Shop prices fall further into deflation as battle to ‘entice’ consumers continues October 1, 2024 According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), shop prices fell 0.6 per cent in the year-to-September, down from 0.3 per cent the previous month.
Tech and taxes: What do SMEs want to see in the upcoming Budget? September 30, 2024 Small businesses have called on the government to prioritise growth in the upcoming Autumn Budget in order to avoid a slowdown of growth.
Subscriptions success for Opentable September 30, 2024 A rise in subscriptions helped the international arm of restaurant booking service Opentable, which is controlled by Booking.com’s owner, increase its turnover and pre-tax profit during its latest financial year. The London-headquartered division has reported a turnover of £31.7m for 2023, up from the £29.4m it posted for 2022. Newly-filed accounts with Companies House also [...]
Tory conference: Hunt warns Labour against ‘catastrophic’ Budget tax hikes September 30, 2024 Jeremy Hunt has warned Labour against making “catastrophic mistakes” in the Budget and hiking up “tax in a way that destroys growth”. The shadow Chancellor issued a stark warning to the government as he spoke at the annual Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. Asked at an in-conversation event on Monday, if things could get worse, [...]
Ab Inbev: Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona producer continues to make huge loss despite price rises September 30, 2024 The UK arm of Ab Inbev, which brews Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona, continued to make a substantial loss during its latest financial year despite raising its prices. The London-headquartered division not made a pre-tax profit since the £40.9m it reported in 2020. Since then the business has lost £6.4m in 2021, £89.5m in 2022 [...]
Markets doubt Bank of England’s cautious approach to interest rates September 30, 2024 The Bank of England held interest rates at five per cent last week, having cut rates for the first time since the pandemic back in August.
How private equity swallowed up the UK – and why it’s unsettling regulators September 30, 2024 Private equity has been buying more and more of the UK over the past decade, with thousands of listed or private businesses now snapped up by buyout funds and venture capital investors. Iconic British businesses like Morrisons, Pret A Manger and Asda have been swallowed up by private capital, with deals like the takeover of [...]
City chief goes all in on gold amid government borrowing surge September 30, 2024 A City manager has gone all in on gold as government borrowing has spiralled to "bonkers" levels as a measure against inflation.
Why Conservatives are still asking: What would Margaret Thatcher do? September 27, 2024 Why are people at Conservative Party Conference 2024 still talking about Margaret Thatcher? Because she gave Tories something to believe in, says Alys Denby It’s Conservative Party conference and one subject that’s guaranteed to come up at any gathering of Tories is Margaret Thatcher. The palms of upholstered older party members moisten as they share [...]
Cranswick: Pig farms boost outlook for food producer yet again September 27, 2024 UK food producer Cranswick is looking towards “upper end” of market expectations as meaty investments into pig farming operations paid off once again. The supplier, which is headquartered in Kingston upon Hull, said today in its half year trading update that its expansion into pig farming operations has led to positive contributions for the brand. As [...]