Retail confidence falls at its fastest rate since 2008 November 25, 2025 Confidence amongst retailers has dropped at its fastest rate in 17 years as firms become increasingly pessimistic about their fortunes amid high taxes and low spending. Retailers expect demand to remain subdued heading into December, with sales set to fall again – albeit at a somewhat slower pace, according to the CBI’s latest quarterly Distributive [...]
BCC boss: Enough taxes. The Budget must tell a positive story November 25, 2025 Last autumn, the British Chambers of Commerce and its members were left shell-shocked when a party that promised to be the most ‘pro-business in history’ used its maiden Budget to deliver a succession of hammer blows to the private sector. Having shouldered the burden last year, boss Shevaun Haviland wants this year’s instalment to paint [...]
Why businesses can’t be bothered to engage ahead of the Budget November 25, 2025 After years of policy churn, rising costs and new rules arriving faster than anyone can absorb them, many firms have run out of energy to engage, says Georgiana Bristol There is a strange quiet in the business community this week. Not the calm of confidence, but the hush before something hits. Normally, in the run-up [...]
Price caps for pop concerts: is there any market Labour won’t restrict? November 25, 2025 Labour’s plan for a ban on secondary ticket sales is an open door for fraudsters. Yet more proof that only the Conservatives believe in free markets, says Andrew Griffith Anyone would think that growth is roaring back, public spending has been brought firmly under control and small boat crossings to our shores have ceased. Why? [...]
Would the new Cyber Bill have prevented 2025’s retail chaos? November 25, 2025 The 2025 UK cyber bloodbath, which saw JLR down for five weeks, M&S nursing a £300m hole, Co-op, Harrods, and more, all happened after the government had already spent four years consulting on cyber legislation. And when the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill finally slouched into the House of Commons on 12 November, the reaction [...]
MOVE™: AI-Enabled Strategy for a Fast World Launches Globally Through Routledge November 24, 2025 New book by global strategy advisor Tim Lewko delivers a unified system for leaders who must think fast, decide smart, and execute with discipline in an AI-accelerated world.
What sport wants from the Budget: UK industry leaders share hopes and fears November 24, 2025 Ahead of the Autumn Budget on Wednesday, City AM asked decision-makers from across the UK’s sport sector what they are hoping to hear from Chancellor Rachel Reeves. UK Athletics – Jack Buckner, CEO Major sporting events drive sport. They make us feel good, but they also are profitable. They generate income. It’s challenging putting on [...]
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 [...]
Nando’s makes cheeky profit after losing more than £600m November 24, 2025 Nando’s has warned Rachel Reeves’ tax hikes will eat into its bottom line despite it returning to profit for the first time since 2016. The business has posted a pre-tax profit of £38.2m for the 12 months to 23 February, 2025, new accounts filed with Companies House have revealed. The profit comes after the restaurant [...]
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 [...]