Tata Steel, the UK’s largest steelmaker, faces potential exclusion from Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s new tariff-free trade agreement with the United States, prompting urgent talks between ministers and US counterparts. The company, which operates the vast Port Talbot site in south Wales, fears it may fall foul of stringent US origin rules that threaten its […]
More than 2,500 leading voices from the UK’s arts sector, including the heads of the National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company, have signed an open letter warning that Labour’s proposed changes to the Access to Work scheme risk excluding disabled people from the workforce entirely. Indhu Rubasingham, artistic director of the National Theatre, and Tamara […]
Scammers stole £47 million from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) by fraudulently accessing more than 100,000 taxpayer accounts using phishing tactics, the tax authority has revealed. The large-scale fraud was exposed during a Treasury Select Committee hearing, where senior HMRC officials were criticised for failing to inform MPs earlier. According to the department, the criminals […]
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed that more pensioners will be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment this year, signalling a U-turn on one of Labour’s earliest and most contentious policies. The payment – worth up to £300 – had previously been limited to those receiving pension credit, cutting support to around 10 million pensioners in […]
An increasing number of American taxpayers are eyeing the UK as their new home, according to Blick Rothenberg, a leading UK-based audit, tax, and business advisory firm. The trend is being fuelled by a mix of political uncertainty in the United States and the relative attractiveness of the UK as a destination for high-net-worth individuals […]
TikTok has formed a new SME Council to give Britain’s small businesses a bigger say in the evolving digital economy, bringing together entrepreneurs, founders, and content creators who have used the platform to fuel growth. The inaugural gathering of the council, held at Stoke-on-Trent town hall, saw 20 small and medium-sized business owners from across […]
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has unveiled a £15.6 billion package to fund trams, trains and bus networks outside London, as Labour seeks to reset the political narrative ahead of a difficult spending review. The move is designed to reassure restless MPs—many representing marginal seats—that the government’s capital investment plans will deliver tangible improvements in infrastructure, jobs […]
UK steelmakers have narrowly avoided being hit with a damaging 50% import tariff by the United States – for now – after President Trump signed an Executive Order confirming that the UK will remain under the existing 25% tariff while a new bilateral steel agreement is finalised. The temporary reprieve comes despite earlier warnings that […]
The British Business Bank has reached a major milestone in its mission to support smaller businesses across the UK, with more than £5 billion now delivered through its ENABLE structured guarantee programmes. Since the first transaction in 2017, the ENABLE Guarantees and ENABLE Build schemes have backed lending to a wide range of sectors — […]
British manufacturers have urged the government to ensure that small and medium-sized businesses are major beneficiaries of the UK’s rising defence spending by embedding legally binding offset agreements in future military procurement contracts. Ahead of the release of the government’s revised Defence Industrial Strategy, MakeUK Defence — the trade body representing more than 600 UK […]