National Insurance hike will be ‘difficult’ for businesses, warns CBI boss October 15, 2024 Increasing employers’ National Insurance contributions will make it “harder for businesses to create the jobs and the growth” needed to “help fund our public services”, the boss of one of the UK’s largest business groups has warned. Speaking a day after Keir Starmer refused to rule out hiking National Insurance contributions paid by businesses, Rain [...]
Public backs online gambling tax raid as rumours of duty hike swirl October 15, 2024 Hiking taxes on online casino gambling would raise the government as much as £900m and has the support of over half of UK voters, according to a report from an influential think tank. The study by centrist think tank the Social Market Foundation (SMF), proposed a doubling of the rate of tax on online gambling, [...]
Smith & Nephew hits back at claims it massaged profit margins October 14, 2024 Embattled hip and knee implant maker Smith & Nephew has hit back at a report claiming that it deployed aggressive accounting techniques to bolster its profit margins.
Gambling stocks Flutter, Entain and Evoke nosedive on Budget tax fears October 14, 2024 Shares in British gambling firms plummeted on Monday morning after reports that the government was eyeing up £3bn tax rises on the sector in a move that one investment bank said would “all but wipe out bookmaker profitability in the UK”. William Hill-owner Evoke saw its share price crater by over 13 per cent in [...]
Eli Lilly: UK must improve its offering as a ‘small market’ after Brexit October 14, 2024 The UK has become a “relatively small market” since leaving the European Union and must develop a different investment proposition from its counterparts in order to be interesting to multinational corporations, the boss of one of the world’s largest pharmaceuticals firms has said. Speaking shortly after his firm announced it “anticipates making £279m investment over [...]
Zopa and Oaknorth founders warn against hiking capital gains tax October 14, 2024 Raising capital gains tax to between 33 and 39 per cent in an attempt to shore up the government finances “should be resisted” and may “end up lowering the tax take”, a group of 500 British entrepreneurs has warned. In an open letter to the Chancellor, which is signed by the founders of Signal AI, [...]
BHP facing 620,000 claimants in London trial over Brazilian dam collapse October 13, 2024 A landmark trial will get under way at the High Court in London later this month against Anglo-Australian mining firm BHP. London-listed BHP will defend itself against allegations of negligence and look to avoid paying damages that could rise to as much as £33.6bn at a trial from 21 October relating to its role in [...]
Top-rated water firms dumped 1,374 ‘illegal’ spills into UK rivers October 13, 2024 Two of the UK’s largest water firms breached their permits by dumping over a thousand raw sewage spills into rivers, even though they had received the highest possible environmental rating from one of the sector’s regulators, fresh analysis has revealed. Severn Trent and United Utilities oversaw 1,374 raw sewage spills from treatment works across more [...]
Activist investor calls for BP chair to quit after ’embarrassing’ performance October 13, 2024 An activist investor famed for ousting senior leadership has called for BP chair Helge Lund to quit after the oil major’s “embarrassing” performance. Bluebell Capital Partners, a London-based hedge fund, has written to BP’s board board twice in the past few weeks attacking its management and the firm’s approach to the transition. Bluebell co-founders, Guiseppe [...]
Post Office boss told he did not need to ‘dig into’ Horizon scandal October 9, 2024 The outgoing Post Office chief executive said he was told he “did not need to dig into the details” of the Horizon IT scandal when he joined the business despite it having led to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of sub-postmasters. During what was the first of three days of evidence at the Horizon inquiry, [...]
