Latest news and industry insights

As has been widely expected in the last few weeks, the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, made some significant changes to the Employers National Insurance (NI) rate and threshold in the Autumn Budget.

On 30 October 2024, Rachel Reeves delivered her first Budget speech. As the first Budget speech ever delivered by a female Chancellor of the Exchequer, the occasion was bound to be one for the history books regardless of what was said.

The UK government has announced a consultation on new legislations designed to regulate Buy-Now, Pay-Later (BNPL) products. The forthcoming rules, which will bring BNPL products under the supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), are designed to provide the same key protections for BNPL as exist for other consumer credit products.

Following the release of the Employment Rights Bill, its Impact Assessment was published last week showing that the new Bill will have a “positive direct impact on economic growth.”

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal that the UK’s economy grew by 0.5% between April and June, a slight dip from the initial estimate of 0.6%.

In line with the e-invoicing initiative we reported on elsewhere, the Chancellor also outlined broader reforms to modernise HMRC through a Digital Transformation Roadmap, which is expected in Spring 2025.

The Chancellor unveiled a series of announcements last week that could have implications for UK businesses. One of the most relevant for business owners was the government's push for electronic invoicing (e-invoicing).

The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, gave an important speech at the Labour Party conference last week, in which she appeared to shift tone to speak more positively about the economy.

The government has announced a delay to the start of the Procurement Act 2023, moving the commencement date to February 2025.

Amazon has announced the end of its hybrid work policy, with corporate staff expected to be back in the office five days a week starting in January. Previously, staff had the flexibility to work from home two days a week.

Business Finance Week 2024 will run from 24 September to 2 October and includes a variety of national and regional in-person events and webinars.

As HMRC intensifies its crackdown on National Minimum Wage (NMW) noncompliance, it’s vital to make sure you don’t fall foul of NMW laws. Compliance can have more complexities to it than many assume, and the risks of getting it wrong are significant.

Figures released by the Office of National Statistics last week show that the UK economy showed no growth in July 2024. This is the second month in a row as there was also no growth in June.

The Plan 1 student loan interest rate reduced to 6% (from 6.25%) from 30 August. This rate change applies across the UK with the Department for Education (DfE), the Welsh Government and the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland (DfE NI) all confirming the change.

Barratt Developments, the UK's largest housebuilder, has reported a significant decline in pre-tax profits, down by three-quarters for the year ending June 2024. This comes as the company completed just 14,000 homes, a sharp decrease from 17,000 the previous year, with forecasts suggesting even lower figures of 13,000 to 13,500 homes for the upcoming year.