HMRC has been defeated in the landmark £584,000 PGMOL employment status case, with a tribunal ruling football referees were genuinely self-employed — casting fresh doubt over the tax office’s CEST tool.
Category: News
The latest news affecting small and medium sized (SME) businesses in the UK
Reeves’s pay-per-mile EV tax ‘could cost Treasury £4.8bn’, industry coalition warns
A powerful alliance of trade bodies has cautioned that the Chancellor’s flagship electric vehicle excise duty risks derailing Britain’s clean transport transition — and leaving a multi-billion-pound hole in the public finances along the way.
Last orders: two pubs a day shut as Labour’s tax raid bites
British Beer and Pub Association warns that the system places a “heavy and uneven burden” on locals, with 161 closures in the first quarter alone costing 2,400 jobs.
Gamestop tables shock $55.5bn swoop for eBay as Cohen sets sights on Amazon
GameStop has launched a surprise $55.5bn cash-and-stock bid for eBay, with chief executive Ryan Cohen vowing to turn the marketplace into a credible challenger to Amazon. Analysts are sceptical.
Natwest profits jump to £2bn as Iran conflict drives mortgage rates higher
NatWest reports £2bn quarterly profit, beating forecasts and raising 2026 guidance as the Iran conflict pushes mortgage rates and net interest margins higher.
Whisky tariffs lifted as Trump hails royal state visit
Britain’s distillers have been handed an unexpected fillip after Donald Trump announced the removal of all US tariffs and restrictions on whisky imports, a concession the president attributed directly to the influence of King Charles and Queen Camilla’s four-day state visit to America.
Bristol leads UK innovation jobs boom as the regions close the gap on London
New research lays bare a striking paradox: workforces at Britain’s most innovative firms are growing fastest outside the south-east, yet eight in every ten venture pounds still pour into the so-called golden triangle.
Britain’s green start-ups face ‘triple squeeze’ as early-stage funding crashes to five-year low
Early-stage funding for Britain’s clean tech start-ups halved in 2025, hitting a five-year low. Cleantech for UK warns the innovation pipeline is at risk.
Singapore’s ‘Queen of Bond Street’ takes a seat at Heston Blumenthal’s table
Singapore billionaire Christina Ong’s Como Group has taken a controlling stake in Heston Blumenthal’s loss-making Fat Duck Group, paving the way for international expansion.
Rolls-Royce holds nerve on £4bn profit target as flying hours soar past pre-pandemic peak
Rolls-Royce reaffirms its £4bn profit guidance for 2026 as engine flying hours run 15% above pre-pandemic levels, shrugging off Middle East war fears and a 20% share-price slide.
Meta’s $145bn AI splurge spooks investors despite engagement surge
Meta lifts its 2026 AI capex forecast to as much as $145bn, sending shares 7% lower in after-hours trading despitMark Zuckerberg’s pledge to deliver “personal superintelligence” fails to calm Wall Street as the social media group lifts its 2026 capital expenditure forecast by another $10bn, even as an algorithm overhaul drives record time spent on Instagram and Facebook.
e a strong Q1 earnings beat and record engagement.
Chapel Down toasts million-bottle milestone in race to challenge champagne
Britain’s biggest winemaker uncorks a record-breaking year as chief executive James Pennefather sticks to his audacious target of capturing 1 per cent of the global champagne market by 2035.
Whitbread axes branded restaurants and puts 3,800 jobs at risk in £1.5bn Premier Inn shake-up
Premier Inn owner Whitbread is scrapping its branded restaurants and recycling £1.5bn of hotel freeholds, putting 3,800 jobs at risk in a sweeping five-year strategic reset.
JP Morgan reverses Brexit-era Paris move as London beckons trading roles back
JP Morgan is shifting trading roles from Paris back to London after over-estimating EU staffing needs post-Brexit, as it presses ahead with its £10bn Canary Wharf tower.
John Lewis dragged into High Court over click-and-collect rent at Brent Cross
John Lewis faces a High Court battle as Brent Cross landlords Hammerson and Standard Life argue a 1972 lease entitles them to a cut of click-and-collect sales.
