Business

Rick Stein’s famed restaurant and hospitality empire has plunged deeper into the red, warning that Rachel Reeves’s tax raid on employers is squeezing jobs and piling pressure on Cornwall’s largest private-sector businesses. The TV chef’s group — which includes restaurants, hotels, shops, a cookery school and an e-commerce business — reported revenues of £18.9m at its flagship Seafood Restaurant (Padstow) last year, down £1.3m. Pre-tax losses widened to £459,000, more than double the previous year....

When people think about London’s economy, manufacturing is not usually the first sector that comes to mind. Yet more than 14,000 manufacturing businesses operate across the capital, many of them micro or small enterprises concentrated in a number of clusters across the city such as Park Royal (West London), Brimsdown Industrial Estate (North London) and Maker Mile (Hackney, East London). These London firms contribute to a sector valued at £11 billion in 2023, an increase...

Motorists face the prospect of being charged for every mile they drive under radical plans to plug Britain’s black hole in public finances. The Resolution Foundation — a think tank with close links to Labour — has urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to overhaul motoring taxes, warning that fuel duty revenues are collapsing as drivers switch to electric vehicles. Its proposal would see drivers hit with an annual levy plus a per-mile charge ranging from 3p...

Peter Mandelson’s advisory firm has cut off his voting rights and dividend payments after damning emails revealed the extent of his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Global Counsel — the high-powered advisory firm Mandelson co-founded in 2010 — has moved to sell the Labour peer’s 21% stake and reclassified his shares so that he no longer has any influence over company decisions, nor can he draw financial benefits, according to filings. The dramatic move comes after...

HM Revenue & Customs has relaunched a controversial scheme giving it the power to take money directly from people’s bank accounts – including cash Isas – if they repeatedly fail to pay their tax bills. Under the Direct Recovery of Debts (DRD) programme, banks and building societies will be forced to hand over cash owed to the taxman from anyone with debts of at least £1,000. Taxpayers will be allowed to keep a minimum balance...

JD Sports has warned Rachel Reeves against any fresh hikes in employment costs, saying further increases would cripple competitiveness and drive youth unemployment higher. Chief executive Régis Schultz said the Chancellor’s last budget had already piled pressure on retailers by raising staff expenses, creating “tension around unemployment”. He urged Reeves not to repeat the move in November’s Budget. “We’re starting to see unemployment going in the wrong direction and that is really worrying, especially for...

Manufacturers supplying Britain’s defence, automotive, aerospace and construction sectors have warned that businesses will collapse after government-approved energy charges are set to double. From October 1, standing charges and levies on industrial electricity bills will begin to rise sharply, with the full increase landing in April. Energy brokers said non-commodity costs – the fees for using the grid and funding subsidies – will make up as much as 65% of firms’ total bills, regardless of...

Jeremy Hunt has accused Rachel Reeves of dragging Britain into “stagnation and decline” by raising taxes, warning that the Chancellor’s policies risk smothering the entrepreneurial drive the country needs. Writing for Conservative Home, the former Chancellor said it was now “all but nailed on” that Reeves will raise taxes by £30bn in November’s Budget — pushing the overall increase in Britain’s tax burden to £70bn in just 13 months. He argued that while ministers focus...

Revolut has pledged to invest £3 billion in the UK over the next five years in a move that will create 1,000 new jobs, strengthening the country’s status as a hub for global financial services. Chancellor Rachel Reeves hailed the announcement as a “vote of confidence in Britain” as she formally opened the fast-growing digital bank’s new global headquarters in Canary Wharf. Nik Storonsky, chief executive and co-founder of Revolut, said the London hub would...

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has spent more than £3.6 million on laptops, tablets, and mobile phones over the past three years as part of its push to modernise remote working and support digital transformation across the sector. Figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request show the department dramatically increased its IT spending between 2022 and 2024, with the bulk of the funding directed towards laptops. The spend rose from just...