ears of an autumn tax raid and a radical strengthening of workers’ rights have triggered a collapse in confidence among business leaders, The Telegraph reports. The Institute of Directors’ (IoD’s) economic confidence index has plunged from a three-year high of +7 in July to -12 in August, while investment intention for the year ahead also dropped from a reading of +24 in July to +10 in August, suggesting the Government’s plans are causing businesses to scale back their ambitions. The proportion of bosses planning to hire more staff in the next year also fell sharply in the IOD survey, dropping 14 points from +24 to +10. The slumps in investment and hiring intentions were the most significant falls since the onset of Covid lockdowns in 2020. More than 30% of business leaders told the IoD they feel “quite pessimistic” about the UK economy. 10.1% said they were “very pessimistic”. Only 1.5% said they were “very optimistic”.  Ministers have refused to rule out an increase in Capital Gains Tax in the Autumn Budget, and are also suggesting an increase to employers’ National Insurance contributions is on the cards. Labour also wants to create one, single worker status, meaning all employees have the right to sick pay, holiday pay, parental leave, protection against unfair dismissal, and all other employee benefits from day one of their employment. Currently, the qualifying period for such rights is two years. There are also moves to ban employers from expecting staff to answer late-night emails or calls, as well as ban so-called fire and rehire practices and zero-hour contracts. “The IoD’s survey suggests the honeymoon period is already fading as the extent of the Government’s plans becomes clearer,” the newspaper says, adding it also raises “the possibility that the Government could talk the country into a downturn”. The IOD represents 20,000 business leaders nationwide.

Additional windfall taxes on oil and gas generating companies will deliver a £13bn hit to the Treasury because it will drive companies overseas and generate lower tax revenues, analysis from trade body Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) suggests. The proposed tax changes "will trigger an accelerated decline of domestic (oil and gas) production, and a corresponding reduction in taxes paid, jobs supported, and wider economic value generated," OEUK CEO David Whitehouse said in a statement. The OEUK research, which compares the previous Conservative government’s Energy Profits Levy (EPL) with that proposed by Keir Starmer’s government, also predicts capital investment will fall from £14.1bn to just £2.3bn over the next five years under Labour’s plans, and that 35,000 jobs will be put at risk as projects that might have gone ahead will be no longer financially viable. The EPL was originally levied at 60%; was hiked to 75%; and now Labour plans to raise it to 78%. The new government’s changes also include scrapping the levy's 29% investment allowance, which lets companies offset tax from capital that is re-invested. Energy secretary Ed Milliband thinks he will raise money from the tax hike to establish a new, state-owned energy company GB Energy.

Steep rises in the price of concert tickets on official website when demand is high will be investigated, Culture Minister Lisa Nandy has promised, after the cost of Oasis reunion tickets soared over the weekend. It was "depressing to see vastly inflated prices" on sites operated by authorised retailers, she said, as it meant some fans would be excluded from going. "Working with artists, industry and fans we can create a fairer system that ends the scourge of touts, rip-off resales and ensures tickets at fair prices," Nandy said in a statement last night. Lucy Powell, leader of the House of Commons, told the BBC she bought two tickets for £350 each from an official retailer, more than double their original face value, as a result of so-called dynamic pricing.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) declined to rule out continuing to pursue its $4bn claim regarding to its purchase of tech firm Autonomy, despite the death of Autonomy founder Mike Lynch and his 18-year old daughter Hannah in the Bayesian yacht disaster. Lynch’s wife and Hannah’s mother Angela Bacares survived, and HPE suggested a claim could continue against the Lynch family. In a statement, the firm said: “In 2022, an English High Court judge ruled that HPE had substantially succeeded in its civil fraud claims against Dr Lynch and [former finance chief] Mr [Sushovan] Hussain. A damages hearing was held in February 2024 and the judge’s decision regarding damages due to HPE will arrive in due course. It is HPE’s intention to follow the proceedings through to their conclusion”.

News you may have missed while I was away last week…

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer warned in a speech that he had “no other choice” than to impose a “painful” Budget in October.

Documents leaked to The Sun suggested the Government is planning to ban smoking in outdoor spaces in pubs, bars and restaurants in a further push to create a ‘smoke-free generation.’ UKHospitality said such a ban could do further harm to a hospitality sector will struggling to recover from covid lockdown, as well as inflation and soaring energy prices due to the cost of living crisis. “You only have to look back to the significant pub closures we saw after the indoor smoking ban to see the potential impact it could have,” said Kate Nicholls, CEO of UKHospitality. Reem Ibrahim, Acting Director of Communications at the Institute of Economic Affairs said it would be “another nail in the coffin for the pub industry… the Government’s own impact assessment concluded that banning smoking outdoors will lead to pub closures and job losses,” she said.

The Government gave the green light to what will become Britain’s largest battery storage plant following a national security review. The project is controversial because it is financed by KX Power, a UK-registered asset manager run by a former Chinese diplomat and with links to Chinese investors, as well as US giant BlackRock.  KX Power is run by Zhe Zhang, a former Goldman Sachs banker who previously worked for China’s Ministry of Commerce. Zhang worked for the department in Europe for 14 years before working in Goldman’s Beijing office, where he “led multiple overseas acquisitions by Chinese state-owned enterprises and listed companies,” the Telegraph said.

Next lost an equal pay legal case that has potential ramifications for many other retailers.  Next said the fact it paid mostly male warehouse workers more than mostly female sales staff was because market rates were higher for the former, not because it was discriminating on the grounds of sex. However, The Employment Tribunal ruled that where there are two labour markets doing equal work, the fact the male-dominated market is paid more than the female-dominated market is not alone a lawful defence in an equal pay claim. Next says it will appeal the ruling. Law firm Leigh Day, which brought the claim against Next on behalf of 3,500 current and former staff, has also filed similar equal pay claims against Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and the Co-op, on behalf of a total of 112,000 staff.

Sainsbury's, meanwhile, agreed to buy 10 leasehold stores from HHGL Limited, trading as Homebase, for conversion into supermarkets.

Dobbies Garden Centres, which is owned by the investment group Ares Management and employs about 3,700 people, has hired FTI Consulting to work on a restructuring plan that could pave the way for store closures and rent cuts, Sky News reported.

FTSE 100 firms including AstraZeneca, Unilever and GSK have reconnected with the scandal-hit Confederation of British Industry (CBI), taking up seats on the lobby group’s committees after suspending or terminating their engagements in 2023. Power generation firm Drax and US tech group Cisco have also returned, The Times said, 16 months after a series of sexual misconduct allegations led to around 150,000 businesses quitting the group.  

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