UK inflation rose for the first time in five months over the Christmas period, driven by higher tobacco prices following tax rises announced by the chancellor and a sharp increase in airfares, according to official figures. Data published on Wednesday by the Office for National Statistics showed that consumer price inflation climbed to 3.4 per cent in December, up from ...
For small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), equipping employees with the latest skills and tools needs to be a priority. After all, as the competition grows, SMEs can’t afford to be idle. And it’s not always possible for new hires or seasoned employees to know exactly what industry demands will look like. That’s why SMEs must budget for upskilling within their ...
In early 2026, the Irish pensions landscape will undergo one of its most significant shifts in decades. The introduction of auto-enrolment, a system that will automatically enrol many employees into a pension scheme, marks a pivotal step in strengthening retirement savings across the country. For workers, employers and the wider system, the implications are profound. Here’s a comprehensive look at ...
Running a small or medium-sized business is tough enough without getting buried in spreadsheets every month. A lot of us owners and managers end up wearing too many hats, sales, customer stuff, operations, and then accounting piles on top. Those routine financial tasks eat up hours, and honestly, one slip-up can cause big headaches like tax penalties or cash flow ...
Uber has abandoned its pledge to operate an all-electric fleet across major UK, US and European cities by 2030, after its chief executive warned that drivers, consumers and governments are turning away from electric vehicles. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said the company’s long-standing commitment to switch to a fully electric fleet ...
Asda is preparing to cut up to 1,200 warehouse jobs as part of an aggressive cost-cutting programme, according to the GMB, marking a second wave of proposed redundancies in little more than a fortnight. Union officials claim the supermarket is planning to outsource distribution of its George clothing range to DHL, placing hundreds of roles at risk across several of ...
Elon Musk has raised the prospect of buying Ryanair in the latest escalation of a public war of words with the airline’s outspoken chief executive, Michael O’Leary. The exchange follows a disagreement over whether Europe’s largest low-cost carrier should install Musk’s Starlink satellite internet system across its fleet of more than 650 aircraft. O’Leary has repeatedly dismissed the idea, arguing ...
UK toy sales rose for the first time in five years last year, offering rare optimism for a sector that has struggled since the pandemic, but industry leaders are now watching closely for any fallout from potential social media bans aimed at under-16s. The value of UK toy sales increased by 6 per cent in 2025, according to data from ...
More than 130 senior hotel and holiday park executives have written to the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, warning that Labour’s planned changes to business rates represent the most serious threat to the sector’s viability and must not be limited to pubs alone. In a letter coordinated by UKHospitality, industry leaders said the government’s proposed relief package for pubs risks leaving large ...
Unemployment remained stuck at a near five-year high in the run-up to Rachel Reeves’s November Budget, while wage growth continued to ease, reinforcing expectations that interest rate cuts are edging closer. Figures published on Tuesday by the Office for National Statistics showed the UK unemployment rate holding steady at 5.1 per cent in the three months to November. That is ...