News

September 11, 2025

Aldi Leads the Way on Pay: Is High Pay a Good Approach?

Aldi introduced a pay boost last week for its store assistants that will see their pay rise to at least £13.02 per hour nationwide, making it the first UK supermarket to pass the £13 mark. Within the M25, rates will start at £14.35, rising to £14.66 with length of service. All staff, regardless of age, will receive the same minimum rate – well above the new National Living Wage of £12.21.

September 10, 2025

Rising Borrowing Costs Put Pressure on the Chancellor

The UK government is facing a fresh financial squeeze after long-term borrowing costs climbed to their highest level in a generation. The yield on 30-year government bonds (known as gilts) has reached 5.72% – the highest since 1998.

May 23, 2024

Government promise to cut National Insurance confirmed

While commenting on the GDP growth and what it indicates about the economy, the Prime Minister again drew attention to National Insurance.

May 22, 2024

Are you an early bird?

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) have released figures showing that 295,250 Self Assessment tax returns were filed in the first week of the new tax year. Almost 70,000 were filed on the first day – April 6th.

May 21, 2024

Understanding economic changes: How recent events affect businesses

Data releases in recent weeks from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) coupled with Bank of England decisions might make recent news about the economy seem a bit confusing. Understanding how this news affects businesses is important so let’s break it down.

May 16, 2024

Shott Scale Up Accelerator: Leadership programme opportunities available

Making the leap from a technical expert to a business leader can be challenging. The Shott Scale Up Accelerator is a 12-month programme that aims to help senior decision-makers in high-growth engineering and tech SMEs develop the skills needed to scale their business to the next level.

May 14, 2024

Introducing WorkWell: A £64 million initiative to support workplace health and well-being

The UK government has announced a new initiative aimed at helping people with health conditions stay in or return to work.

May 13, 2024

Official figures show that the UK no longer in recession

Figures published by the Office for National Statistics on 10 May 2024 show that the UK has officially exited recession.

May 9, 2024

How might the changes to company size thresholds affect your business?

From October 2024, company size thresholds are to increase by 50%. For each company, these new thresholds will begin to apply from the start of the next accounting period commencing on or after 1 October 2024. But what are the implications of these changes to your company?

May 8, 2024

Is your use of AI compliant with health and safety?

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published an article outlining its approach to regulating artificial intelligence (AI) in workplaces.

May 7, 2024

New digital service to check your State Pension forecast launched

A new digital service has been launched that makes it easier to check if you have any gaps in your National Insurance (NI) record that may affect your State Pension entitlement.

May 3, 2024

Increasing your profit – why it’s not the same as growing sales

The so-called Micawber principle, as stated by Wilkins Micawber in Charles Dickens’ novel David Copperfield, says: “Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds nought and six, result misery.”