Heathrow to pay first dividend in five years to new owners February 26, 2025 London Heathrow Airport plans to pay its owners a first dividend in five years after passenger numbers reached record highs in 2024. The West London hub has settled on a payout of £250m over the coming weeks, the first since before the pandemic. Heathrow’s ownership underwent its most significant change in decades in 2024 after [...]
Businesses face ‘powder keg’ of costs as Budget tax hikes loom February 26, 2025 The vast majority of businesses will be forced to change their plans as a result of the government’s tax raid, a new survey shows, which will result in higher prices for consumers and thousands of lost jobs. More than four out of five business leaders (82 per cent) said Labour’s national insurance hike will have [...]
‘We will not give in’: Farmer tax fury is not going away February 26, 2025 Gripping his lectern on stage in Birmingham, Keir Starmer was attempting to win over the ever-sceptical delegates at the National Farmers’ Union congress. The then-leader of the opposition told attendees of the 2023 iteration of the annual jamboree that he understood their pain, and promised to reset government relations with farming were he fortunate enough [...]
Spring could prove to be an economic washout February 26, 2025 A modest burst of warm weather towards the end of last week may have coaxed the snowdrops and bluebells into life but don’t go dusting off the BBQ, as the cold isn’t done with us yet. Meteorologically speaking, Spring kicks in on 1 March but forecasters say the first month of the new season is [...]
Government offered lifeline on declining infrastructure investment February 26, 2025 A new industry group is offering ideas to the government on how to fix miserable infrastructure investment and increase the number of planners. The Purposeful Finance Commission (PFC) has laid out a plan to privately source and administer a £22.5m fund that would aid the Government’s target of hiring 300 additional planners. Rachel Reeves referenced [...]
‘Productivity argument’ against family firm tax breaks, IFS director argues February 25, 2025 There is a “productivity argument” against treating family businesses “generously”, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) director has argued, when asked about inheritance tax. Economist Paul Johnson addressed the National Farmers Union (NFU) conference in Westminster on Tuesday, which saw environment secretary Steve Reed’s speech interrupted by farming protestors, as well as NFU president Tom [...]
Inheritance tax: Ministers urged to ‘do right thing’ ahead of farming summit February 25, 2025 The government is being urged to “do the right thing” over its plan to bring in inheritance tax for farm businesses worth more than £1m, following months of protests by farmers. Ministers are being encouraged to “reset” their relationship with Britain’s farmers, ahead of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) conference on Tuesday. President Tom Bradshaw [...]
Getting Brits to invest will take more than tweaking ISAs February 25, 2025 Rachel Reeves is considering reducing the tax-free limit on cash ISAs to encourage people to invest in stock and shares, but she should go even further, says Emma Revell It is one of the most popular and best understood savings tools available for Brits, but there could be a big shake up coming for the [...]
Cash ISAs: Will Rachel Reeves bring in a ‘tax on savings’? February 24, 2025 The financial industry has split over whether Chancellor Rachel Reeves should be cracking down on cash ISAs to encourage investment. While Reeves has ruled out scrapping cash ISAs completely, the Treasury is currently mulling whether to bring the limit for them down to just £4,000 a year. Currently, investors have a tax-free allowance of £20,000 [...]
Heathrow could face legal challenge if airlines forced to pay for third runway February 24, 2025 Emirates’ boss has warned that London Heathrow Airport could face a legal challenge from its airlines if they are forced to pay for a third runway. In an interview with the Financial Times, industry veteran Sir Tim Clark warned against further hikes to landing charges to pay for the expansion. “This could end up in [...]