Bistrot Pierre: Jobs lost and restaurants closed as chain rescued March 7, 2025 Almost 160 jobs have been lost and a number of restaurants are to close after Bistrot Pierre was sold out of administration to a private equity firm. A vehicle owned by Cherry Equity Partners has snapped up part of the Nottingham-headquartered chain in a deal which has saved 394 roles and ten sites. However, eight [...]
Treasury to shelve plans for VAT on funds March 7, 2025 Ministers are looking to block a proposal from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to apply VAT to investment funds following warnings from City bosses. According to a report in the Financial Times, the customs body had been trying to end the carve-out that allowed third-party fund management operations to be free from the 20 per [...]
Employment reforms “highly damaging” to investment, warns CBI chief March 7, 2025 The government’s proposed reforms to employment law would be “highly damaging” to business investment in the UK, according to CBI president Rupert Soames. Writing in The Times, Soames argued that this week’s U-turns on more controversial aspects of the legislation – from changes to statutory sick pay, to tweaks to protections for agency workers and [...]
Rate-setter calls on Bank of England to adopt ‘activist’ approach to rates March 6, 2025 The Bank of England should adopt a more activist approach to setting interest rates in order to deal with the “substantial volatility” affecting geopolitics and financial markets, a rate-setter has said. Catherine Mann, an external member of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), argued that rate-setters should be more willing to vote for more radical [...]
Investors pulled £3bn from funds in January amidst economic uncertainty March 6, 2025 Investors pulled £3bn out of funds amidst geopolitical and economic instability in January. This marked a sharp reverse from December, when £2.3bn had flowed into funds, according to data published by the Investment Association (IA). The research said macroeconomic conditions on the home front, namely the reacceleration of inflation, had played a part in the investment [...]
Week in Business: Who will Rachel Reeves blame for higher taxes in Spring Statement? March 6, 2025 City AM Editor Christian May looks at the biggest business stories in his weekly video, today focusing on the UK economy and upcoming Spring Statement.
Spire Healthcare shares plunge as group warns of cost hit despite NHS demand March 6, 2025 Shares in NHS private healthcare provider Spire Healthcare plunged by nearly a quarter in early deals this morning after the company warned that higher costs could cut earnings by as much as 10 per cent. The company said it faced a £30m hit to earnings before interest, tax, deprecation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the year [...]
FTSE 100 giant Admiral announces bumper special dividend as profit jumps March 6, 2025 FTSE 100 insurance giant Admiral has reported a significant jump in profit for 2024. Earnings per share nearly doubled to 216.6p, up from 111.2p in the previous year, as pre-tax earnings increased by 90 per cent to £839.2m Turnover rose by 28 per cent to £6.15bn, as insurance revenue grew by 37 per cent to [...]
Digital nomads costing UK economy £3bn a year March 6, 2025 The UK is missing out on over £3bn of consumer spending and £320m of lost VAT a year because of the rising popularity of ‘digital nomad’ schemes among British citizens. According to a fresh study from Public First, the modish regimes – which promise professionals long-term work visas without having to become fully-fledged tax residents [...]
UK growth outlook slashed amid tax and trade ‘double whammy’ March 5, 2025 The Chancellor’s growth agenda was dealt a fresh blow on Thursday after the British Chambers of Commerce slashed its forecast for the UK economy due to the tax and trade “double whammy” afflicting UK businesses. The business group now expects the UK economy to grow by just 0.9 per cent in 2025, a hefty downgrade [...]