Bank to business lending growth to halve amid global tensions February 23, 2026 UK bank to businesses lending growth is forecast to halve this year as firms feel the pinch of challenging conditions amid global tensions. Net growth in the value of lending from the banking sector to businesses is tipped to slow to 3.5 per cent this year, standing at nearly half of the 6.9 per cent [...]
UK and Trump in new tariff discussions as businesses sound alarm February 22, 2026 The UK is in discussions with the US over President Trump’s latest tariff salvo, a cabinet minister has confirmed, as businesses sound the alarm about the increased rate. President Donald Trump raised his base global tariff rate to 15 per cent on Saturday after the US Supreme Court struck down the authority he used to [...]
Thousands of entrepreneurs quit the UK in the past two years, says wealth manager February 21, 2026 Nearly 6,000 owners of high-growth businesses left the UK over the past two years, following changes to the UK’s tax regime and growing concerns over economic competitiveness. According to research from wealth manager Rathbones, who analysed Companies House filings from between January 2024 and 2026, of the business owners who have left the UK, the [...]
Minimum wage is lowering standards of living, argues Wetherspoons boss February 21, 2026 The founder and chairman of budget pub chain JD Wetherspoon has warned that minimum wage is making lowering people’s living standards by limiting companies’ ability to increase pay and hire. Sir Tim Martin argued that rather than serve as a safety net to protect workers, minimum wage is now doing more harm than good, following [...]
Trump announces new blanket tariff after Supreme Court ruling February 21, 2026 US President Donald Trump has announced a new global tariff after the US Supreme Court ruled that his previously imposed duties were illegal. Trump imposed a 10 per cent global tariff shortly after the court’s ruling, a decision the president called “terrible”. The import duty will apply to all countries and be effective “almost immediately”, [...]
Franco Manca owner appoints advisers for possible sale February 20, 2026 The group which owns pizza chain Franco Manca and The Real Greek restaurants has hired advisers to review its strategic options in a possible first move of a sale or restructuring. Fulham Shore said on Friday it had appointed advisors Alvarez & Marsal, and reports say a sale could be on the table. The UK’s [...]
Inheritance tax haul hits another record February 20, 2026 The government raked in a record amount of cash from inheritance tax, as receipts for the unpopular levy were boosted by frozen thresholds sucking in a record number of taxpayers and ballooning asset prices. The exchequer collected a total of £7.1bn between April 2025 and January 2026 from the tax, official HMRC figures show, a [...]
Private sector axes more jobs amid Reeves’ tax and wage pressures February 20, 2026 The UK’s private sectors culled jobs for the seventeenth consecutive month in February led by a significant drop in the services sector as businesses were still digesting the impact of Labour’s 2024 Autumn Budget. The latest flash Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) from S&P Global described the rate of job shedding in February as at a [...]
Small businesses warn April cost hikes could force closures February 19, 2026 Small businesses have warned they are heading into an “unprecedented cost crunch” in April, with over a third of employers planning to cut output or shut down as higher taxes and bills take effect. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has written to Rachel Reeves, warning that a combination of rising energy standing charges, business rate increases, [...]
Debenhams clinches equity raise after share price spook February 19, 2026 Debenhams Group successfully closed its equity fundraise above its initial £35m target despite a stock market spook which saw its shares drop by 20 per cent. The fashion group, which recently rebranded from Boohoo Group, had pitched the equity raise as central to its turnaround from significant struggles in recent years. Debenhams Group, which owns [...]