High street banks have begun hiking mortgage rates for borrowers with large deposits, in a move that could add hundreds of pounds a year to the cost of remortgaging for wealthier homeowners. The shift comes as stubborn inflation figures dampen hopes of further interest rate cuts this summer. Over the past week, nine lenders — including Halifax, Nationwide, NatWest and Santander — have increased their fixed-rate mortgage deals, targeting products typically used by those with...
Pensions tax relief may be in the firing line in the upcoming Autumn Budget, with growing concern among financial experts that HMRC is targeting popular salary sacrifice schemes as a way to raise revenue. According to Blick Rothenberg, a leading audit and tax advisory firm, a new HMRC report points to the Treasury’s increasing focus on pension perks — including suggestions that salary sacrifice schemes could be significantly curtailed or even abolished. Tomm Adams, a...
I’ll say it plainly: most HRTech tools flop, not because they’re bad ideas, but because recruiters don’t use them. Over the past few years, building AI-powered hiring products, I’ve seen it over and over. A shiny new tool rolls out with heavy hype, a slick UI, maybe a handful of “machine-learning” buzzwords. Yet six months later, it collects digital dust in a recruiter’s bookmarks folder.Here’s the brutal truth: Recruiters are among the most time-starved and...
A growing number of British professionals and entrepreneurs are preparing to leave the UK to escape what has been branded Labour’s “stealth tax bombshell”, according to independent financial advisory firm deVere Group. The warning comes as new figures suggest nearly two million workers will be dragged into higher tax brackets by the end of the decade, due to the continued freeze on income tax thresholds. But deVere says those projections could fall short — because...
Javvy Coffee launched in 2020—right when most of the world hit pause. But for the team behind the brand, it was time to move. Frustrated by the sugar-loaded, overprocessed iced coffees lining café menus and supermarket shelves, they saw a gap. “People were drinking these every day without realizing what was in them,” one team member said. “It didn’t feel right.” That realization sparked what would become Javvy Coffee—a brand built on simplicity, clean ingredients,...
Thames Water has been handed a record-breaking £122.7 million fine by Ofwat following two damning investigations into the UK’s largest water utility. The regulator found the company had breached key obligations relating to its wastewater operations and had unlawfully issued dividends despite poor environmental and customer performance. Ofwat confirmed this morning that £104.5 million of the fine relates to serious failings in the company’s wastewater infrastructure — the largest financial penalty the regulator has ever...
Following early April’s extensive global media coverage on the Trump administration’s sweeping USAID budget cuts, the tangible impact for Africa has come into sharper relief in May. Entire funding streams are set to vanish in countries including Senegal, Guinea and Mauritania, while the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Uganda and South Africa will be hit hardest in terms of lost aid volumes. As African and international NGOs caution, funding gaps are already undermining critical...
Modern small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) heavily rely on cloud accounting software like Xero for their day-to-day bookkeeping, invoicing, and payroll. While these platforms offer undeniable convenience, there’s a critical, often overlooked challenge: the long-term management of attached financial documents. HMRC mandates that businesses retain financial records for six years from the end of the last company financial year they relate to, or even longer in some cases. This requirement can trap businesses in ongoing...
The UK’s government bond market is increasingly exposed to the risk of sharp price swings and sudden sell-offs, the International Monetary Fund has warned, due to a growing reliance on hedge funds and foreign investors. In its annual health check of the UK economy, the IMF said the gilts market was showing signs of potential “vulnerability,” particularly as traditional long-term investors — such as pension funds and insurers — retreat from holding longer-dated debt. According...
Live shopping channels predated ecommerce but faded away in the age of streaming platforms as fewer people watched television. Now, though, the concept is back, thanks to the popularity of live streaming across the entertainment industry. Live streaming has permeated the ecommerce industry, with various Chinese platforms leading the way. Now, it’s taking hold in the West too, with British retailers beginning to jump on the trend. This concept could represent the future of online...
