Claridge’s: Five-star London hotel falls into the red October 6, 2025 Claridge’s, the iconic five-star London hotel, has slipped into the red despite its revenue rising during its latest financial year, it has been revealed, amid major redevelopment work. For 2024, the hotel has posted a pre-tax loss of £5.4m, down from the £7.2m pre-tax profit it achieved in 2023. However, new accounts filed with Companies [...]
Ed Miliband’s Green New Deal won’t deliver 400,000 ‘new’ jobs October 6, 2025 The language of "job creation" is seductive, but Ed Miliband's promise to create 400,000 'new' green jobs is deceiving, writes Matthew Bowles.
JCB billionaire banks record £866m pay day October 3, 2025 The billionaire Bamford family paid themselves £866m despite JCB’s sales and profit being slashed in 2024, it has been revealed. The Staffordshire-headquartered manufacturer issued the huge dividend which was up significantly from the £300m it paid out in 2023. The dividend total from 2023 had previously been JCB’s largest pay out in a decade until [...]
JD Wetherspoon: Profit rockets as Tim Martin takes jab at tax rises October 3, 2025 JD Wetherspoon has reported another successful quarter after outperforming the wider hospitality market again, although boss Tim Martin has warned on the effects of taxing the sector too hard. The pub giant told markets this morning that like-for-like sales rose 5.1 per cent year on year, while revenue rose 4.5 per cent to £2.12bn. Profit [...]
OBR hands Rachel Reeves first damning pre-Budget report on UK economy October 3, 2025 The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has handed Chancellor Rachel Reeves its first evaluation of the state of the UK economy and crippled public finances, setting policy discussions about likely £30bn tax rises and possible savings in motion. The OBR’s Budget Responsibility Committee, which consists of the economists Richard Hughes, David Miles and Tom Josephs, [...]
Bosses’ inflation expectations highest in two years amid employment freeze October 2, 2025 Fears that inflation will remain well above the Bank of England’s two per cent target intensified on Thursday, after a closely watched survey of businesses revealed bosses plan to raise prices at their fastest rate since the height of the cost-of-living crisis. British businesses also have the weakest hiring intentions since 2020 with firms expecting [...]
Explainer: Why are energy prices so high? October 2, 2025 Energy prices for consumers across the UK rose again this month. Ofgem, the energy regulator, set the maximum annual rate for an average household for gas and electricity at £1,755 until the end of the year. The cap is now over £600 higher than when it was first introduced in 2019. Under the cap, [...]
Tesco boss warns Reeves that ‘enough’s enough’ ahead of Budget October 2, 2025 Tesco boss Ken Murphy has warned Rachel Reeves that business will struggle to absorb more costs as fears rise of another tax raid in this Budget. UK retailers were hit by higher labour costs after an increase in the minimum wage and employer’s national insurance costs this April, after changes made at last October’s budget [...]
Wagamama owner sheds 2,000 jobs as losses widen October 2, 2025 The owner of Wagamama shed more than 2,000 jobs as its losses widened during its latest financial year, it has been revealed. The Restaurant Group, whose other major brand is Brunning & Price, has posted a pre-tax loss of £32.2m for 2024, new accounts filed with Companies House show. The total comes after the business [...]
Bank of England’s Mann calls for sustained interest rate hold October 1, 2025 The Bank of England’s Catherine Mann has called for interest rates to be held where they are for longer before making a larger cut to revive the sluggish growth outlook, citing a recent spike in consumer inflation expectations as evidence price rises were embedding into the economy. The external Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member known [...]