Category: News

The British Chambers of Commerce has warned of a “deeply concerning” gap between small and large UK exporters, urging government action to help micro businesses benefit from new trade deals ahead of International Trade Week.

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has launched a scathing attack on Chancellor Rachel Reeves, claiming her wealth and air travel taxes will “doom” the UK economy — as the airline posts record half-year profits of €2.54bn.

HSBC becomes the first major UK bank since 2008 to offer loans worth up to 6.5 times a borrower’s income, as lenders ease affordability rules to boost home ownership amid high house-price ratios.

Asda has sold Leon back to co-founder John Vincent after criticism the supermarket was “destroying” the healthy fast-food brand, marking a dramatic U-turn four years after its £100m sale to the Issa brothers.

Mulberry CEO Andrea Baldo has warned that Britain’s “unfair” tax regime is damaging competitiveness, urging Labour to reinstate VAT-free shopping for tourists to revive investment, jobs, and high street sales.

Fears of a potential mansion tax in Rachel Reeves’s upcoming Budget have driven a 4% annual drop in London’s prime house prices — the steepest decline since 2021, according to Knight Frank.

The Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation and Institute of Directors have unveiled a joint scholarship to accelerate the careers of exceptional Black leaders, offering fully funded training, mentoring and IoD membership from October 2025.

Ministers face scrutiny after claiming credit for aiding Jaguar Land Rover’s supply chain, despite the carmaker not drawing on a £1.5bn government-backed loan facility set up following a crippling cyberattack.

The UK could see 600,000 more people leave the workforce by 2035 due to poor health, costing £36bn a year, unless employers and ministers overhaul workplace wellbeing standards, warns the Royal Society for Public Health.

The Labour government will cut electricity network charges for energy-intensive industries from 60% to 90% next year, saving around 500 British factories £420m annually as it races to stem a wave of industrial closures.

The Bank of England is poised for a finely balanced vote next week on whether to cut interest rates to 3.75%, as falling inflation meets fresh concerns over growth and looming tax rises in Rachel Reeves’s upcoming budget.

More than 100 business and charity leaders have signed an open letter calling on ministers to “lead the country’s transition toward a shorter working week”, amid a growing row over the future of the four-day week in local government.

The number of pensioners paying a punishing 60 per cent income tax rate has more than doubled in just three years, as frozen tax thresholds drag tens of thousands more older savers into higher tax bands.