Brits plump for premium hotels as budget stays suffer November 3, 2025 The gap between hotel prices has continued to expand as Brits plump for premium travel over budget options, according to new figures. Average room rates of UK luxury hotels rose from £380.30 to £405.18 in August year on year, and from £136.33 to £141.57 for mid market hotels, data from RSM shows. Room rates in [...]
Premier League exec steps down to lead Major League Soccer challenger competition November 3, 2025 The Premier League is set to lose one of its top staff, chief football officer Tony Scholes, at the end of the season after he agreed to head up a challenger to Major League Soccer in the US. Scholes is to be president of a new top-tier competition to be launched in 2028 by the [...]
Minimum wage hike puts pressure on professional starting salaries November 3, 2025 With Rachel Reeves poised to raise the minimum wage in her Autumn Budget, mid-tier professional services firms are bracing for significant impacts across the sector. As reported last week, the Budget will likely see employers forced to raise workers’ wages from £12.21 to at least £12.70 an hour. However, for businesses, especially those in the [...]
Nigel Farage walks back on tax cut pledges after predicting ‘economic collapse’ November 3, 2025 Nigel Farage has abandoned several major tax cut pledges as the Reform leader predicted an “economic collapse” would trigger a general election as soon as 2027. Farage distanced himself from the party’s previous promise to introduce tax cuts worth £90bn, including by raising the tax-free personal allowance to £20,000, blaming the u-turn on ballooning government [...]
Labour to spend £10m on tackling EV charging blackspots November 3, 2025 The government has unveiled a £10m fund to help expand England’s electric vehicle (EV) charging network, targeting grid-constrained sites on motorways and major A-roads where power access has slowed progress. The funding will support projects that allow chargers to run off-grid or with minimal grid connection, using renewable energy and battery storage to deliver ultra-rapid [...]
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary says high tax UK economy is ‘doomed’ November 3, 2025 Michael O’Leary has said that the UK economy is “doomed to continue to fail” until the tax burden starts to come down. Asked on Sky News about what advice he would offer ahead of the Budget, the Ryanair chief said Rachel Reeves should reduce Air Passenger Duty (APD) and reverse “crazy” planned hikes to the [...]
Rachel Reeves’ banking reforms ‘unlikely to be transformative’ November 3, 2025 Rachel Reeves’ financial services growth mission faces a major blow with top City voices warning her regulatory reforms won’t be transformative. The Chancellor unveiled her Leeds Reform package intended to “rewire the financial services industry” in July this year. Whilst the moves were cheered by industry bigwigs, analysts have raised concerns the changes will fail [...]
British SMEs locked out of trade deal benefits as red tape bites November 3, 2025 Britain’s small businesses are failing to reap the rewards of the government’s post-Brexit trade deals, as red tape, tariffs, and weak confidence leave exports flatlining and financial distress mounting across SMEs, according to a new report. New figures from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) show that 84 per cent of firms with fewer than [...]
Productivity crisis deepens as public sector continues to stutter November 3, 2025 Public sector productivity has dropped at its fastest rate in nearly three years, according to fresh official figures that lay bare the government’s multi-year struggle to revive the efficiency of the country’s creaking public services. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed total productivity at state-owned bodies fell by 0.7 per cent year [...]
Experian to include rent payments in credit scores November 3, 2025 FTSE 100 giant Experian has announced plans to include rental payments in a major revamp of the formation of credit scores. The agency said it was overhauling its scoring system to better reflect “more of the everyday financial behaviours that matter” which included things “like paying rent or reducing overdraft use”. It follows a warning [...]
