Halfords: Customers more cautious on Autumn budget fears October 22, 2024 Uncertainty around the Autumn budget is holding back consumer confidence, Halfords warned today. This morning the retailer said group like-for-like sales ticked down by 0.1 per cent in the 26 weeks to 27 September, on strong prior-year comparatives of 8.3 per cent growth plus a wet spring. The company is on track to deliver £30m [...]
Borrowing beats expectations as Rachel Reeves prepares tax rises October 22, 2024 The borrowing figures are merely the latest indication of the challenging fiscal position which the new government has inherited as the Budget approaches.
The Notebook: The self-employed pension crisis is on the cusp of boiling point October 22, 2024 A new report has shown the self-employed are facing a pension crisis. Interactive Investor's Craig Rickman digs into the findings.
UK investors rush to venture capital trusts ahead of Budget October 22, 2024 Two venture capital trusts (VCTs) have raised £90m in just 45 days as investors rush into the vehicles ahead of a potential hike in capital gains tax at the Budget. Capital gains tax currently sits at 20 per cent but rumours are spreading that the levy could be lifted by Rachel Reeves’s at her first [...]
‘Incredible undervaluations’: Why this boss thinks the time is right to float on AIM October 22, 2024 A new acquisition vehicle announced plans to float on AIM last week despite a barrage of warnings over its future ahead of the budget. Its boss, Iain McDonald, tells City AM why. In a letter to the City minister, Tulip Siddiq, last month, the boss of the London Stock Exchange had some stark words on [...]
It’s hard work working out what ‘working people’ means October 22, 2024 Politicians do like to lump people together. In recent years we’ve had the squeezed middle, the just-about-managing, hard working families and (who could forget?) Nick Clegg’s “alarm clock Britain.” To this list of amorphous jargon we must now add “working people.” Labour figures have been leaning on the phrase for months, not least as part [...]
A warning to Reeves: These tax rises will damage UK competitiveness October 22, 2024 Not only is the UK tax burden at record levels, but we are raising money in a more damaging way than our competitors. And the Budget could be about to make things even worse, says Daniel Herring Next week, Rachel Reeves needs to try not to make the UK’s tax system worse. Yesterday the US-based [...]
What are the biggest risks to pension saving in the Autumn Budget? October 22, 2024 Reeves faces difficult decisions at next week's Budget, but tampering risks creating more problems in the long-term, writes KPMG's Stephen Collins.
Workers’ rights reform set to slap British businesses with £5bn bill October 21, 2024 British businesses are set to be imposed with a £5bn additional cost annually as a result of the new workers' rights, with smaller businesses in hospitality and retail set to hit the hardest
Margaret Thatcher’s Westminster home is up for sale October 21, 2024 Political junkies, rejoice! The central London house, which served as Margaret Thatcher’s home after she fell from power and John Major’s headquarters during his tenure, is officially up for sale at £3.65m. The three-bedroom Georgian townhouse on Great College Street packs a political punch. It has also served as a place for Conservatives to gather [...]