Abolishing NHS England was a good start – now tackle the rest of the quangos March 19, 2025 The abolition of NHS England sets a welcome precedent, but unless we get rid of the laws and regulations that spawned these quangos in the first place, nothing will change, says John O’Connell Nothing ever changes. How many times have you heard that phrase when talking about the state of the nation with friends and [...]
Liz Kendall unveils welfare reform package aimed at saving £5bn by 2030 March 18, 2025 Liz Kendall has unveiled a major package of reforms to the UK’s welfare system with the aim of saving the government £5bn by 2030.
VR headsets and sliders kick DVDs and turkey out of inflation basket March 18, 2025 VR headsets, yoga mats and sliders have been added to the inflation basket of goods as DVD rentals and minced turkey have been knocked off. The items included in the consumer price inflation (CPI) basket of goods and services, which is compiled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), are designed to reflect Britons’ typical [...]
The UK could build a new investment culture by emulating Sweden March 18, 2025 Risk-averse Brits have long struggled to get into investing. Luckily, the similarly cautious Swedes can teach us a few things.
Fintech unicorn council joins Revolut and Zilch bosses for Treasury meeting March 18, 2025 Britain’s top fintech officials met Rachel Reeves on Tuesday morning in the Chancellor’s latest financial summit to boost economic growth. The co-chairs of Innovate Finance’s Unicorn Council for UK Fintech joined leading executives at the Treasury’s meeting, City AM has learned. The council, which launched in March 2024, aims to provide the government with policy [...]
Kemi Badenoch: Tories to look at ‘achievable solutions’ for clean energy March 18, 2025 Kemi Badenoch has said net zero is “impossible” for Britain to achieve by 2050 and that her party will look at “achievable solutions”. The Conservative Party leader outlined her plans for the Tories to renew their policy programme at a speech in London, as she set out her stall ahead of the May local elections. [...]
Mike Ashley-owned Frasers to cut a third of design and editorial staff March 18, 2025 Mike Ashley-owned Frasers Group may cut nearly a third of staff within its design and editorial teams, according to reports. It entered into a consultation with staff of March 7 as part of the company’s latest restructure, Retail Gazette reported. Sources told the trade publication that the redundancy process will not affect managerial roles and [...]
Office: Shoe retailer doubles profit to over £100m March 18, 2025 Profit at the group behind shoe retailer Office more than doubled to over £100m as it continued to open new stores and created hundreds of jobs. The business, which also includes the Offspring brand, has posted a pre-tax profit of £102.4m for the 12 months to 30 June, 2024. The future comes after the group [...]
Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s theatre empire braced for Reeves’ tax hike March 18, 2025 Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s theatre empire has warned it is bracing for the “notable impact” the hike in employer’s National Insurance contributions (NICs) when it comes into force next month. Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in her Budget in October 2024 that NICs would rise by 1.2 per cent from April to 15 per cent in [...]
Sabre Insurance hikes dividend as turnaround gathers speed March 18, 2025 Sabre Insurance has reported a 105.9 per cent surge in pre-tax profit for 2024, driven by record-high premium income and strict underwriting discipline. The UK motor insurer, which has struggled to keep up with the market in recent years, reported gross written premium growth of per cent year-on-year to £236.4m. IFRS profit before tax jumped [...]