Advice on growing your small and medium sized business, SME, in the UK. Hiring and managing staff and finance plus marketing all on one website
Robert Jenrick’s package of Reform UK tax pledges, including scrapping income tax on overtime, cutting employer national insurance and lowering VAT for the self-employed, would eat into the taxes that raise three quarters of UK revenue with little detail on how the gap would be closed, according to Blick Rothenberg.
Bringing back tax-free shopping for international visitors would attract up to 2.35 million more tourists a year and hand the Treasury a £2.6 billion net gain, according to new research commissioned by Heart of London Business Alliance, as more than 500 business leaders urge the chancellor to act in the autumn budget.
London housing costs are limiting the ability of 74% of the capital’s business leaders to recruit and retain staff, according to polling for the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s new Choose LDN campaign, which urges the Prime Minister to use the Budget, devolution white paper and 10 Year Plan to make the capital more competitive rather than less.
Soul Padel raises £3.6 million from three family offices at a £30 million valuation, with six new clubs already through planning and the operator saying its schools, women’s and over-50s programmes and a 12,000-member loyalty platform give it the foundations to scale.
The Octopus Energy acquisition of Danish startup BD Energy hands its power trading arm a 31-strong team whose algorithms execute around 99 per cent of trades across 15 countries.
Aldi has been accused of desperation after its attack on supermarket loyalty schemes, with industry data showing the discounter’s sales growth falling well behind Lidl, M&S and the established chains.
An Amazon advertising lawsuit filed by the FTC and 22 US states alleges the company manipulated its ad auctions to overcharge more than a million advertising customers by an estimated $20bn since 2019, claims Amazon dismisses as misguided.
Research for Alan Milburn’s review of young people not in education, employment or training has found that employers regard a lack of soft skills and work readiness as the biggest barrier to hiring school leavers, while teachers report that young people’s preparedness for work has declined over the past five years.
Allica Bank has asked Sweden’s financial regulator to approve its first move outside the UK, applying for a Swedish banking licence months after a $155 million funding round valued the SME lender at close to $1.2 billion.
There is a version of this conversation that HR professionals have been having for years. Private health insurance is a nice-to-have. A perk for senior people. Something the big companies do. The reality in 2026 looks very different, and the data behind it should be getting the attention of every employer in the country.
Somers Forge, the Black Country maker of parts for naval vessels including nuclear submarines, says it will save up to £250,000 a year after forges were added to the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme, a change the Confederation of British Metalforming says makes most of its 200 member companies eligible for support.
A west London start-up has signed a first of its kind agreement with the US Maritime Administration to help build a fleet of nuclear-powered cargo ships. Core Power has raised 200 million dollars from Japanese backers and is targeting first construction of its propulsion systems in 2028.
The Phones 4u founder and the former Marks and Spencer chief executive have put their names to a campaign demanding the Chancellor reverse the taxes on entrepreneurs that its backers say are driving Britain’s business builders abroad, ahead of John Healey’s first Budget on 28 October.
Camra membership has dropped to an eight-year low and the campaign group ended the year almost £800,000 in the red, after a restructuring, redundancies and the cancellation of its flagship beer festival.
Almost half of the 420 owners surveyed by the National Pharmacy Association say rising pharmacy business rates bills have them considering closure, with 55 per cent looking at cheaper premises and 44 branches already shut this year, leaving the network at its smallest since 2006.
