This isn’t a plan for business, it’s a Budget to save Reeves’ job November 26, 2025 Sacha Lord, a former advisor to mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham, bitterly regrets calling Labour “the party of business and growth” On 13th of June last year, I was stood in Manchester’s impressive NOMA building. It was the Labour Party’s manifesto launch. The place was a buzz with energy, excitement and hope. The full shadow [...]
Budget: Rachel Reeves told to make ‘simple fix’ to ‘badly outdated’ shares scheme November 24, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been told to make “simple fixes” in the Budget this week to hand hundreds of millions of pounds in tax incentives to small businesses. It was first reported last month that proposals had been drawn up to lift the cap on Enterprise Management Incentives (EMIs). The scheme allows smaller businesses to [...]
Everything we know about Rachel Reeves’ Budget – from mansions to milkshakes November 24, 2025 In the run-up to the mother of all Autumn Budgets to be delivered by Chancellor Rachel Reeves this week, tax rumours have run wild, infecting the minds of businesses and working Brits while adding to the sense of peril that a botched fiscal event could bring. Investors are running scared. Voters fear looming betrayal. Gamblers [...]
Reeves accused of ‘fiscal fandango’ amid OBR forecast changes November 23, 2025 The Bank of England’s former chief economist Andy Haldane has accused Rachel Reeves of overseeing “fiscal fandango” in the lead-up to the Budget amid months of speculation around expected tax rises. Speaking to the BBC, Haldane blasted months of speculation around the Budget that had caused “paralysis” in the UK economy. His comments came days [...]
Business leaders bemoan Budget uncertainty as tax hikes loom November 13, 2025 Business leaders up and down the country have poured scorn on the Chancellor after months of Budget uncertainty damaged consumer confidence and forced firms to hold off key investment decisions. Scores of chief executives, from retail to hospitality to telecoms and manufacturing, have voiced their concern over the lack of a clear fiscal plan after [...]
Motorpoint sold hundreds of cars using AI agent as profits jump November 12, 2025 Motorpoint has revealed it sold hundreds of cars using its new AI agent as the car dealer reported a jump in profits. Chief executive Mark Carpenter said the use of the agent allowed the London-listed firm to be more persistent with its sales strategy when human sales agents might have given up. “We’ve sold about [...]
UK banks send regulation warning as private credit threat rises November 11, 2025 Top bosses of UK banks have fired a warning shot over the country’s status as a competitive financial hub as the government’s efforts to overhaul regulation risk missing the mark. Michael Roberts, the top boss of HSBC Bank and chief of corporate and institutional banking, told lawmakers on Tuesday the Treasury’s deregulation work was a [...]
Pensions, motorists and workers: The tax targets Rachel Reeves is eyeing up November 7, 2025 If there is one thing that is clear three weeks out from the Autumn Budget, it is that Chancellor Rachel Reeves will hike taxes. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which scores the economic impacts of the government’s policies and publishes forecasts on public finances, has been questioned for being over optimistic on measures such [...]
Private credit: Ponzi scheme or panacea? November 3, 2025 Over the past decade, the private credit industry has ballooned from arcane financial solution to a core pillar of asset management. But recent tremors in corporate debt markets have led several economic institutions to warn of its risks to the global economy. Ali Lyon asks: how worried should we be? What kept you awake at [...]
Motor finance, Madoff fraud, tax fears – bank shares defy the noise October 31, 2025 A motor finance battle, hefty impairment charges and the shadow of 2008 all cast over banks third-quarter results but beneath the fog investors are rewarding the FTSE 100’s top lenders for another bumper quarter. The FTSE 350 banks index has risen nearly four per cent this month and is up 17 per cent for the [...]