Business leaders ‘remain depressed’ as employment costs spiral April 1, 2025 Business leaders remain disheartened about their organisations and the wider UK economy amid an escalating global trade war and higher employment costs, according to a new survey of over 600 directors. Confidence among company directors collapsed after Labour took office last year. Now the Institute of Directors (IoD)’s latest update to its monthly survey suggests [...]
Bank of England to hike FSCS protection from £85,000 to £110,000 March 31, 2025 UK depositors will receive greater protection from the Bank of England as the amount of money covered by a nationwide deposit guarantee scheme is set to rise to £110,000. The scheme provides financial protection to depositors in case banks, building societies, and credit unions become insolvent. It is funded by a levy paid by regulated [...]
UK mortgage approvals dip in February March 31, 2025 Mortgage approvals for house purchases decreased again in February as gains in consumer credit borrowing slowed down by £300m compared to January, the Bank of England said on Tuesday. House buying appeared to slow down as lenders approved around 65,500 mortgages in February, compared to some 66,100 in January. January saw a decrease of around [...]
Tax paid by companies has nearly doubled in 10 years March 31, 2025 Businesses account for over a quarter of all UK tax receipts, according to new research by Thomson Reuters. Chancellor Rachel Reeves said Labour would become more “pro-business” than previous governments in the run-up to last year’s election. But new data by Thomson Reuters raises questions about the Chancellor’s record in office as companies face an [...]
Are Brits getting richer? It depends how you measure growth March 30, 2025 Wobbly growth is the opposite of what Rachel Reeves would have hoped for in her first six months as Chancellor. While the headline figure on Friday morning said the UK economy had only expanded by 0.1 per cent in the last quarter of 2024, economists suggested that there was a more pressing matter at hand. [...]
Rachel Reeves has already lost half of her £9.9bn headroom March 28, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has had £5bn wiped off her headroom less than 48 hours after she delivered her Spring Statement, a calculation by Bloomberg Economics has suggested. Chancellor Reeves has received several warnings from leading economists at the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) that her headroom risks getting [...]
UK growth nearly stagnant in last quarter of 2024 March 28, 2025 The UK economy barely grew in the final quarter of 2024 as estimates remained unchanged, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has vowed to deliver growth “further and faster”. But Reeves has faced a rocky start as GDP only grew by 0.1 per cent between October and December. Previous [...]
Retail sales beat expectations as Brits keep shopping March 28, 2025 Retail sales volumes beat expectations in February as British shoppers seemed to loosen their spending habits, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Retail sales rose one per cent month-on-month after rising 1.4 per cent in January. Markets had expected a decline of 0.3 per cent. Annual retail sales growth came in at 2.2 [...]
Employers still nervous as £20bn tax rise ‘hangs over like a fog’, survey says March 28, 2025 Employers remain pessimistic about hiring new staff as businesses “hoped for more” from the Spring Statement, according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). Chancellor Rachel Reeves‘ Spring Statement saw multi-billion pound spending commitments on defence and construction as she vowed to “kickstart economic growth”. But a new survey of more than 700 UK employers [...]
Reeves ‘lost gamble’ and is likely to raise taxes, IFS claims March 27, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is “likely” to raise taxes at this year’s Autumn Budget, Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) director Paul Johnson has warned, as he claimed an extension to income tax thresholds would make for the “easiest political win”. Reeves’ announced her £40bn tax raid at the last Autumn Budget in October. The bulk of [...]
