Business

UK businesses are preparing for renewed uncertainty as the Employment Rights Bill (ERB) returns to the House of Lords today, with new research suggesting confidence in a swift resolution is almost non-existent. A survey by compliance firm VinciWorks has found that just 3 per cent of senior HR, compliance and business leaders believe the Lords will retreat from their opposition to key provisions in the legislation, including day-one employment rights and proposed changes to trade...

A British man jailed in the United States for hacking the Twitter accounts of high-profile figures including Barack Obama and Jeff Bezos has been ordered to hand over £4.1 million in cryptocurrency linked to his crimes. Joseph James O’Connor, 26, was sentenced in the US last year after admitting to his role in a sophisticated cyberattack that saw him gain access to dozens of celebrity and corporate Twitter accounts. He used the compromised profiles to...

Businesses and financial experts have sharply criticised a potential clampdown on salary sacrifice pension benefits in the upcoming Budget, warning that the move would amount to a stealth rise in Employer National Insurance and leave companies with even fewer ways to manage rising employment costs. Rumours are circulating that the Chancellor could introduce a dramatic cap on the amount employees can sacrifice into their pensions, with some suggesting the annual allowance could be cut to...

When I first started taking clients out for dinner, you could sit under the copper dome of Le Gavroche, order a bottle of claret you’d never dare drink at home, and—after a couple of courses, a soufflé, and a few discreet nods from the maître d’—leave only mildly lighter in wallet and spirit. Today, on the same site, you can do much the same thing at Matt Abé’s new venture Bonheur. Only now, the bill...

More than 60 leading operators of serviced offices, business centres and co-working spaces have warned Chancellor Rachel Reeves that recent changes to the business rates system could force thousands of companies to the brink and place jobs across the UK at risk. In a letter seen by Business Matters, the group, which collectively hosts over 27,000 businesses nationwide,  expressed “urgent and deeply serious concern” over what they described as a quiet but dramatic shift in...

A 15-year-old British entrepreneur has been crowned the Grand Winner of Alibaba.com’s CoCreate Pitch, securing a $200,000 prize for his innovative small business, CoolTowel, at the platform’s flagship B2B event in London. Held on 14 November, CoCreate Europe brought together thousands of SMEs from across the continent, with 30 finalists shortlisted to pitch their product innovations to a panel of global business leaders. Each finalist was tasked with delivering a 90-second pitch to win the...

Stonegate Group, owner of the Slug & Lettuce and Be At One chains, has opened preliminary talks with advisers about a disposal of part of its estate, according to industry sources. The move comes as the company struggles with more than £3 billion of debt built up largely through its £3 billion takeover of rival Ei in 2019. The pubs under review — 1,034 sites internally known as Stonegate’s “platinum” collection — are regarded as...

Former chancellor George Osborne has been shortlisted as a shock candidate to become the next chairman of HSBC Holdings, one of the most powerful and prestigious roles in global banking, according to reports. Sky News revealed that Osborne — who served as chancellor from 2010 to 2016 — was approached over the summer as part of HSBC’s year-long search to replace outgoing chair Sir Mark Tucker. City sources say he is now among three remaining...

John Chipponeri is a retired Chevron executive, coach, and endurance athlete whose career has been defined by leadership, resilience, growth and service. Raised in Ceres, a small town in Central California, he grew up in a large Sicilian family where hard work and community values shaped his outlook. Excelling in both academics and sport, he graduated as valedictorian of his high school and earned recognition as MVP on the football field while leading his baseball...

Leading employment experts and major employers have said there is “nothing to fear” from the Government’s Employment Rights Bill, arguing that the reforms will support fairer workplaces, boost productivity and bring the UK closer in line with international employment standards. The comments came during a roundtable held in Parliament on Tuesday 11 November — the same day new figures revealed unemployment had risen to 5%, the highest rate for a decade outside the pandemic period....