Business

When Britain’s adopted steel king Lakshmi Mittal, gala-favourite philanthropist and one of the country’s most visible billionaire residents, quietly announced he was shifting his tax residency to Switzerland, it barely caused a ripple in Westminster. Another wealthy non-dom heading for more forgiving fiscal pastures, shrugged the commentariat. But for anyone paying attention to Britain’s charitable sector, Mittal’s departure is more than a footnote in a tax-policy debate. It is a red flag. A warning. A...

Baboo Gelato, the award-winning artisan ice cream brand founded on the Dorset coast, has launched a £300,000 crowdfunding campaign as it prepares to scale from a regional favourite to a national name. The business, known for its small-batch gelato, fruit sorbets and its hugely popular dog-friendly frozen treat Doggy Doggy Yum Yum, has opened its campaign on Crowdcube. The raise will remain live for three weeks, with investments starting from just £10. Founder Annie Hanbury,...

Lakshmi Mittal, the steel magnate who dominated The Sunday Times Rich List for more than a decade, has left the UK after nearly 30 years, becoming the latest billionaire to relocate following Labour’s tax reforms. The ArcelorMittal founder, once the UK’s wealthiest resident and still worth £15.4 billion, has moved his tax residency to Switzerland and plans to spend much of his time in Dubai, where he already owns a mansion and is now developing...

Immigrant founders are the driving force behind Britain’s most dynamic young companies, according to new research showing that more than half of the UK’s fastest-growing start-ups were founded by entrepreneurs born overseas. The study by The Entrepreneurs Network analysed 100 early-stage companies that saw the sharpest rise in their valuations in the year to May, based on investment rounds disclosed to Companies House, and found that 54% of founders were foreign-born, up from 39% in...

The Government has unveiled a sweeping new Critical Minerals Strategy designed to end the UK’s overreliance on foreign suppliers of vital materials used in smartphones, electric vehicles, wind turbines and household electronics. The plan aims to produce 10% of the UK’s critical mineral needs domestically and recover 20% through recycling by 2035, backed by up to £50 million in new funding and deeper alignment with the Government’s national security and industrial goals. Announcing the strategy,...

Women across the EU symbolically begin “working for free” from today, as the bloc marks the point in the calendar when pay inequality means women, on average, stop earning relative to men. With the EU gender pay gap standing at 12%, 22 November represents the date after which women’s work is, in effect, unpaid compared with their male colleagues. The European Commission used the occasion to warn that progress on closing the gap remains painfully...

The British Business Bank has published a new five-year strategic plan designed to deliver a step change in how smaller businesses across the UK access finance, following an expanded mandate and increased government backing. The plan, unveiled today, responds to the Government’s decision earlier this year to increase the Bank’s permanent financial capacity to £25.6 billion and give it greater flexibility to support high-growth and strategically important companies. The Bank said the updated mission reflects...

A cross-party group of MPs will deliver a 152,000-signature FairFuelUK petition to 10 Downing Street on Tuesday, calling on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to cut or at least freeze fuel duty in next week’s Winter Budget. The delegation will be led by Lewis Cocking, MP for Broxbourne, amid rising concern that the Treasury is preparing increases that campaigners say would hit households, small businesses and rural communities hard. The appeal comes as speculation intensifies in Westminster...

Britain’s late-night economy is at risk of losing up to 10,000 more venues and 150,000 jobs by 2028 unless the Chancellor delivers urgent support in the Autumn Budget, industry leaders have warned. The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) said rising costs, fragile consumer confidence and the threat of further tax increases have pushed the sector to the brink, with many operators poised to close in the New Year if measures go against them. The crisis...

The government has borrowed £9.9 billion more than expected so far this fiscal year, intensifying the economic pressure on Chancellor Rachel Reeves as she prepares to deliver next week’s Budget. New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that public sector borrowing hit £17.4 billion in October, down £1.8 billion on the same month last year but still the third-highest October total on record. Since April, borrowing has reached £116.8 billion, the second-highest...