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Latest News:

  • Business rates review to reset how pubs and hotels are valued
  • Profits almost halve at Britain’s 100 biggest restaurant groups
  • Britain’s hidden productivity boom masked by ‘flawed’ ONS data
  • Uber faces €825m GDPR fine over automated driver deactivations
  • Dragons’ Den star Sara Davies takes stake in Not On The High Street turnaround
  • JLR pauses Defender redesign, pushing all-electric version into the 2030s
  • Hundreds of pharmacies weigh closure as business rates bills soar
  • UK firms in critical financial distress rise 9% to more than 53,000
  • UK retail sales fall 0.5% in July as heatwave keeps shoppers away
  • Borrowing hits £1.8bn in July as Healey’s first budget looms

Category: News

The latest news affecting small and medium sized (SME) businesses in the UK

Donald Trump has described it as “very dangerous” for the UK to do business with China, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Shanghai on the third day of his official visit to the country.

Traders will pay to see Trump’s posts before you do

17 July 2026 Get Funded, News, Technology Jamie Young 0 Comments

Trump Media’s Truth API will sell trading firms millisecond access to the president’s market-moving Truth Social posts. What it means for UK firms.

England's World Cup semi-final against Argentina delivered the biggest single night of trading that Britain's pubs and bars have seen all tournament, with transactions up 145 per cent on the day and late-night trade between 10pm and 2am up 97 per cent, according to new figures from payments company Square.

England’s semi-final gives pubs their biggest night of the World Cup

17 July 2026 News Amy Ingham 0 Comments

England v Argentina gave pubs and bars a 145% sales surge, Square data shows. See which cities cashed in and what the final weekend holds for hospitality.

Andy Burnham

Rule out a wealth tax or own the exodus, Burnham warned

17 July 2026 News Jamie Young 0 Comments

Andy Burnham urged to rule out a UK wealth tax as advisers warn speculation alone is pushing millionaires, capital and investment out of Britain.

TikTok is under formal investigation by Ofcom over whether its age checks actually keep children off the platform, in the clearest signal yet that the regulator's online safety clampdown is moving beyond pornography sites and on to mainstream social media.

Ofcom investigates TikTok over ‘serious doubts’ its age checks work

16 July 2026 News, Technology Jamie Young 0 Comments

Ofcom launches an investigation into TikTok’s child age checks, casting doubt on age inference tech. Why the clampdown matters for UK platform owners.

British Steel has been taken into public ownership, with ministers arguing the only alternative was to let the country's last producer of virgin steel go bust. For the thousands of smaller firms that rely on Scunthorpe's output, the move ends years of uncertainty, but leaves taxpayers footing a running bill of about £1.3 million a day.

British Steel nationalised as ministers refuse to let it go bust

16 July 2026 News Amy Ingham 0 Comments

British Steel nationalisation secures 2,700 Scunthorpe jobs and the UK’s last virgin steel supply. What public ownership means for SME supply chains.

Britain's biggest pub landlord is under formal investigation over suspicions it mistreated the thousands of small business owners who run its tied pubs, an inquiry that could end in a fine of up to £16 million.

Stonegate faces £16m fine threat over treatment of pub tenants

16 July 2026 News Jamie Young 0 Comments

The Pubs Code Adjudicator is investigating Stonegate over its treatment of tied pub tenants, with fines of up to £16m possible. What tenants should know.

Amidst tumbling energy costs and a fierce price war among supermarkets, food price inflation in the UK has reached its lowest level in almost two years, offering a respite to households grappling with stretched budgets.

Economy grows 0.1% as Burnham inherits ‘stagflationary’ Britain

16 July 2026 News Amy Ingham 0 Comments

UK GDP grew 0.1% in May 2026 as services rebounded. Andy Burnham inherits a stagflationary economy: what slowing growth now means for UK SME owners.

Elon Musk has launched a $134 billion lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, claiming both companies unjustly profited from his early backing of the artificial intelligence pioneer and abandoned its founding mission.

SpaceX slips below IPO price as UK investors’ £271m bet turns sour

16 July 2026 Get Funded, News Jamie Young 0 Comments

SpaceX shares have fallen below their $135 IPO price for the first time, leaving UK retail investors who spent £271m in the float nursing paper losses.

Exclusive research finds more than 80% of 2,000 UK SME owners are fearful about what an Andy Burnham premiership would mean for their business after his Makerfield by-election win.

Scrap the triple lock and save £60bn, Burnham told

15 July 2026 News Jamie Young 0 Comments

OECD tells Andy Burnham scrapping the pension triple lock would save £60bn, urging broader taxes and deeper devolution. What it means for UK SMEs.

The humble lamp post is about to start paying its way. West Northamptonshire is to host one of the UK's largest local on-street electric vehicle charging programmes, with more than 3,000 sockets, most of them fitted to existing lamp columns, due to start appearing on residential streets from mid 2026.

West Northants streets to gain 3,000 EV charging sockets in £2.85m rollout

15 July 2026 News Jamie Young 0 Comments

West Northamptonshire will install over 3,000 on-street EV charging sockets via lamp posts under the LEVI fund. What the rollout means for local firms.

The billionaire Irish brothers behind Stripe have teamed up with American private equity firm Advent International in a $53 billion-plus bid for PayPal, a deal that would put two of the payment platforms most relied upon by UK small businesses under the same roof.

Stripe and Advent swoop on PayPal with $53bn takeover bid

15 July 2026 Get Funded, News Amy Ingham 0 Comments

Stripe and Advent International have made a $53bn takeover bid for PayPal. What the deal could mean for the fees and payment tools UK SMEs rely on.

London's business community has given the Chancellor's Mansion House speech a warm reception on paper and a stark warning in the small print: almost half of the capital's firms believe the Government's current approach will make economic growth worse, not better.

Half of London firms fear policy will worsen growth, LCCI warns

15 July 2026 News Amy Ingham 0 Comments

Mansion House speech 2026: LCCI welcomes SME finance boost but 49% of London firms fear policy will worsen growth. What Reeves’ plans mean for SMEs.

Britain's biggest companies are getting quicker at paying their bills. New official statistics show the time large businesses take to pay their suppliers has fallen, and the proportion of invoices paid late dropped to 15 per cent in 2025, down from 25 per cent when records began in 2018.

Late payments fall to lowest level on record as landmark bill looms

15 July 2026 News Amy Ingham 0 Comments

New official data shows large firms paid just 15% of invoices late in 2025, down from 25% in 2018, as the UK’s late payments crackdown gathers pace.

Sending cargo into orbit is getting cheaper faster than shipping freight did during the steamship revolution of the 1800s, and the cost could fall by more than 90 per cent again by 2040, according to Cambridge-led research that suggests space is fast becoming a marketplace rather than a moonshot.

$300 a kilo: space cargo costs falling faster than steam ever did

14 July 2026 News Jamie Young 0 Comments

Space launch costs are falling faster than steamship freight in the 1800s and could hit $300 a kilo by 2040. What the space economy means for UK firms.

The small businesses behind Britain's live music industry have been handed a rare piece of good news, as the government's first long-term music strategy promises a £45 million growth fund, lighter-touch festival licensing and a two-year freeze on business rates bills for venues.

Festivals get longer licences and red tape cut in £45m music plan

14 July 202614 July 2026 In Business, News Amy Ingham 0 Comments

The government’s new UK music plan promises festival licensing reform and a £45m growth fund. What Turn It Up means for venues, clubs and small firms.

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Latest Content

Over 400 pubs across England and Wales have closed in 2024, pushing the total below 39,000. Rising costs, looming tax hikes, and diminished rates relief threaten even more closures in the coming year.

Business rates review to reset how pubs and hotels are valued

Andy Burnham has ordered a business rates review of the way pubs and hotels are valued, appointing an expert who has called for “fundamental reform, not tinkering” to report to the Treasury by March 2027, in time for the findings to be applied at the next revaluation.

Profits almost halve at Britain’s 100 biggest restaurant groups

Britain’s hidden productivity boom masked by ‘flawed’ ONS data

Uber faces €825m GDPR fine over automated driver deactivations

Dragons’ Den star Sara Davies takes stake in Not On The High Street turnaround

Camra membership falls to eight-year low as beer campaigner slips £800,000 into the red

JLR pauses Defender redesign, pushing all-electric version into the 2030s

Hundreds of pharmacies weigh closure as business rates bills soar

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