Jamie Oliver accuses ministers of “battering” UK entrepreneurs with punishing taxes, warning that hospitality SMEs are being squeezed out as Britain risks losing its edge on enterprise.
Category: News
The latest news affecting small and medium sized (SME) businesses in the UK
Starmer urged to chair new cabinet committee on economic security as supply-chain shocks bite
BCC calls on Sir Keir Starmer to chair a new cabinet committee shielding UK businesses from global shocks, with 75% of British exports relying on imported parts.
Three licensed venues a day are going dark as Britain’s hospitality sector buckles
Pubs, bars and restaurants are pleading for targeted relief as wage bills, energy costs and a Gulf-driven fuel spike collide with consumers who have stopped spending.
Ministers urge British boardrooms to sign cyber-resilience pledge as AI threat escalates
Ministers have written to nearly 200 UK business leaders urging them to sign a new cyber-resilience pledge as Anthropic’s Mythos AI model raises hacking fears across the City, banks and SMEs.
HMRC backs down on free-drugs VAT raid as pharma giants threaten UK exodus
HMRC has paused enforcing VAT bills on free medicines supplied through compassionate use schemes after Bayer halted new patient enrolments and pharma giants warned the levy threatens the UK’s life sciences sector.
UK employers saddled with sharpest tax rise in developed world, OECD finds
Britain’s tax wedge jumped 2.45 points in a year — 16 times the OECD average — as Reeves’s employer NI hike and frozen thresholds punish SMEs and shrink payrolls.
L’Oréal banks on the ‘lipstick effect’ as anxious shoppers reach for affordable luxuries
The world’s largest cosmetics group shrugs off the drag from the Iran war, posting forecast-beating first-quarter sales as European consumers treat themselves to small indulgences and China stirs back into life.
Employers hit with £28bn National Insurance Shock as rate rise bites harder than treasury forecast
Employers’ National Insurance Contributions have soared by £28bn in a single year, £4bn above the Government’s own forecast, triggering redundancies in hospitality and retail and slowing hiring across the UK private sector.
UK borrowing slips to four-year low but Middle East tensions threaten Reeves’s fiscal plan
UK government borrowing dropped to £12.6bn in March, a four-year low, as debt interest payments tumbled. But economists warn the Middle East conflict could wipe out Rachel Reeves’s fiscal headroom.
Tesla accelerates European comeback as EV sales surge past one-in-five milestone
Tesla sales jump 84% in Europe as electric vehicles now account for more than one in five new cars registered. Germany overtakes UK on EV penetration.
Ryan Giggs nurses £100,000 loss as Manchester restaurant venture collapses owing creditors more than £560,000
Former Manchester United captain Ryan Giggs is £99,925 out of pocket after his restaurant George’s Dining Room and Bar folded owing creditors £563,600, with HMRC, staff and lenders all left empty-handed.
British Business Bank anchors Northern Gritstone’s £20m rolling close as northern deeptech push gathers pace
British Business Bank commits £10m as cornerstone investor in Northern Gritstone’s £20m rolling close, lifting the VC firm’s permanent capital to £382m to back Northern deeptech and life sciences spinouts.
Luxury Marketing in Italy: What Has Changed and How to Communicate with a High-End Audience
The luxury market in Italy continues to serve as a global benchmark, thanks to a unique combination of tradition, craftsmanship, and innovation.
Mobile operators warn of signal rationing as energy costs spiral
UK mobile operators VodafoneThree, Virgin Media O2 and EE warn they may ration signal access and introduce surge pricing after being excluded from Rachel Reeves’s energy support scheme.
Royal Mail commits £500m to fix delivery failures as Kretinsky era takes shape
Royal Mail unveils a £500m, five-year plan to tackle late deliveries, scrap Saturday second-class post and shift 6,000 part-time staff to full-time hours.
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