Celebrity chef Rick Stein will close his Marlborough restaurant after nearly a decade, following the Padstow coffee shop closure. Mounting losses and tax pressures show the strain on UK hospitality.
Category: News
The latest news affecting small and medium sized (SME) businesses in the UK
‘Motherhood penalty’ costs women over £65,000 by time first child turns five, ONS finds
The average mother in England loses £65,618 in pay by the time her first child turns five, as new ONS figures reveal the financial toll of motherhood on women’s earnings and career progression.
Mone hits back at Kemi Badenoch in scathing letter: “what exactly have I done wrong?”
Baroness Michelle Mone has accused Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch of reckless language and political hypocrisy, in a strongly worded letter seen by Business Matters following the £122m PPE Medpro ruling.
UK firms hit record levels of late invoice payments, leaving SMEs £109bn out of pocket
A record number of UK companies paid most of their invoices late in 2025, with £109bn in overdue payments hitting SMEs, despite new procurement rules requiring government contractors to pay suppliers within 45 days.
Tesco boss warns Rachel Reeves: ‘Enough is enough’ on tax rises as budget delay rattles retailers
Tesco CEO Ken Murphy has urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to avoid fresh tax rises in the November budget, warning higher costs and delayed timing risk hitting Black Friday and Christmas sales.
Baroness Mone demands Prime Minister investigate Rachel Reeves for ‘inflammatory’ language after £122m PPE Medpro court defeat
Baroness Michelle Mone has accused Chancellor Rachel Reeves of “dangerous and inflammatory” language after PPE Medpro was ordered to repay £122m. Mone has called for an urgent investigation and a retraction.
OpenAI surpasses SpaceX with $500bn valuation after $6.6bn share sale
ChatGPT maker OpenAI has overtaken Elon Musk’s SpaceX as the world’s most valuable startup, hitting a $500bn valuation after employees sold $6.6bn of shares to major global investors.
Treasury weighs stamp duty holiday for new London share listings in autumn budget
The Treasury is weighing plans to grant newly listed companies a stamp duty exemption in November’s autumn budget, as ministers look to revive London’s competitiveness as a global IPO hub.
Tesco warns of Christmas price war as household budgets tighten
Tesco has raised profit guidance to £3.1bn after summer sales growth but warned of an intensifying supermarket price war ahead of Christmas amid continued pressure on household budgets.
Jellycat to pay £110m dividend as profits more than double on global plush toy craze
Soft toy brand Jellycat will pay £110m to its owners after pre-tax profits more than doubled to £139m in 2024, driven by viral popularity, global demand and experiential retail.
Labour accelerates UK fracking ban as Ed Miliband counters Reform push
Energy secretary Ed Miliband says Labour will legislate this autumn to permanently ban fracking, countering Reform UK’s pledge to revive the practice despite safety and economic concerns.
![Heathrow has said passenger numbers were 60% lower in November than before the coronavirus pandemic and there were “high cancellations” among business travellers concerned about being trapped overseas for Christmas as Omicron spreads. The UK’s largest airport said the government’s travel restrictions had dealt a fresh blow to travel confidence and predicted it was likely to take several years for passenger numbers to return to pre-pandemic levels. This week ministers said passengers arriving in the UK would have to take a pre-departure Covid test, as well as a post-flight test, because of fears about the spread of the new variant. “[The] high level of cancellations by business travellers concerned about being trapped overseas because of pre-departure testing shows the potential harm to the economy of travel restrictions,” the airport said in an update. Heathrow said the drop in traveller confidence owing to the new travel restrictions had negated the benefit of reopening the all-important corridor to North America for business and holiday travel last month. Eleven African countries have been added to the government’s red list, requiring travellers to quarantine before reuniting with families. “By allowing Brits to isolate at home, ministers can make sure they are reunited with their loved ones this Christmas,” said John Holland-Kaye, the chief executive of Heathrow. “It would send a strong signal that restrictions on travel will be removed as soon as safely possible to give passengers the confidence to book for 2022, opening up thousands of new jobs for local people at Heathrow. Let’s reunite families for Christmas.” Heathrow said that if the government could safely signal that restrictions would be lifted soon, then employers at Heathrow would have the confidence to hire thousands of staff in anticipation of a boost in business next summer. The airport is expecting a slow start to 2022, finishing next year with about 45 million passengers – just over half of pre-pandemic levels. This week Tui, Europe’s largest package holiday operator, said it expected bookings for next summer to bounce back to 2019 levels. However, Heathrow said on Friday not to expect the aviation industry to recover for several years. “We do not expect that international travel will recover to 2019 levels until at least all travel restrictions (including testing) are removed from all the markets that we serve, at both ends of the route, and there is no risk of new restrictions, such as quarantine, being imposed,” the airport said.](http://bmmagazine.co.uk.temp.link/wp-content/smush-webp/2024/05/shutterstock_1100012546-230x154.jpg.webp)
Greggs lifts prices to offset rising wage costs as investors rally behind stock
Greggs will raise prices on selected items, including breakfast deals, to counter higher payroll costs. Shares jumped 7% after improved trading eased concerns over falling sales.
Spotify founder Daniel Ek to step back as CEO, handing reins to co-leaders
Spotify founder Daniel Ek will step back from day-to-day leadership in January to become executive chairman, as Gustav Soderstrom and Alex Norstrom take over as co-CEOs.
PPE Medpro ordered to repay £122m in DHSC gown dispute, with Barrowman slamming ruling as a ‘travesty of justice’
Mrs Justice Cockerill has ruled that the Michell Mone linked PPE Medpro must repay nearly £122 million to the UK government by 15 October.
A ‘taxi tax’ would hit vulnerable passengers and struggling businesses hardest
Rumoured plans to impose VAT on taxi fares risk raising costs for vulnerable passengers, cutting earnings for drivers, and piling pressure on hospitality businesses already under strain.
