EMPLOYMENT

Employment reforms raise costs and exit risks
City AM
The latest phase of the Government’s Employment Rights Act took effect on 30 October, giving independent trade unions rights to access workplaces physically or digitally. Reforms rolling out over two years will introduce liability for third-party harassment and require employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. Unfair-dismissal protection has been reduced to six months and its compensation cap removed. Employment lawyers said higher costs, complexity and uncertainty could discourage recruitment and investment, while the Office for Budget Responsibility expects a negative economic impact.

ECONOMY

Bank poised to lift rates to 4%
City AM The I Daily Mail Financial Times
The Bank of England is expected to raise its benchmark rate by 0.25 percentage points to 4% on Thursday, with four-fifths of economists polled by Reuters forecasting the first increase since summer 2023. Inflation reached 3.5% in September and the Office for Budget Responsibility expects it to peak near 4% early next year, while businesses plan average price increases of 4%. High energy costs and concern that they will feed into wages and corporate pricing are driving pressure for action. Markets price four to five further quarter-point increases by the end of 2027.

TAX

Founders’ Relief offers owners limited exit hope
The Daily Telegraph
Sean Bannister, head of tax at law firm Edwin Coe, says the Government’s new Founders’ Relief, offering a 10% capital gains tax rate on up to £10m of lifetime gains, could encourage entrepreneurs to remain in the UK and reinvest after selling their businesses. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, he welcomes expanded employee share schemes but warns that eligibility rules must remain straightforward and tax incentives stable. He calls for closer cooperation between the Treasury and Home Office, including a simpler investor visa, to attract internationally mobile founders and strengthen the UK’s business environment.

Rates relief fails high-street test
City AM
Chancellor John Healey has raised the small-business rates relief threshold from £12,000 to £18,000, but British Chambers of Commerce chief Shevaun Haviland called it a “sticking plaster” for high-street closures. The change will exempt 70,000 more firms, while other retail, hospitality and leisure businesses face a 3.5% increase next year despite the announced freeze, adding £250m to bills. Rates are calculated from premises’ annual rental value, and Labour has not delivered its promised overhaul. Haviland said unaffordable rates are closing businesses, with staffing costs and rising energy bills adding to a “tsunami of costs”.

US lenders warn bank tax threatens growth finance
The Daily Telegraph
US lenders have warned that Chancellor John Healey’s Budget bank tax could leave less money available to finance UK growth companies, potentially restricting their access to capital. The concern emerged during US discussions covering market access, capital markets and digital assets, including meetings in Washington with policymakers and regulators.

Retail cost rises threaten hiring and margins
Daily Mail
British Retail Consortium chief Helen Dickinson, writing in the Daily Mail, says the Budget will add £2bn to retailers’ employment costs and £250m to business rates bills next April. The 3.9% wage rise follows £6.

INVESTMENT

Burnham launches £700m industrial sites accelerator
The Independent
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has unveiled a £700m Strategic Sites Accelerator to unlock up to 10 industrial and commercial sites nationwide, attracting up to £2bn of private investment and supporting tens of thousands of jobs. It will tackle planning delays, grid connections and financing gaps affecting advanced manufacturing, digital technology, defence and life sciences. Mayors and local leaders will identify viable locations with strong demand, with Sheffield under discussion. Ten devolution agreements are nearing completion, while elected mayoralties will receive locally generated basic-rate income tax revenue from April 2028.

CORPORATE

Budget borrowing surge threatens business valuations
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph argues Chancellor John Healey’s first Budget offers little support for businesses while the 2026-27 deficit rises from £115.4bn to £133.2bn. Debt-interest costs are forecast at £123.8bn this year, with four-year servicing costs through 2030 up £57.9bn since March to £544bn. The backdrop includes 3.5% inflation, near-multi-decade-high corporate insolvencies and about 250,000 fewer payrolled jobs under Labour. For owners considering a sale, higher employment costs and weak 1.2% growth risk squeezing margins and buyer valuations.

REGULATION

Done urges corporation tax and red-tape cuts
The Times
Peter Done, chairman of HR adviser Peninsula, has said cutting the UK’s 25% corporation tax rate and curbing an “avalanche of red tape” could revive growth among 5.6m small businesses. Peninsula supports more than 120,000 small-business customers, and Done described the regulatory burden as the heaviest in his 60 years of running companies. The Government has opened 34 employment-law consultations, creating compliance demands for employers, while January’s rules will cut the qualifying period for unfair-dismissal claims from two years to six months. The Office for Budget Responsibility expects higher labour costs and reduced flexibility to outweigh productivity benefits, affecting hiring decisions across small firms.

GOVERNMENT

John Healey vows to cut benefits bill
City AM The Independent London Evening Standard Daily Mail
Chancellor John Healey has said Labour will begin welfare reforms next year and bring down the benefits bill, describing the current system as “not working”, but gave no timetable for savings. UK debt stands at roughly 95% of GDP, while the Office for Budget Responsibility said he must find an extra £11bn to prevent real-terms day-to-day spending falling 2.6% during the final three years of its forecast. Healey said benefit-cost growth has slowed since Labour took office. The Government will carry spending decisions into its ten-year plan and next year’s spending review, with devolution and public-service reform targeted for savings.

AND FINALLY…

Scrapping UK start-up audits is worth its weight in red tape
Financial Times
The Financial Times reports that proposed audit exemptions could reduce compliance costs for a typical midsized company by £31,000. SMEs spend an average of eight days each month on administration.

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