Businesses have been heavily impacted by this Budget, with several key changes being introduced, adding to their tax and operational costs. The rise in employers’ National Insurance Contributions (NICs) will impact employers significantly, particularly small businesses. Employers’ NIC increases by 1.2% to 15% from April 2025. And the threshold...
Rachel Reeves’ first Budget is the largest tax-raising Budget since 1993, with around £40bn being raised for government programmes of ‘national renewal’. Following months of speculation, we finally know the details of what this Budget has in store. While it will take some time to fully examine and understand...
Tax rises in the Budget aimed at companies could slow much-needed economic growth and undermine investment decisions, the region’s largest business organisation fears. Business West, the organisation behind Bristol Chamber of Commerce, said it recognised that the Chancellor faced a tight fiscal position and so had to make hard decisions....
Chancellor Rachel Reeves started her Budget speech by saying the country voted for change on 4 July. As a result, the Labour government could now “fix the foundations”. The way to ensure growth was to “invest, invest, invest”, she added. In total, the Budget will raise taxes by £40bn. Business...
Business owners are on tenterhooks in advance of tomorrow’s Budget, the first by new Chancellor Rachel Reeves. Despite election campaign promises that tax rises would not affect ‘working people’, subsequent claims of the discovery of a £22bn black hole by the government suggest the nation’s finances are in a...
A Bristol manufacturer producing specialist pumps for aquariums, zoos and entertainment parks has boosted its green credentials while also supporting its next phase of growth. Apex Pumps, which was founded in 1988 and has a 27-strong workforce, recently installed a 150-kW solar panel system on its Staple Hill factory...
Bristol subsea design firm DEEP, which is developing what it calls the next generation of ‘underwater human habitats’, has saved a pioneering ocean-going research vessel from being scrapped in a last-minute rescue mission. Bosses at the firm learned about the plight of the R/P FLIP (Floating Instrument Platform), pictured,...
A firm based near Bristol that has supplied weather sensors to airports, stadiums and offshore platforms for more than 25 years has been acquired by an international innovator in measurement technology. Biral, whose sensors measure everything from precipitation to visibility as well as detecting lightning, has become part of...
The University of Bristol’s catalyst for innovation has appointed Rosie Bennett as its new innovation lead to grow its programmes for business members. Bristol Innovations was created two years ago to offer innovation-led businesses access to cutting-edge research, technology and talent, creating breakthrough solutions and scalable commercial opportunities that...
Business confidence in the South West has improved and remains firmly in positive territory amid strong domestic sales growth, according to new research. Published less than a week before one of the most important Budgets for a generation, the quarterly survey of chartered accountants in the region paints a...
Organisers of The Welcome Party, which will celebrate the cultural and economic contributions of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in Bristol, have announced two significant new supporters – The Guild of Guardians and City of Bristol College. The pair join a list of sponsors for the high-profile event, which...
Small and medium-sized firms in the innovation hotspot of the West of England can tap into funding worth thousands of pounds to protect their intellectual property (IP), such as trademarks, patents and designs. Under the scheme, launched by the West of England Combined Authority (WECA), businesses that meet a...
Hewlett Packard Enterprise has officially opened its new base in Bristol in a move that extends the US tech giant’s links with the city to more than four decades. The Lake View office in Stoke Gifford will serve as a hub for the firm’s UK research and development and...
