IFS director: Tariffs risk undermining ‘best case’ OBR forecasts April 1, 2025 Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) director Paul Johnson has raised questions about whether the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR)’s forecasts would remain credible should President Trump slap tariffs on UK goods on Wednesday. The OBR’s report included modelling by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published in January. The IMF’s analysis did not consider the potential [...]
London is world’s fourth-most dynamic city April 1, 2025 London is in the top five cities for companies to lay down roots, a fresh study has found, despite the UK suffering years of economic stagnation and reports of an exodus of its wealthiest and high-skilled residents. According to Savills’ inaugural corporate dynamic wealth index, London is the fourth-best location in the world for major [...]
Ancelotti in Spanish court accused of €1m tax fraud April 1, 2025 Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti will tomorrow appear in court accused of tax fraud of more than €1m. The 65-year-old former Premier League manager will stand trial in Madrid on charges of defrauding the Spanish tax office to the tune of £836,857 in undeclared earnings from image rights a decade ago. The trial is expected [...]
Five key business travel trends in 2025 and beyond April 1, 2025 Just three years ago, the future of business travel hung in the balance. Office spaces were being relinquished, metaverse technologies promised a life of WFA (Work From Anywhere), and the threat of another Covid wave loitered on the horizon. But a new “Business Travel Trends 2025” report co-authored by the trend forecasting agency Globetrender and Amadeus [...]
US tariffs set to damage UK economy, Reeves tells cabinet ministers April 1, 2025 Donald Trump’s tariffs are expected to “have an impact” on the UK’s economy, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has told cabinet ministers, after business secretary Jonathan Reynolds warned the country faces “a very serious and significant moment”. The US President is set to unveil sweeping – but as yet unknown – tariffs on goods from around the [...]
‘Awful April’ price hikes will cause ‘inflation surge’ April 1, 2025 Sweeping price hikes coming into effect from Tuesday are set to push up inflation, a leading economics consultancy has said, as what many have called ‘Awful April’ is set to put an extra burden on businesses’ costs. Higher costs in everything from water to energy will contribute to a rise in inflation that peaks at [...]
Probe launched into ONS governance and data quality April 1, 2025 The government has launched an independent investigation into the UK’s beleaguered statistics watchdog to ascertain how its official data and surveys have become so unreliable. The remit of the probe – commissioned by the Cabinet Office and UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) – will span the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) culture, leadership and structure, and [...]
Boutique Leicester Square hotel handed £42m price tag April 1, 2025 A recently-converted boutique hotel in London’s Leicester Square has been put on the market for £42m. The former office building on 2-5 Charing Cross Road has undergone a significant conversion project and is set to be fully operational by June. The announcement comes as former Natwest bank on London’s Piccadilly is also set to become [...]
OBR chair: Reeves is exposed to ‘inevitable’ shocks April 1, 2025 The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR)’s chair Richard Hughes said Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s small headroom means the Treasury has left itself exposed to “inevitable” economic shocks. The role of the fiscal watchdog has come under greater scrutiny since Reeves made cuts totalling £14bn in order to meet her fiscal rules at last week’s Spring Statement. [...]
Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ could wipe out Rachel Reeves’ fiscal headroom April 1, 2025 A mere week after Rachel Reeves told the Commons she had restored her fiscal headroom, Trump’s planned ‘Liberation Day’ tariff deluge could send a wrecking ball through the Chancellor’s buffer. Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs has downgraded Britain’s economic growth outlook ahead of the President launching a fresh set of tariffs that could smash Reeves’ [...]