Labour’s jobs tax is proving the Laffer curve in real time February 19, 2025 Widespread falls in hiring and increases in redundancies are a textbook demonstration of how tax can destroy economic activity. Labour’s National Insurance rise is proving economic theory before our eyes, says Matthew Kilcoyne Sometimes the data tells a story so clear it hurts. The latest CIPD survey gives us exactly that – a textbook demonstration [...]
Growth is now near impossible. Here are 7 pleas for Reeves’ Spring Budget February 19, 2025 Growth is impossible if we continue on as we are but the Spring Budget is a chance for change, writes Steve Rigby.
Total value of luxury watches stolen tops £1.6bn February 18, 2025 Criminal gangs are “entrenched” in the theft of luxury watches, a chairman of a watch recovery database has warned after registered losses surged. The Watch Register, the world’s largest international database of lost and stolen watches, had over £150m worth of luxury watches reported as lost or stolen last year. Brits made up £60m of [...]
Labour market ‘creaking rather than cracking’ following Budget February 18, 2025 There's been a growing air of pessimism around the labour market since Labour's maiden Budget, and with good reason.
Barclays shares near post-financial crisis high February 18, 2025 Shares in Barclays closed in on a post-financial crisis high on Tuesday morning. The stock has surged higher over the past 12 months due to improved investor sentiment towards the banking sector thanks to higher interest rates. Shares rallied to a high of 310.20p following market open, touching highs not witnessed since the rebound of [...]
“LEAP 2025, leading the way in AI Investments” February 18, 2025 Inside Saudi Board Sir Martin Sorrell is the founder of S4 Capital, whose wholly owned subsidiary Monks is a marketing and services model with a key focus on AI. It has thousands of digital experts working across almost 60 talent hubs in over 30 countries. Sir Martyn Lewis caught up with Sir Martin when he [...]
BHP: Mining giant hit by lower iron ore prices February 18, 2025 Mining giant BHP has reported a jump in profit for the half-year ended 31 December 2024, despite a drop in revenue due to lower iron ore prices. Attributable profit surged to $4.4bn (£3.5bn), up 376 per cent from $0.9bn in the previous half-year. Underlying attributable profit, however, fell 23 per cent to $5.1bn due to [...]
Wage growth accelerates again as concerns about inflation rise February 18, 2025 Wage growth accelerated again in the final quarter of last year, new figures show, in a reminder that the UK economy still faces sticky price pressures.
UK fintech investment hits four-year low February 18, 2025 Fintech investment in the UK had another sluggish year with new data showing it sunk to a four-year low in 2024. KPMG’s bi-annual fintech report showed UK fintech investment fell by 27 per cent to £7.9bn last year, down from £10.1bn in 2023. Despite this, the UK managed to scoop up more funding than France, [...]
Google reviews have done more for public services than Whitehall February 18, 2025 Google Maps reviews have done more for public services than Whitehall, writes Michael Martins in today's Notebook.