Padel continues its meteoric rise, with more than 3,200 new clubs built globally in 2024 – the equivalent of one opening every two and a half hours – according to the newly released 2025 Global Padel Report by Playtomic and PwC. Over 7,000 new courts were added last year, cementing padel’s place as one of the fastest-growing sports worldwide. The ...
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has publicly thanked Britain’s businesses for absorbing the financial burden of his government’s £23 billion national insurance hike, while facing mounting pressure from industry leaders not to impose further tax rises in the autumn. Speaking at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) annual conference, Starmer acknowledged the scale of the demands placed on companies in his ...
Marks & Spencer’s new strawberry and cream sandwich has captured attention on social media — but now it’s caught the eye of tax experts, too. Marketed as a sweet take on the viral Japanese strawberry sando, M&S’s half-sandwich — part of its meal deal range — is prompting questions over whether it should be classified as a standard sandwich (zero-rated ...
UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are being urged to bolster their cyber defences amid a growing wave of politically motivated attacks, as global tensions and conflicts intensify the threat landscape. The warning comes after a recent Sky News investigation revealed an increase in cyberattacks linked to the Iran conflict, with businesses across multiple sectors increasingly being targeted. Speaking at ...
Former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was wrong to scrap the tax perks of wealthy foreign residents in the UK, according to shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith, who said the move had undermined the country’s attractiveness to global wealth creators. Speaking at TheCityUK’s annual conference in London, Griffith admitted it had been a “mistake” for Hunt — under whom he served as ...
Thousands of small businesses across the UK have expressed alarm at sweeping new Companies House regulations that will require them to disclose sensitive financial data and switch to commercial software to file their accounts. Under changes set to take effect from April 2027, small and micro businesses will for the first time be required to submit a profit and loss ...
An additional 420,000 pensioners will pay income tax this financial year, bringing the total to 8.7 million, as the combination of rising state pensions and a frozen personal allowance continues to widen the tax net. Figures from HM Revenue & Customs reveal that retirees are increasingly falling victim to so-called “fiscal drag”, with income tax thresholds frozen since 2021 despite ...
Britain’s car and van manufacturing sector has recorded its weakest May for more than seven decades, with output falling by almost a third amid new US tariffs and the ongoing transition to electric vehicle production. According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), just 49,810 vehicles were built in the UK last month — the lowest May total ...
UK and Irish SME leaders are showing signs of cautious optimism despite mounting challenges in international trade, AI adoption and leadership burnout, according to the latest Vistage CEO Confidence Index. The Index, which tracks sentiment among small and mid-sized business leaders, rose modestly to 89.5 from 87.5 in the first quarter. While resilience remains a defining trait of the sector, ...
Alibaba has launched a £750,000 innovation competition aimed at small and medium-sized businesses in the UK and across Europe, as part of its drive to support digital entrepreneurship and global trade. The Co-Create Pitch Awards, which were previously open only to international participants outside Europe, will now invite UK and EU-based SMEs to showcase their product ideas in a contest ...