Britain’s petrol station tycoons, Mohsin and Zuber Issa, are weighing up a potential £13 billion listing of their forecourt empire, EG Group, on an American stock market. The move would mark another blow for the London Stock Exchange, which has been hit by a raft of high-profile companies choosing to float abroad. Sources suggest that […]
Luxury yacht manufacturer Sunseeker has sought to reassure employees that it “deeply values” their contributions, after the firm announced a series of temporary layoffs affecting production staff in early 2025. The move, prompted by what Sunseeker describes as “cash-flow challenges” linked to supply chain disruption, has drawn criticism from Unite the Union and local MP […]
Major government contractors are pushing the costs of rising national insurance (NI) and higher wage bills back onto the Treasury, prompting concerns over the ultimate burden on taxpayers. Cleaning and facilities management groups such as Churchill Group and Mitie, together with construction giant Mace, are among those negotiating with Whitehall to pass on the financial […]
Middle-class parents have welcomed the government’s move to introduce a 20 per cent VAT charge on private school fees, according to education secretary Bridget Phillipson. Speaking ahead of the policy’s launch this Wednesday, Phillipson says that many families are “priced out” of independent education by rising costs, and now want a stronger state system instead. […]
More than 40,000 individuals found time between turkey dinners and tinsel to file their 2023–24 Self Assessment tax return over the festive period, new figures from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) reveal. While many were tucking into Christmas leftovers or huddling around the television, 4,400 people submitted their online returns on Christmas Day itself. Another […]
Public sector workers now earn about 6 per cent more than their private sector counterparts — triple the gap seen at the start of this year — according to new analysis by the Resolution Foundation. The think tank’s research indicates that a series of generous wage settlements under Sir Keir Starmer’s Government have widened the […]
Repeated increases in stamp duty have taken a heavy toll on high-end London property sales, with transactions in Britain’s two most expensive boroughs falling by 42 per cent over the past decade. According to new analysis by Savills, deals in Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster have slumped from 10,665 in 2013–14 to around 6,200 in […]
Britons are expected to shell out a total of £4.6 billion in the Boxing Day sales this year, with the average shopper forecast to spend £236, new research from Barclays shows. Although that figure is marginally lower than in 2023, when £4.7 billion was spent, it still points to a robust appetite for deals despite […]
Homebase is set to return in a slimmed-down format after the DIY chain’s collapse last month, with its new owner CDS confirming plans to reopen 70 former stores under the Range Superstores banner. Each outlet will preserve the Homebase name in garden centre sections, and some will also incorporate Homebase-branded kitchen departments. CDS, founded by […]
BMW has acknowledged that more than 100 of its high-end vehicles were sold to Russian customers, breaching international sanctions imposed after the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. The German carmaker attributed the sales to a handful of rogue employees at its Hanover branch, who have since been dismissed. BMW, along with other major German manufacturers like […]