Business confidence in the UK has climbed to its highest level since before last autumn’s budget, buoyed by President Trump’s decision to delay the full implementation of his reciprocal tariff regime, according to the latest survey from the Institute of Directors (IoD). The organisation’s economic confidence index rose from -58 in March to -51 in […]
The US economy shrank in the first quarter of 2025, marking its first contraction since early 2022, as a surge in imports ahead of President Trump’s sweeping new tariffs dragged down output, official figures show. Gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.3% on an annualised basis between January and March, according to the US Bureau […]
Greene King chief executive Nick Mackenzie has warned that rising business rates and employment costs are putting huge pressure on the UK pub sector, calling on the government to “level the playing field” and deliver meaningful reform by 2026. Speaking after the October budget, which introduced significant tax changes for hospitality businesses, Mackenzie said Greene […]
Families earning £100,000 a year are left with less disposable income than those on minimum wage if they send two children to private school, according to new analysis by financial planning firm Saltus. The introduction of VAT on private school fees has pushed costs sharply higher, leaving even high-earning parents struggling to cover education costs […]
Amazon has walked back from reported plans to show the cost of President Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods at the checkout, following a direct call from Trump to founder Jeff Bezos and a sharp rebuke from the White House. According to a report from Punchbowl News, Amazon had considered listing how much of a product’s […]
Duolingo is set to phase out its use of contract content creators and increase its reliance on artificial intelligence as part of a major strategic shift to become an “AI-first” company, according to a message from co-founder and CEO Luis von Ahn. In an internal email posted to LinkedIn on Tuesday, von Ahn told staff […]
Nigel Farage has provoked a storm of criticism from charities, campaigners, and political opponents after claiming that family doctors are “massively overdiagnosing” children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Speaking in Dover ahead of next week’s local elections, the Reform UK leader said that soaring numbers of SEND diagnoses were creating a “class of […]
Organisations and individuals working to remove barriers and improve the lives of disabled people were honoured last night at the Business Disability Forum’s Disability Smart Awards 2025 in London. Now in its 11th year, the event was sponsored by global law firm Freshfields and co-hosted by Business Disability Forum ambassador and broadcaster Simon Minty. The […]
“The amount of spending is going to change, and the type of spending, and where they’re putting their dollars,” said Walzak. “At the grocery store, when they go to the frozen section to buy chicken wings or chicken fingers, they (might buy), say, Pinty’s, a Canadian brand, versus an American brand,” said Walzak.
The sugar tax currently applied to fizzy drinks could soon be extended to milkshakes and similar products under new government proposals revealed on Monday. The Treasury launched a consultation on plans to remove the exemption for dairy-based drinks—and their non-dairy alternatives such as oat and rice milk—bringing them under the scope of the soft drinks […]