Latest news with #InstituteOfDirectors
Daily Mail
01-08-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
British businesses 'are facing a cacophony of risk': Labour's sent confidence to an all-time low, bosses say
Business confidence has collapsed to its lowest level on record as firms face a 'cacophony of risk' under Labour, bosses of industry warned last night. In a report that raises fresh questions over Rachel Reeves ' handling of the economy, the Institute of Directors said optimism has evaporated in the face of higher taxes, rising employment costs and red tape. Bosses called on the Chancellor to 'urgently quash rumours of further tax rises for business this autumn' to help restore shattered confidence – now lower than during Covid lockdowns. Critics argue the £25 billion increase in employer national insurance (NI) contributions and higher minimum wage meted out in last October's Budget have hammered the wider economy – snuffing out growth, costing jobs and driving up prices. While the economy is slowing, inflation is the highest in the G7 at 3.6 per cent and unemployment has surged to a four-year high of 4.7 per cent. Next chief executive Simon Wolfson yesterday said he expects 'UK employment opportunities to continue to diminish' this year following the NI hike. 'We believe that this will increasingly dampen consumer spending as the year progresses,' he added. The IoD's monthly Economic Confidence Index crashed to minus 72 in July from minus 53 in June. That was the lowest reading since the survey started in July 2016. The index stood at plus 7 in July last year – underlining just how fast confidence has collapsed under Labour. IoD chief economist Anna Leach urged Labour to rule out further tax hikes on business. 'Damaging speculation around tax rises in the lead-up to the 2024 Budget caused many firms to pause investment and hiring decisions – contributing to six months of near-zero economic growth,' she said. 'With ripple effects through the economy from tax changes and signs of consumer retrenchment, many firms report that they are struggling to plan amid a cacophony of risk. 'The Government must urgently quash rumours of further tax rises for business this autumn.' Tory business spokesman Andrew Griffith said: 'Labour have spent the last year attacking private enterprise with the zeal of a Left-wing student union so it's no surprise IoD members have lost confidence.
Times
31-07-2025
- Business
- Times
Economic confidence falls to record low as tax rises loom
Confidence in the British economy among business leaders has tumbled to its lowest level since the Brexit vote, as bosses fear the impact of tax rises and President Trump's trade war. An index that tracked optimism in the economy produced by the Institute of Directors, a lobby group, slid to -72 in July from -53 in June, the worst reading since the research started exactly nine years ago. Tax and the cost of employment were the main issues raised regarding the government by a survey of 894 finance directors, as they predicted wages and costs would rise and revenue and exports would fall. The figures add to pressure on Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, to demonstrate the government's ability to reverse the economy's declining growth and avoid months of debilitating speculation of further tax rises after a £25 billion increase in employers' national insurance contributions (NICs).
BBC News
29-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Institute of Directors Guernsey reacts to inflation slowing
The Institute of Directors in Guernsey has reacted after inflation slowed to 3.9% between March and rate, measured by the Retail Price Index (RPI), is 1.4% lower than the same time last year and 0.3% lower than March 2025. Richard Hemans, the Institute of Directors Guernsey's lead on economics, said the island "must accelerate housing development, expand workforce capacity, and improve productivity in key service sectors, while fiscal discipline, targeted immigration, and greater competition in key markets are also essential to ease inflationary pressure".He said the inflation rate was "lower than the UK" which was "a welcome development but not yet a cause for complacency". The bulletin showed Guernsey's housing costs increased by 6.9% and contributed 1.3 points to overall inflation. Household services and food were the other major drivers of Guernsey inflation, rising 5.7% and 4.4% inflation, excluding food and energy, was 3.2%, down from 4.2% in institute represents business leaders and directors in Hemans said: "The reduction in core inflation underlines the impact of volatile food and energy prices on local inflation, with recent electricity price increases contributing 0.3% to the latest figures. "Core inflation is therefore coming down faster than the headline figure suggests." 'Avoiding wage-price spirals' He added that "services inflation accounts for 2.9% points of Guernsey's 3.9% RPI, compared with 1.0% from goods. "The biggest service-sector pressures stem from rents, fees and subscriptions, mortgage interest, electricity, and domestic and personal services — areas where market concentration and labour shortages are driving persistent cost increases."He said it highlighted the structural challenges faced by Guernsey's housing and labour said the "States' forecast of 3.2% inflation by year-end looks achievable, but further progress will depend on easing housing costs and avoiding wage-price spirals."Persistent inflation at current levels risk eroding competitiveness and living standards," he added.
Telegraph
01-07-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Reeves warned fresh tax raid would ‘undermine the economy'
Rachel Reeves has been warned that a fresh tax raid to fund benefit U-turns risks 'undermining the UK economy', as business confidence crumbles. The Institute of Directors' (IoD) closely watched survey of bosses confidence tumbled to -53 in June from -35 in May. The lobby group blamed the impact of the Chancellor's National Insurance tax raid, which took effect in April, and gloom from Donald Trump's trade war. Against this weak backdrop, Anna Leach, the IoD's chief economist, warned that a further tax raid in the autumn risked being self-defeating as it could cripple growth and lead to even lower taxes for the Treasury. She said: 'If you go after businesses again, there is a very real danger of that undermining the UK economy and leaving it in a less stable position – and undermining the very revenues that you're trying to drive up.' Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, said the IoD's numbers were 'a stark reminder that Labour's broken promises are hitting business confidence hard'. He said: 'Instead of fostering growth, the Chancellor's costly jobs tax and reckless regulatory overreach are driving uncertainty and squeezing investment.' Businesses targeted The IoD's warning comes amid mounting speculation that a succession of U-turns by Sir Keir Starmer will leave Ms Reeves with little choice but to raise taxes by billions of pounds later this year. Climbdowns on sickness and disability benefits leaves the Chancellor with a shortfall of around £2.5bn, on top of a £1.25bn hit from backtracking on winter fuel payment cuts. Alongside other pressures, Ms Reeves faces a shortfall of around £20bn against her fiscal rules in autumn, warned economist James Smith, of Dutch bank ING. 'The Government has probably gone as far as it can politically on the spending side, which means tax rises are more likely,' he said. 'It's going to be hard to avoid looking at the major taxes. I can imagine employer National Insurance going up again. But a one percentage point rise raises £6bn, so the Treasury is probably going to have to go further than that.' Labour's manifesto pledges include not raising the key taxes working people pay, including income tax, National Insurance and VAT. As a result, businesses are likely to be targeted again in the autumn. Ms Leach warned that bosses were nearing their limit after being hit with big increases to costs and changes to inheritance tax, just as they face an increase in global instability. She said: 'The Government has been much more radical in taxing business than it has been in removing blockers to growth. The risks from putting a higher burden of taxes on the businesses that I'm talking to are pretty stark. They are going to leave, that's what they say, or they're going to wrap up their businesses. There is a limit, inevitably. 'We need to see faster progress and greater ambition on de-regulation – particularly planning reform – and a reconsideration of the tax landscape for business if we're to change the UK's economic fortunes.' A Treasury spokesman said: 'As set out in the Plan for Change, the best way to strengthen public finances is by growing the economy, which is our focus. Changes to tax and spend policy are not the only ways of doing this, as seen with our planning reforms. 'Since last July we've attracted over £120bn into our economy and created 384,000 new jobs, turbocharging economic growth and putting more money into the pockets of working people.' The IoD's survey found 30pc of bosses planned to cut their jobs, while only 19pc expected to hire more people. More employers have said they are shrinking employee numbers than growing them every month except one since Ms Reeves's maiden Budget in October, according to the survey.
Irish Times
26-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
EU to clamp down on unsafe goods sold on-line
The EU is clamping down on products sold on-line that flout safety and consumer protection rules, according to Irish Commissioner, Michael McGrath . Europeans buy more than 12.6 million small items a-day on-line, a total of 4.6 billion a-year with 90 per cent of them coming from China , Mr McGrath told the Institute of Directors (IOD) on Thursday. Many of these goods break the EU's product safety or consumer protection rules, a practice the bloc intends to halt, the commissioner said. 'I will be visiting China later this year to take on that issue,' he added. READ MORE Speaking afterwards, Mr McGrath, whose brief includes consumer protection, explained that there was no question of the EU banning the purchase of legal products. However, he pointed out the commission has told websites to take down ads for goods breaching its rules following on-line product safety sweeps. The EU also has other options open to it, including revisiting customs rules and duties applied to goods bought digitally, the commissioner noted. Along with threats to consumers, flouting EU consumer and safety rules gives the businesses involved an unfair advantage over compliant companies, including those based in the union, Mr McGrath argued. The commissioner, who was speaking with IOD chief executive, Caroline Spillane, hopes new legislation for a harmonised company law system will pass next year. The system will allow businesses to opt-in to an EU-wide regime with uniform rules rather than having to negotiate different laws across each of the 27 member states. According to Mr McGrath, it will sit alongside each country's own company law codes.
