Category Archives: Business

Rachel Reeves says higher taxes on wealthy ‘part of the story’ for November budget

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Exclusive: Chancellor hints at rises and calls out past ‘scaremongering’ over VAT on private schools and changes to non-doms

Rachel Reeves has said higher taxes on the UK’s wealthy will form part of next month’s budget, as she shrugged off the “scaremongering” and “bleating” of her critics, and stressed her determination to repair the public finances.

Speaking in Washington, where she is attending the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the chancellor told the Guardian there “won’t be a return to austerity” and hinted at tax increases for the most well-off.

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Shein warns on Trump tariff uncertainty after profits slip

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Fast-fashion retailer records 20% growth in sales and fees to $37bn but big hit is expected from US changes to import tax rules

Shein has reported a 20% rise in global revenues to $37bn (£27.7bn) but profits have fallen as the fast-fashion retailer faced increased costs, even before it felt the impact of recent changes to US tax laws.

The Singaporean parent company of the rapidly growing retailer said pre-tax profits had fallen by 13% to $1.3bn last year from $1.5bn in 2023 after an increase in selling and marketing costs, according to new accounts.

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Vets could be made to publish prices after UK watchdog investigation

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Market ‘not fit’ for purpose and must be modernised, CMA says, with pet owners paying 16.6% more at large groups

Vets in the UK could be forced to publish their prices and whether they are part of a larger group after an investigation by the markets watchdog into claims that chain-owned surgeries have left pet owners with dwindling choice and higher bills.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found pet owners pay 16.6% more on average at large vet groups than at independent vets. It said the £6.3bn market was “not fit” for purpose and needed to be modernised.

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A quiet bite in: Charlie Bigham launches £29.95 ready meals for home diners

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Supermarket supplier says new pricier range is still cheaper than bill for a night out at a restaurant

British consumers are looking to treat themselves with an alternative to dining out despite a squeeze on household finances, according to the food entrepreneur Charlie Bigham who is launching luxurious ready meals costing up to £29.95.

The supermarket supplier is selling a new five-option range, which includes a venison bourguignon made with wild-caught venison from the Scottish Highlands, in an attempt to snare consumers saving on the cost of a night out.

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Tesco steps up UK sales as Asda struggles amid rising inflation

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Marks & Spencer bounces back from cyber-attack as it extends contract of chair Archie Norman

Tesco has grabbed a bigger slice of Britons’ supermarket shopping, as it stepped up sales and market share, while its rival Asda continued to struggle amid rising grocery inflation.

The UK’s biggest supermarket increased its market share to 28.3% in the 12 weeks to 5 October, up 0.7 percentage points on a year earlier, while its sales advanced nearly 7%, according to Worldpanel by Numerator.

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China says it will ‘fight to end’ after US said it was trying to hurt world economy

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Commerce ministry says US is ‘threatening to intimidate’ with plans for new Trump tariffs on exports

China has hit back at accusations from the US that it is trying to hurt the world economy, as the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies appeared to re-escalate, amped up by aggressive rhetoric on both sides.

China’s commerce ministry said on Tuesday that the US was “threatening to intimidate” with the prospect of new tariffs on Chinese exports, “which is not the right way to get along with China”. Its spokesperson said that China would “fight to the end” in trade talks.

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Australia news live: Chalmers reveals Keating influence on super tax backdown; cost of cybercrime revealed

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Treasurer says he spoke to former PM ‘half a dozen’ times before unveiling changes to his plans for superannuation tax concessions. Follow today’s news live

Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then Nick Visser will take over.

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says he spoke to former Labor prime minister Paul Keating ‘half a dozen times’ last week as he finalised the federal government’s watered-down superannuation tax plan. More coming up.

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Carmakers chose to cheat to sell cars rather than comply with emissions law, ‘dieselgate’ trial told

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Mercedes, Ford, Renault, Nissan and Peugeot/Citroën face group action in which damages could exceed £6bn

Car manufacturers decided they would rather cheat to prioritise “customer convenience” and sell cars than comply with the law on deadly pollutants, the first day of the largest group action trial in English legal history has been told.

More than a decade after the original “dieselgate” scandal broke, lawyers representing 1.6 million diesel car owners in the UK argue that manufacturers deliberately installed software to rig emissions tests.

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Vodafone outage: thousands of broadband and mobile users report problems

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Company apologises and says network ‘recovering’ after many customers say there were unable to access services

Tens of thousands of Vodafone customers in the UK have reported they could not access services including the internet and making mobile phone calls.

Consumers started reporting problems on the website of the outage monitor Downdetector from about 3pm on Monday.

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China’s Temu more than doubles EU profits to nearly $120m despite having only eight staff

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Online marketplace paid just $18m in corporation tax, leading campaigners to call for government action

The Chinese online marketplace Temu’s EU operations more than doubled pre-tax profits last year to just below $120m (£90m) despite employing just eight people, accounts show.

They rose 171% in the 12 months to December 2024 compared with the $44.1m the year before, as shoppers snapped up its low-cost goods, which are widely promoted on social media.

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Generational shift as millennials make up half of new buy-to-let investors in England and Wales

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Surprise finding by Hamptons shows age group comprises 50% of all new shareholders in firms set up this year

Millennials now account for half of new buy-to-let investors in England and Wales, signalling a generational shift in landlords, while rents have dipped, according to a report.

It is a surprise finding, as many millennials – people born between 1981 and 1996 – have struggled to afford a housing purchase, which means they are less likely than older generations to own their home. Even so, some have clearly fared better, and millennials are leading the charge in buy-to-let investment, according to analysis of Companies House data by the estate agent Hamptons.

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Energy firms complete UK’s first ‘hydrogen blending’ trial to power grid

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A 2% blend of low-carbon gas injected into gas grid to fuel Brigg power station in North Lincolnshire is a UK first

Energy companies have injected green hydrogen into Britain’s gas grid and used the low-carbon gas to generate electricity, in a landmark development for the UK’s climate ambitions.

For the first time in the UK, a 2% blend of green hydrogen was injected into the gas grid and blended with traditional gas to fuel the Brigg power station in North Lincolnshire which generated electricity for the power system.

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China warns US of retaliation over Trump’s 100% tariffs threat

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Beijing says it will act if US president doesn’t stand down, while investors brace for trade war turmoil

Beijing has told the US it will retaliate if Donald Trump fails to back down on his threat to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese imports as investors brace for another bout of trade war turmoil.

China’s commerce ministry blamed Washington for raising trade tensions between the two countries after Trump announced on Friday that he would impose the additional tariffs on China’s exports to the US, along with new controls on critical software, by 1 November.

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Widow of man conned out of pension savings to lose half the compensation to tax

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Robert Dewar’s widow, Susan, is a leading campaigner over multimillion-pound Norton Motorcycles fraud

The family of a deceased man, who was conned out of his retirement savings after investing in the Norton Motorcycles pension scam, is to lose almost half the subsequent compensation award because of a little-known tax rule.

A long-running battle to win an award from the Fraud Compensation Fund (FCF) meant that Robert Dewar’s pension was not reimbursed until 2024, five years after his death at the age of 64.

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Hackers leak Qantas data containing 5 million customer records after ransom deadline passes

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Hacker collective Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters demanded payment in return for preventing the stolen data of nearly 40 companies from being shared

Hackers say they have leaked the personal records of 5 million Qantas customers on the dark web, after a ransom deadline set by the cybercriminals passed.

The airline is one of more than 40 firms globally caught up in the hack, reported to contain up to 1 billion customer records.

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Trump threatens 100% China tariffs as Beijing restricts rare-earth exports

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President accuses China of ‘very hostile’ moves and says additional tariffs could come on 1 November ‘or sooner’

Donald Trump has threatened to impose additional US tariffs of 100% on China from next month, accusing Beijing of “very hostile” moves to restrict exports of rare earths needed for American industry.

Wall Street fell sharply after the US president reignited public tensions with the Chinese government, and raised the prospect of another acrimonious trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

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HSBC makes £10bn bet on Hong Kong as ‘super-connector’ for China and west

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Deal will mean Hang Seng Bank’s shares are taken off local stock exchange as HSBC doubles down on Asian business

HSBC is shelling out £10bn to take its Hong Kong subsidiary private, in a move it said was designed to take advantage of the financial hub’s role as a “super-connector” between China and global markets.

The deal will result in Hang Seng Bank’s shares being taken off the local stock exchange as London-headquartered HSBC doubles down on its Asian business and snaps up the 36.5% of shares it does not already own.

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HSBC makes £10bn bet on Hong Kong as ‘super-connector’ for China and west

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Deal will mean Hang Seng Bank’s shares are taken off local stock exchange as HSBC doubles down on Asian business

HSBC is shelling out £10bn to take its Hong Kong subsidiary private, in a move it said was designed to take advantage of the financial hub’s role as a “super-connector” between China and global markets.

The deal will result in Hang Seng Bank’s shares being taken off the local stock exchange as London-headquartered HSBC doubles down on its Asian business and snaps up the 36.5% of shares it does not already own.

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Millions of households face jump in water bills after regulator backs more price rises

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Competition watchdog agrees requests from Anglian, Northumbrian, Southern, Wessex and South East to raise household bills

Water bills for millions of households in England will increase by even more than expected after the competition regulator gave the green light for five water suppliers to raise charges to customers – but rejected most of the companies’ demands.

An independent group of experts appointed by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) provisionally decided to allow the companies to collectively charge customers an extra £556m over the next five years, it said on Thursday. That was only 21% of the £2.7bn that the firms had requested.

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‘A fatal blow’: Italian producers fear effects of Trump’s ‘war against pasta’

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US president’s threat to impose 92% tariffs targeting major manufacturers put family-run firms in the firing line as well

“It’s a real pity,” laments Antonio Rummo of Donald Trump’s latest target in his ever-evolving tariff war: Italian pasta. Rummo is the sixth-generation grandson of the founder of Pasta Rummo, who opened a wheat mill in Benevento in southern Italy in 1846, using the family’s three horses to lug grain from the surrounding Campania region and Puglia to produce fresh pasta.

“Demand for premium pasta in the US has been growing,” says Rummo. Appreciated by consumers for a traditional processing method that guarantees it will cook to al dente perfection, sales of Pasta Rummo have been thriving.

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