Booze, chocolate, meat, flights: What will Labour tax next? March 28, 2025 Pitiful growth forecasts will tempt Reeves to impose sin taxes on everything from a can of coke to a holiday, says James Price I’ve previously called the Chancellor Reeves the Roundhead in these pages, in honour of her fun-killing ways. But she’s not the first Chancellor to tax having a good time. A tax designed [...]
Blue Orchid Hospitality granted permission to convert Atlas House to a luxury hotel March 27, 2025 Planning permission has been granted for Atlas House on King Street, Cheapside, currently vacant with prior uses as offices. The landmark Italianate-style property is to be transformed into a high-quality boutique hotel under the ownership of the award-winning Blue Orchid Hospitality group, part of the Integrity International Group, led by renowned hotelier and developer, Tony [...]
US tariffs: Trade secretary won’t rule out cuts to digital services tax March 27, 2025 Jonathan Reynolds has refused to rule out cutting the digital services tax on major tech firms, amid the prospect of looming US trade tariffs. The business and trade secretary insisted the UK government was “committed to ensuring tech companies pay a fair amount of tax in the UK”, but added that the digital services tax [...]
Spring Statement: Watch out for income tax hikes in the autumn March 27, 2025 The Spring Statement has done little to reassure markets about the Chancellor’s commitment to fiscal discipline, says Aviva’s Vasileios Gkionakis The UK government on Wednesday announced cuts in government spending to rebuild ‘fiscal headroom’ after rising government borrowing costs and anaemic economic growth badly damaged its finances. Chancellor Rachel Reeves says the mix of cuts [...]
ITV pays its CEO the most in a decade as profit spikes March 27, 2025 ITV has paid its chief executive the most it has done in a decade after profit more than doubled in 2024. Carolyn McCall took home a pay packet worth almost £4.1m for the FTSE 250 group’s latest financial year, up from the £3m she received for 2023. The latest total is the highest an ITV [...]
NHS software firm fined over highly sensitive data breach March 27, 2025 A major NHS software provider has been fined £3m after a cyber attack exposed the personal data of nearly 80,000 people – including home entry details and medical records for vulnerable patients. The information comissioner’s office (ICO) ruled that Advanced Computer Software Group had “seriously inadequate” security measures, allowing hackers to infiltrate its systems in [...]
Reeves ‘lost gamble’ and is likely to raise taxes, IFS claims March 27, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is “likely” to raise taxes at this year’s Autumn Budget, Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) director Paul Johnson has warned, as he claimed an extension to income tax thresholds would make for the “easiest political win”. Reeves’ announced her £40bn tax raid at the last Autumn Budget in October. The bulk of [...]
US tariffs: Reynolds urges ‘cool heads’ over trade negotiations March 27, 2025 Jonathan Reynolds has said it is a time for “cool heads” as the UK engages with the US over tariff plans despite holding a “different set of views” on trade policy. It comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the UK is not planning “at the moment” to introduce retaliatory tariffs on the US, after President [...]
Deutsche Bank bets £250m on UK fintech Abound March 27, 2025 Deutsche Bank announced on Thursday morning it had given a £250m backing to UK fintech Abound, boosting the firm’s lending capacity. The latest round of funding compounds existing support from Citi, Waterfall Asset Management and LuminArx – and takes the fintech’s total credit ceiling to £1.6bn. Abound said the additional capital would provide “firepower to [...]
The Capitalist: Royal Exchange climbers, Severance stunt and a Treasury typo March 27, 2025 Protesters scale the Royal Exchange, Severance stars join the commute and a Treasury typo; catch up on the latest drama in The Capitalist.