Jeremy Hunt readies placeholder budget that will let a lot of people down March 9, 2023 Jeremy Hunt is going to let a lot of people down at his budget next Wednesday. Businesses. Families. Even former Prime Ministers. The Chancellor is poised to resist calls to save a flatlining economy by staying the course set in his November autumn statement of balancing the books. Households want an extension of energy support [...]
Everyone hates inheritance tax. But what are the best arguments against it? November 21, 2023 Nothing boils the blood of Britons like inheritance tax, often dubbed the “most hated tax”. The paradox is that only four per cent of deceased people are actually affected ( more will be impacted by the death of someone).
Inside the new Pret menu for autumn, featuring lasagne soup September 5, 2023 The sun’s finally blazing, which means it must be time for… the new Pret menu, fresh for autumn, with their seasonal Christmas winter-warmer drinks, of course… The sandwich chain has just announced its new autumn menu which features its biggest range of new dishes since 2019. Top of the list to try is the interesting-sounding [...]
UK’s Motor Fuel Group in £2bn fuel stations deal talks with Morrisons September 9, 2023 UK’s Motor Fuel Group (MFG) is in talks with supermarket chain Morrisons for 340 fuel retail forecourts in a deal that could be worth about £2bn, the petrol stations giant said. The company, in a statement to Reuters on Friday, said a deal would also include 500 freehold plots of land at the supermarket chain’s [...]
Why is the UK economy poised to tumble into a recession and fall behind Europe, US and even Russia? February 16, 2023 Britain avoided a much-tipped recession at the end of last year. Phew. “However, we are not out of the woods yet,” warned Chancellor Jeremy Hunt after last Friday’s GDP figures from the ONS revealed the economy stagnated at the end of 2022, meaning it narrowly avoided the technical recession definition of two consecutive quarters of [...]
Wales coach Gatland won’t apologise for pushing players “to the limit” ahead of Rugby World Cup June 25, 2023 Wales head coach Warren Gatland has said he would not apologise for pushing his players “to the limit” ahead of this autumn’s Rugby World Cup. Since naming a 54-man squad in May, four players – Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric , Cory Hill and Rhys Webb – withdrew from the squad over new contracts or [...]
Hunt readies for biggest budget since Cameron and Osborne’s first outing November 15, 2022 Thursday’s budget (okay, Autumn Statement) is the biggest since David Cameron and George Osborne’s first statement in 2010, just after they seized the keys to number 10 (with a little help from the Liberal Democrats) from Gordon Brown’s Labour. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt faces a daunting task. Weaker than expected economic growth, high inflation and a [...]
Shoe Zone blames higher costs and Red Sea disruption for ‘slower than expected’ sales March 12, 2024 Shoe Zone has blamed higher costs, the disruption in the Red Sea and "slower than expected" sales at the end of 2023 for its reduced performance in recent months.
Naked Wines: Chair apologises after economy corks revenues September 19, 2023 In a letter to shareholders, the chairman of Naked Wines apologised after the online booze supplier reported disappointing full year results. In a trading update the British wine supplier said new customer investment dropped by 48 per cent, while repeat customer contribution stayed roughly flat. Shares dropped ten per cent on Tuesday morning. New sales [...]
From Poll Tax to tampons and 10p rates: Historic U-turns that left governments red faced October 4, 2022 Kwasi Kwarteng was forced into a U-turn on plans to scrap the 45p tax rate yesterday, just ten days after announcing the proposal in his ‘mini-budget’. While undoubtedly embarrassing for the new Chancellor, he is by no means alone in having to rapidly rethink big Budget announcements. City A.M. caught up with AJ Bell head [...]