Business

A new report by the Autonomy Institute has found that companies donating to Labour have been awarded nearly £138m in government contracts during the party’s first year in office. The findings, which echo similar patterns under the previous Conservative administration, have reignited concerns over political transparency and procurement integrity, with anti-corruption campaigners calling for reforms to prevent companies that donate to political parties from bidding for public contracts. The report identified eight companies that donated...

LinkedIn is facing mounting calls to suspend the account of Sam Wall, a 55-year-old digital marketing strategist from Cheadle, who was jailed for 28 months on Friday after pleading guilty to stalking, harassment and malicious communication. Despite her conviction and a court-issued restraining order, Wall’s LinkedIn Premium profile — with nearly 27,000 followers — remained active at the time of writing. The Crown Court in Preston heard that Wall’s “prolonged, deliberate and calculated” campaign targeted...

Television dramas have long had a fascination with the legal world. From Rumpole of the Bailey and Kavanagh QC to Silk, The Split, and perhaps most memorably This Life, the profession is often portrayed as a chaotic cocktail of high-stakes cases, late nights, tortured personal relationships, and constant ethical dilemmas. These portrayals capture the emotional intensity that legal work can bring, but they also create myths. The truth is often more grounded and, importantly for...

The number of high-earning women in the UK has risen to a record 284,000, according to new analysis by Bowmore Wealth Group. The figure — covering the year to 31 March 2025 — represents a 12% increase from 254,000 the previous year and means women now make up 26% of top-rate taxpayers, up from 25% last year and 24% the year before. The top or ‘additional’ rate of income tax, currently set at 45%, applies...

eBay UK has unveiled the winners of its 2025 eBay Top Seller Awards, celebrating the small businesses and entrepreneurs powering the UK’s growth story across fashion, technology, sustainability and community enterprise. Now in its ninth year, the awards honour outstanding independent retailers and innovators trading on eBay’s marketplace, highlighting their impact on both the domestic economy and global exports. With nearly 134 million customers worldwide, eBay remains one of the largest enablers of small business...

Scottish finance expert Craig Alexander Rattray has called for stronger government protections for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) involved in legal disputes with large corporations, following his own trademark battle with billion-dollar accounting firm Xero. Rattray, founder of the financial education programme Know Your Numbers®, claims that Xero’s use of a name “strikingly similar” to his registered trademark has exposed how difficult — and expensive — it is for smaller businesses to defend their intellectual...

Natural Resources Wales (NRW), a Welsh government-sponsored body, has paid a £14.6 million settlement to HMRC after admitting to historic non-compliance with the UK’s IR35 off-payroll working rules. The settlement, which includes a £2.9 million penalty (suspended for 12 months), stems from errors in determining the employment status of contractors engaged between 2017 and recent years. NRW confirmed it had been in discussions with HMRC since 2017, when off-payroll reforms first came into effect for...

Hensol Castle Distillery has announced a series of record-breaking achievements for the first six months of its financial year, underscoring its growing status as one of Wales’s most successful spirits producers. The business achieved an AA grade in its latest BRCGS re-audit — the highest possible certification — recognising world-class standards in product safety, quality and traceability. The distillery also expanded its supermarket partnerships, with new listings driving growth across Wales and the UK. Its...

Apple has lost a major competition case in the UK after the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ruled that the company abused its dominant position in the digital app marketplace by overcharging millions of iPhone and iPad users for apps and in-app purchases. The tribunal found in favour of Dr Rachael Kent, a senior lecturer at King’s College London, who brought the collective action lawsuit Kent v Apple on behalf of nearly 36 million UK consumers...

Women working in the technology sector have been urged to trust their instincts, back their ideas, and challenge barriers to change, as industry leaders gathered at the first Inspiring Women in Technology event in Birmingham. The event, hosted by the School of Coding & AI (SOC), brought together innovators and senior professionals from across the Midlands to discuss how women can turn the challenges of AI into opportunities for leadership and impact. Suki Gill, (pictured)...