UK bosses were left stunned on Monday after the chancellor ripped up almost all of a series of promised “pro-business” tax changes in an attempt to rebalance the government’s finances (The Financial Times £). Jeremy Hunt axed proposals around cutting dividends tax, repealing off-payroll working rules, a new VAT-free shopping scheme and a freeze on alcohol duty rates, saving close to £6bn, according to the Treasury.
London’s stock markets rallied yesterday as the government’s decision to reverse many of the tax cuts set out in last month’s mini-budget gave a much needed boost to UK-focused companies (The Times £).
The pound and gilts rallied on Monday as markets welcomed a suite of u-turns on Government tax policy under new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt (The Mail).
Jeremy Hunt’s economic plan turns the clock back to austerity, an analysis in The Guardian says.
Companies selling consumer goods face downgrades if political and market volatility continues, the ratings agency S&P has warned (The Times £).
Greggs has won a landmark ruling in its legal battle over a £150m pound insurance claim triggered by the coronavirus crisis (The Times £). A High Court judge yesterday backed the majority of the FTSE 250 company’s claim for business interruptions caused by the pandemic, in a move that could cost Zurich Insurance tens of millions more than it argued was its liability.
SoftBank is offloading its stake in THG, the UK ecommerce group, for about £31m, bringing to an end a disastrous investment that was once worth about £500m (The Times £).
The country’s biggest winemaker is to reap the benefits of the long hot summer with a harvest of more than 2,000 tonnes of grapes (The Times £). Chapel Down, based near Tenterden, Kent, said that across its 750 acres of vineyards it had delivered a record tonnage of the three key grapes used to make sparkling wine — chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier.
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