per hour, up five per cent year on year and up 26 per cent since 2022. It is higher [...]
Making Nature Part of Wharf Life March 5, 2025 Canary Wharf, a place where nature and people thrive Why have we interwoven 16.5 acres of gardens and parks, 800 species of plants and trees, and 5km of waterside boardwalks throughout Canary Wharf? Because humans gravitate towards spending time in the natural world, and we know that proximity to green and blue spaces has been [...]
UK business confidence in crisis, new report says March 5, 2025 More than three quarters of bosses have low confidence in the UK business environment, according to a survey by the Adam Smith Institute (ASI) think tank. The ASI Business Confidence Survey took the temperature of 192 business leaders, who between them represent 100,000 employees – from sectors including finance, retail and manufacturing. It paints a [...]
The Chancellor must act urgently to restore business confidence March 5, 2025 77 per cent of businesses have ‘low or very low confidence’ in the UK’s business environment; winning business back will require us to actively improve our offering, with comprehensive reforms to our regulatory, legal and fiscal framework, says Sam Bidwell With all eyes on Washington and Kyiv, the government must not lose sight of trouble [...]
What ever happened to levelling up? March 5, 2025 Levelling up has all but disappeared from the government's agenda. That's a big mistake for growth, writes Paul Ormerod.
Foxtons: Estate agent boosts dividend as property sales pickup March 5, 2025 London’s biggest letting agent, Foxtons, has raised its final dividend by 30 per cent after double-digit revenue growth. The company’s growth was driven by sales rather than lettings in the year ended December 31, 2024, with sales revenue up 31 per cent year on year and lettings up five per cent. Foxtons added that sales revenue [...]