Business

Thousands of British technology workers face soaring costs after Donald Trump confirmed plans to impose a $100,000 (£74,000) fee on specialist US visas. The dramatic increase applies to the H-1B visa, which is widely used by tech companies to hire foreign workers. Last year, 1,462 Britons received H-1B visas – more than any other European nation – while 985 have ...

Boohoo has warned suppliers that payments could be delayed as the fast-fashion group grapples with growing financial pressures. The retailer, which also trades as Debenhams, wrote to some suppliers saying it was “running behind on payments” and asked how much stock they could deliver in September without receiving further payment, according to an email seen by Business Matters. The warning ...

Amazon is shutting down all 19 of its Amazon Fresh grocery stores in the UK, putting around 250 jobs at risk as the company pivots towards online sales and expands its Whole Foods brand. The US retail giant confirmed it has launched a consultation process with employees, warning that while some staff may be redeployed elsewhere in the business, many ...

The UK is forecast to have the highest rate of inflation among the world’s richest economies this year, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In its latest outlook, the OECD raised its prediction for UK inflation to 3.5% across 2025, up from a previous estimate of 3.1%, citing rising food prices and higher business costs. Although ...

Tyl by NatWest has announced a new strategic partnership with akru, the cloud-based point-of-sale (POS) platform powered by Zonal, to deliver a fully integrated payments and POS solution for UK hospitality venues. Under the agreement, Tyl by NatWest becomes the preferred payments partner for akru, combining its secure, reliable payment processing with akru’s smart POS technology. The move is designed ...

Nvidia is set to invest up to $100bn in OpenAI and supply the ChatGPT-maker with advanced data centre chips, in one of the most significant partnerships yet in the global race to dominate artificial intelligence. The deal, announced Monday, will be structured as two interlinked transactions. OpenAI will pay Nvidia in cash for chips, while Nvidia will take non-controlling shares ...

Rachel Reeves is under pressure to overhaul the UK’s tax system after the Resolution Foundation urged her to cut employee national insurance contributions by 2p and offset it with an equivalent rise in income tax. The thinktank, which has close ties to senior Labour ministers, said the measure could raise an additional £6bn a year by spreading the tax burden ...

The cost of running the UK’s gambling regulator has doubled in the past year as it prepares for a high-stakes legal showdown over the awarding of the National Lottery licence. Newly filed accounts show that the Gambling Commission’s costs linked to the National Lottery soared to £28.8m in the year to March, up from £14.4m the year before. The surge ...

Manchester United’s sweeping job cuts have cost more than £36 million in compensation, but helped slash losses and deliver record revenues, casting doubt on Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s claim that the club was on the brink of financial collapse. The restructuring, which saw around 400 jobs axed and included pay-offs for sacked manager Erik ten Hag and sporting director Dan Ashworth, ...

As social media continues to weave itself into the fabric of daily life, the algorithms that drive engagement have come under fire for their potential to foster addictive behaviours. With research linking these algorithms to increased anxiety and feelings of inadequacy, the question arises: should we regulate their use? The Liberal Democrats are now calling for cigarette-style warnings on social ...