Arnold Clark counts the cost of Rachel Reeves’ tax hikes July 1, 2025 Car dealership giant Arnold Clark has revealed the tax hikes announced by Rachel Reeves in her first Budget as Chancellor will cost it an extra £30m a year. The Glasgow-headquartered group said the increase in employer’s National Insurance contributions and the rise in the National Minimum Wage will mainly be responsible for the rise. Arnold [...]
Sunny spring boosts sales at Sainbury’s July 1, 2025 Sainsbury’s has reported a boost in fresh food sales this spring despite growing competition in the UK’s supermarket sector. The FTSE 100 company said that overall sales grew 4.9 per cent in the 16 weeks to June 21, ahead of the market. Grocery sales grew 4.9 per cent, while non-food sales grew 4.2 per cent. [...]
Exclusive: Kemi Badenoch makes her pitch to the City July 1, 2025 Kemi Badenoch has apologised to the business community for any trust lost under previous Tory governments, insisting that “the Conservative party is the natural party of business.” The Tory leader said “I’m sorry if at any time over the last 14 years we did not seem like that,” adding that hers is now “the only [...]
Investment plans and hiring intentions plunge July 1, 2025 The latest Directors’ Economic Confidence Index from the IoD, which measures business leaders’ optimism in prospects for the UK economy, fell in June as the impact of tax hikes filters down into bosses’ confidence levels. The index fell back to -53 in June 2025, having risen to -35 in May, with investment intentions taking one [...]
Bodycare: Reeves creating ‘too much risk and uncertainty’ for us to expand June 30, 2025 Bodycare has slowed down the pace of opening new stores across the UK as it blamed the government for creating “too much risk and uncertainty”. The Lancashire-headquartered retailer added that “the current climate of increased costs and legislation” is impacting its growth plans. Bodycare has also said that government policy on the winter fuel allowance [...]
Industry chiefs sound alarm over ‘horrific’ packaging tax June 30, 2025 A new packaging tax that makes the producers of waste pay for their packaging to be recycled poses a multibillion-pound threat to UK businesses and will encourage firms to relocate their production abroad, senior industry figures have warned. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) released on Friday the final fees for [...]
Demand for financial advice surges for time-pressed City workers June 30, 2025 City workers facing a time-pressed epidemic often lack confidence in their financial situation, resulting in businesses seeking external financial advice
Private sector braced for sharp decline, CBI warns June 30, 2025 Private sector businesses across the country are braced for a sharp decline in activity in the next three months, the UK’s largest industry body has warned, as Chancellor Rachel Reeves struggles to reverse low business confidence trends. Reeves may have hoped that the industrial strategy, plans on infrastructure investment and pension reforms aimed at boosting [...]
Ex LSEG boss slams London stock market ‘gimmicks’ June 29, 2025 The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG)’s former boss Xavier Rolet has blasted stewards of UK capital markets for focussing on “gimmicks and quick headline-grabbing fixes” to liquidity levels. Officials at the London Stock Exchange and at the Treasury have mooted possible reforms to savings as part of a bid to revive capital markets. London Stock [...]
Kemi Badenoch: I’ll only support welfare bill if government pledges no tax rises June 27, 2025 Kemi Badenoch has said she would only support Labour’s welfare bill if the government pledges not to raise taxes further at the next budget. More than 100 Labour MPs had threatened to vote against the bill in its original form amid concerns over a reduction in personal independence payments to their constituents. The government has [...]