Keir Starmer ramps up attack on Reform in vow to ‘renew Britain’ September 30, 2025 Prime Minister Keir Starmer ramped up his attacks on Reform as he called for Brits to unite behind the government’s mission to “renew” the country. In a make or break speech to Labour Party members, Starmer said the country was at a crossroads moment to deliver “renewal” – though he pushed back against claims Britain [...]
Farmfoods: Iceland rival battles rising costs September 30, 2025 Budget supermarket chain Farmfoods has said rising costs weighed on its profit as it battled to keep prices down for its customers. The business, which is headquartered in North Lanarkshire in Scotland, has posted a pre-tax profit of £33.1m for 2024, up from the £25.5m it achieved in 2023. However, Farmfoods said “increased cost pressures” resulted [...]
Doing business in Britain is too difficult, too expensive and too uncertain September 30, 2025 Business confidence is at a three-year low and productivity has not improved for 15 years. It is businesses that policymakers must turn to – and fast – to get growth back on track, writes ICAEW chief executive Alan Vallance Whatever your political leanings, we can all agree that the UK faces a challenging economic context. Weak [...]
Retail body warns against tax hikes amid ‘nightmare’ inflation September 30, 2025 Britain’s largest retail business group has warned the Treasury that further tax hikes on businesses will keep shop prices “higher for longer”, after data showed food inflation in September remained at its highest levels since the height of the cost-of-living crisis. British Retail Consortium (BRC) chief executive Helen Dickinson said even if the Chancellor chooses [...]
Jaguar Land Rover to restart some production ‘in coming days’ September 29, 2025 Jaguar Land Rover will restart some of its manufacturing operations in the coming days, the carmaker has said, over a month after it was forced to shut down its plant to deal with a brutal cyber attack that has left dozens of its suppliers on the brink of failure. In a statement released on Monday, [...]
Natwest chair: Rachel Reeves’ Budget must include radical tax reform September 29, 2025 The chair of banking giant Natwest has called for Rachel Reeves to implement “radical tax reform” in her Autumn Budget. Rick Haythornthwaite has said a “bold long-term plan” to “kick-start growth” would reassure jittery bond markets and “deliver much-needed social benefits”. “This is the time for a 10-year programme of radical tax reform. Time for [...]
Instead of a taxi tax, Reeves should fix the absurd VAT system September 29, 2025 Reeves’ tax grab on taxis highlights the absurdity of the VAT system and raises the question of whether VAT should be levied more consistently across goods and services, says Ben Ramanauskas It has been reported that Rachel Reeves will announce at the Budget that taxi journeys will be subject to VAT. This has drawn criticism [...]
GBK: Gourmet Burger Kitchen creates 600 jobs amid profit return September 29, 2025 Gourmet Burger Kitchen has created almost 600 jobs as it returned to profit during its latest financial year. The restaurant chain increased its headcount from 1,652 to 2,235 in 2024, according to new accounts filed with Companies House. The results have also revealed that Gourmet Burger Kitchen achieved a pre-tax profit of £4.8m for the [...]
Labour to grant settled status only to working migrants September 29, 2025 The UK government will only grant settled status rights to working migrants under radical plans drawn up by Labour’s Shabana Mahmood. In a speech at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, Mahmood will tell an audience of activists that the government will tighten its indefinite leave to remain rights, which allow migrants to gain settled [...]
Labour say manifesto stands ‘today’ as Reeves ducks VAT hike September 29, 2025 The Chancellor would not rule out fresh rises to VAT ahead of her speech to Labour Party Conference later today, when pressed on the issue by LBC’s Nick Ferrari this morning. Asked whether Brits could face increases to the retail levy, Reeves said: “You’ll know we made those commitments in our manifesto, and those commitments [...]