Exclusive: Labour’s relationship with business ‘at a critical point’, retail boss warns November 19, 2024 If a week is a long time in politics, then four months in retail is a lifetime. When Helen Dickinson, the chief executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), last sat down with City AM in late July, she could hardly have been more effusive in her praise for the incoming Chancellor and her business [...]
Budget will hurt UK wage growth, Goldman Sachs warns November 18, 2024 UK consumer spending is set to slump next year and dent UK growth, analysts at Goldman Sachs have warned, as the impact of the Budget ripples through the economy. The rise to employers’ national insurance (NI) contributions will lead to slower wage growth for staff and higher costs for consumers, the investment bank wrote in [...]
Non-doms: South Africa’s richest woman is fighting to stay in the UK November 18, 2024 When it comes to leaving countries in a hurry, Magda Wierzycka has plenty of experience. At just 12 years old, the South African entrepreneur and her parents fled their native Poland under the the cover of night, becoming refugees after its communist government declared martial law. Ending up in South Africa – via an Austrian [...]
Telegraph frontrunner has ‘high confidence’ in bid despite losing backer November 14, 2024 The frontrunner in the race to buy The Telegraph has maintained that his bid for the paper is still on track despite one of his key backers withdrawing its financial support. Dovid Efune, the British owner of the New York Sun, had entered exclusive talks to buy The Telegraph Media Group last month after trumping [...]
Ex-BP boss says Labour is ‘ignoring’ UK’s energy needs November 12, 2024 The new government’s decision to divest from North Sea oil and set up a state-owned renewable energy company is the “last thing” it should be doing, the former chief executive of BP has said. Bob Dudley, who ran the British petrochemical giant BP for ten years, told City AM that energy secretary Ed Miliband was [...]
Business Budget backlash builds as hospitality giants write to Chancellor November 11, 2024 The government is under increasing pressure to revisit its hikes to employer national insurance contributions and the minimum wage after a number of the UK’s largest employers voiced concerns about the impact of the changes on their costs and operations. Over 200 of the UK’s biggest hospitality businesses signed a letter to the Chancellor yesterday [...]
Government ‘would breach fiscal rules with minor rate rise’ November 5, 2024 The Chancellor would be in breach of her own fiscal rules if interest rates remain just 30 basis points higher than the fiscal watchdog forecasts, Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) economists have said. Giving evidence to the Treasury Committee, OBR member Tom Josephs told MPs that his colleagues conducted analysis that found “a change of [...]
Workers’ rights package is ‘overdue and welcome’, says Ella’s Kitchen founder November 5, 2024 The government’s workers’ rights overhaul contains positive measures that will allow financially sustainable businesses to flourish, one of the UK’s leading entrepreneurs has said, calling for proper consultation with businesses on changes to the probation period. Paul Lindley OBE, the founder of the UK’s largest baby food brand Ella’s Kitchen and a pioneer of the [...]
Natwest shares hit 13-year high after broker upgrade November 4, 2024 Natwest shares jumped to a 13-year high on Monday after a leading broker upgraded the bank’s price target. Shares in the London-listed bank, formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS), jumped over three per cent on Monday to just under 390p per share. The discernible jump came after analysts at Peel Hunt upgraded [...]
Thousands join march in London against water industry November 3, 2024 Thousands of campaigners flooded the streets of London on Sunday in protest against the poor quality and treatment of water in the UK. Coordinated by River Action and led by Chris Packham, the March for Clean Water saw at least 15,000 protesters filter through Westminster to urge Prime Minister Keir Starmer to take immediate action [...]