Financial advice for owners and managers of small and medium sized business SMEs in the UK All your tax, borrowing and administration advice
Restaurant group profits across Britain’s 100 largest operators have fallen by almost half in a year, to £204 million, as higher employers’ national insurance, a rising minimum wage and dearer ingredients eat into margins, even as combined sales climbed to £13.3 billion.
UK productivity growth has been far stronger than the official numbers show, according to new Resolution Foundation research which says flawed Office for National Statistics measurements have concealed a two year recovery in output per hour.
The number of UK companies in critical financial distress rose 9 per cent year-on-year to 53,756 in the three months to June, according to BTG’s latest Red Flag report, with consumer-facing sectors such as leisure, hotels and sports clubs bearing the brunt as confidence and spending stay subdued.
UK borrowing July 2026 figures from the ONS show the government borrowed £1.8 billion in a month that usually produces a surplus, leaving the deficit more than £2 billion above the official forecast for the year so far as John Healey prepares his maiden budget on 28 October.
Talk of a Harry and Meghan tax masterstroke is premature, according to Parker Walsh’s Molly Monks, who says there is no “magic date” in August, split-year treatment is not automatic and the couple’s homes in California and Portugal could produce overlapping bills rather than an easy loophole.
Councils are sitting on an estimated £2.2bn of unspent Community Infrastructure Levy receipts, and Blick Rothenberg says the Government should let them spend a share of it on apprenticeships and construction training where a lack of skilled workers is holding back development.
The competition regulator has opened a drip pricing investigation into Trainline, Virgin Atlantic and RED Driving School over concerns that mandatory fees were not shown to customers upfront.
UK inflation climbed to 2.9 per cent in July, its highest since March, after a 13 per cent rise in the Ofgem energy price cap took effect — with investors now weighing the chance of an interest rate rise before the end of the year.
Personal insolvencies in England and Wales were 14 per cent higher in July than a year earlier, driven by a rise in individual voluntary arrangements that took monthly numbers to their highest since November 2022.
UK borrowing costs hit a near two-decade high on Tuesday as the government sold ten-year gilts at 5.155 per cent, the highest rate since August 2007.
Aviva and Aberdeen chiefs urge John Healey to stop budget leaks after pension tax speculation led savers to withdraw cash before the last two budgets.
Harrods profit rebounded to £84.9m in the year to January, its latest accounts show, after Al Fayed compensation payouts drove last year’s £34m loss.
NatWest is stepping up drought support for farmers, offering repayment holidays and emergency lending as dry conditions hit yields and farm cashflow.
Gilt yields are forecast to fall before the 28 October budget, analysts say, as investors weigh UK bonds against volatile US and Japanese debt markets.
Accell Group, the Dutch owner of Raleigh bikes, has entered insolvency proceedings, with its UK and Ireland arm moving to appoint administrators.
