‘I have no confidence in Rachel Reeves to turn things around’ hospitality The chief executive of a luxury hotel group in London has said he has “no confidence” in Chancellor Rachel Reeves ahead of her Budget later this week. Gavin Taylor, who leads Clermont Hotel Group, also branded Reeves as “not particularly business friendly” and that the Chancellor needs to lower the tax burden on companies in [...]
Autumn Budget: BrewDog boss issues £1bn warning to Rachel Reeves hospitality The hospitality sector needs to sell almost one million extra pints every hour in order to cope with a £1bn cost surge thanks to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ tax hikes, the chief executive of BrewDog has warned. James Taylor, who took on the job earlier this year, said Reeves needs to take ‘meaningful action’ because of [...]
Labour has ‘unbelievably harsh stance’ on big businesses hospitality It is “unbelievable” that the Labour government has “taken such a harsh stance” on big businesses, the chief executive of restaurant chain Pizza Express has said. Speaking on an up-coming episode of CityAM’s Boardroom Uncovered podcast, Paula MacKenzie said the industry had been “somewhat decimated” by the Covid-19 pandemic and has then been hit [...]
Rachel Reeves ‘has no interest in hospitality’ after ‘reckless’ taxes September 23, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves “has no interest in hospitality”, according to nighttime adviser Sacha Lord, who also branded her National Insurance increases in last year’s Autumn Budget “both reckless and short sighted”. Lord, who is a member of the Labour Party, said the 2024 Budget was a “disaster for hospitality” which resulted “in many closures and [...]
Autumn Budget: Rachel Reeves told to scrap ‘not fit for purpose’ Lifetime ISA September 12, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been warned that the Lifetime ISA (LISA) is “not fit for purpose and must be reformed” in the Autumn Budget. Tom Goddard, a senior associate at audit, tax and business advisory firm Blick Rothenberg, has argued that the LISA “must be reformed to not conflict with shared ownership schemes”. The LISA [...]
‘It’s not a fair fight’: HMV boss issues Rachel Reeves Autumn Budget tax demand September 8, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been urged to reform business rates in the Autumn Budget by the boss of HMV. Phil Halliday, in an up-coming episode of CityAM‘s Boardroom Uncovered show, said the current system should be altered to make it fairer for UK retailers. The managing director added that businesses such as HMV are [...]
Butlin’s boss: We’re not going to tax ourselves to success August 26, 2025 The chief executive of holiday park chain Butlin’s has hit out at Chancellor Rachel Reeves after saying increases taxes on businesses is not the way to improve the UK economy. Speaking on an up-coming episode of CityAM‘s Boardroom Uncovered show, Jon Hendry Pickup said the country is “not going to tax ourselves to success” [...]
Iceland in the red as Rachel Reeves’ tax raid forces prices higher August 8, 2025 Iceland has warned it is being forced to increases prices because of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ tax raids as the supermarket chain fell into the red. The Flintshire-headquartered said that while it is “doing our utmost” to offset increasing costs arising from last year’s Autumn Budget, it will “inevitably have to pass some of these on [...]
Rachel Reeves’ Autumn Budget still causing negativity – CBI July 30, 2025 A streak of negative business sentiment has now lasted 10 months, a leading industry body has suggested, in further evidence that employers have struggled to turn a page on Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ £40bn tax raid at last year’s Autumn Budget. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has repeatedly told MPs that business confidence was edging higher, [...]
UK SMEs paralysed by fear despite ‘sitting on piles of cash’ July 17, 2025 Small-to-medium sized companies in the UK (SMEs) are “paralysed by fear” because of geopolitical uncertainty and a lack of clear economic policy, according to new research. Accounting and advisory group Azets said a large number of SMEs are “sitting on significant piles of cash” but are nevertheless holding back on investment. The warning, issued by [...]