UK news and archive

Prime minister announces launch of overhauled apprenticeship levy

During his attendance at the Farnborough Airshow, Keir Starmer, the newly appointed Labour prime minister, announced the launch of an overhauled apprenticeship levy, a widely anticipated initiative he had initially introduced the idea of during his election campaign. Now under the title ‘Skills England’, the programme is one of the cornerstones...

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Tackling crime, employee exploitation and apprenticeships: Key takeaways from the King’s Speech

“Now is time to take the brakes off Britain,” the region’s newest prime minister and Labour party leader Keir Starmer said in a release ahead of the King’s Speech. “For too long people have been held back, their paths determined by where they came from - not their talents and hard work.” His comments were later followed by words from King...

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In the UK, a new Labour government is incoming: What this means for retail

In what has been a largely anticipated turnout, Labour has swung the election with a landslide majority, making Keir Starmer the UK’s next prime minister (made official once King Charles III formally requests him in during a ceremony later today). It marks the first change in government in 14 years, throughout which the Conservatives served at...

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Revivals and reinstatements: What UK retail is demanding from the incoming government

The UK’s general election is moving swiftly upon us. With a shorter time frame than initially expected, national retail organisations are clamouring to get their requests publicly pushed out to ensure their calls for change are heard. Here are just some of what the many UK-based organisations – British Independent Retailers Association (Bira),...

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New West End Company unveils manifesto “for growth” ahead of general election

The New West End Company (NWEC), which represents more than 600 UK and international firms in London's West End, has unveiled a new manifesto laying out policy priorities and recommendations for the future government ahead of the upcoming general election in the UK. The manifesto has been built on insights from its hundreds of members to outline...

Business

Date of UK general election confirmed

Prime minister Rishi Sunak has confirmed that the next UK general election is to take place July 4. The announcement came after it was reported that the region’s annual inflation had fallen to its lowest level in three years. According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), prices rose by 2.3 percent in the 12 months to April 2024, down...

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Q1 of 2024 marked by series of job cuts

The first quarter of the year has outlined the tough reality of the current market, with last year’s challenging financial period leaving many companies with no option but to initiate strategic reviews. And, as part of this process, inevitably the question of jobs comes into play, with roles, departments and geographies coming under the...

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UK’s Spring Budget: What to know and how the industry is responding

Jeremy Hunt outlined his Spring Budget earlier this week and, like his prior Autumn Statement, was met with mixed reactions from the retail industry as a whole. His speech to MPs began by outlining the government’s achievement of lowering inflation from 11 percent, when prime minister Rishi Sunak came into office, to 4 percent, which Hunt said “...

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UK falls into recession, retail industry takes hit

While it is no secret that the past year has proven to be a financially turbulent one for the UK, new data has revealed that the region had in fact fallen into recession during the final three months of last year, as the economy continued to take a hit. According to figures by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UK’s gross domestic...

Business

UK ‘tourist tax’ reportedly costing 11.1 billion pounds in lost GDP

A new report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) has said that the UK’s widely debated ‘tourist tax’ is costing the region’s economy 11.1 billion pounds in lost gross domestic product (GDP). Cebr said that it had used tourist data released by the government last week to analyse the impact of scrapping the VAT-free shopping...

Retail

Nearly 120,000 UK retail jobs lost in 2023

A new report by the Centre for Retail Research has found that almost 120,000 retail employees lost their jobs throughout 2023 amid the closure of over 10,000 shops. The organisation noted that the sector was faced with the biggest tax increase in 33 years in April of 2023, one of the causes behind the slew of closures throughout the year. While...

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Retailers express mixed feelings towards Autumn Statement, living wage boosted

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivered his highly anticipated Autumn Statement at the House of Commons yesterday, and has since been met with a mixed bag of reactions from the retail industry, much of which was expecting much more in the way of assistance. Among the new measures, Hunt announced that business rates would be frozen for smaller...