UK manufacturers ‘will pay £940m a year more in business rates due to Reeves changes’
British manufacturers have said they will have to pay an extra £940m a year in business rates because of changes by Rachel Reeves that come into effect this month.Manufacturers face a disproportionate business rates bill because they often have large factory floors, according to analysis by MakeUK, an industry lobby group.It said that factories accounted for a fifth of England and Wales’s property by rateable value, despite manufacturers only accounting for a 10th of economic output.The chancellor increased business rates at the budget in November.That included companies paying an additional surcharge on buildings of a rateable value of more than £500,000.
The government faced a strong initial backlash to the business rates changes from pubs and live music venues in particular.In January the government made a partial U-turn by announcing £80m in discounts, after warnings that some of the businesses would be forced to close.Retailers also successfully argued against even higher rates.However, MakeUK argued that the government should also look at ways to help manufacturers as well as retailers and hospitality businesses, at a time when they must also deal with the energy price shock caused by the US-Israel war on Iran.The lobby group said that the government should give a year’s notice before raising rates.
Verity Davidge, the policy director at Make UK, said: “The current system of business rates is outdated and is a blunt instrument that leaves manufacturers paying disproportionately more than other sectors relative to their size.“This increase couldn’t come at a worse possible time and is set to hammer one of the government’s key strategic sectors which is already facing existential threats from increased energy and employment costs which are completely out of their control.For many companies right now, just to survive the burdens being imposed on them will be an achievement.”Business rates, which are used to fund essential local government services, are calculated by applying a “multiplier” to the rateable value of property, set every three years by the government’s Valuation Office Agency in England and Wales (or by equivalents in Scotland and Northern Ireland).That means that large properties tend to pay higher rates, regardless of how successful the business is.
MakeUK argued that rates should be linked to business turnover, size and type, with discounts for small and mid-sized companies.Across England and Wales there are an estimated 380,000 manufacturing premises.MakeUK said that property types that include “industrial” and “factories, mills & workshops” were worth £14bn, accounting for more than a fifth of the total rateable value of properties across England and Wales.A fifth of 132 manufacturers surveyed by MakeUK will pay the “high value” multiplier for properties worth more than £500,000.Responding to MakeUK’s analysis, a Government spokesperson said: “We have the right economic plan - we’re reforming business rates to back manufacturing, with a £4.
3bn support package to limit bills rises, alongside capping Corporation Tax at 25%, cutting red tape and taking action on energy by reducing electricity bills by up to 25% for over 7,000 businesses.“We’re also cutting the business rates tax rate by 5p for high street businesses, funded by higher bills for the top 1% most expensive properties – meaning many big online warehouses now pay a 33% higher rate than small high street premises.”
Iceland chain offers job to man sacked by Waitrose after confronting shoplifter
Keir Starmer’s cost of living tsar, who is the chair of Iceland, has offered a job to a worker who was sacked from Waitrose after trying to stop a shoplifter.Waitrose faced public outcry over its treatment of Walker Smith, who was fired two days after he stopped the shoplifter taking items from the Easter egg display, including Lindt chocolate bunnies.Richard Walker responded by offering Smith a job at one of his stores. In a LinkedIn post, he wrote: “You’re welcome to a job with us. We even share the same name …”An Iceland spokesperson confirmed to the Guardian that the supermarket chain had been in touch with Smith and offered him a job
Universal Music, home to Taylor Swift and Drake, receives €55bn takeover offer
Billionaire Bill Ackman’s hedge fund has offered to buy Universal Music Group (UMG) in a deal that values the world’s biggest music company at around €55bn (£48bn).Pershing Square, the New-York based hedge fund, has offered to buy the business, which is home to artists including Taylor Swift and Elton John, in a cash and stock deal.Ackman said in a statement that while the company, which is led by the British-born Sir Lucian Grainge, had done “an excellent job nurturing and continuing to build a world-class artist roster and generating strong business performance”, its share price had lagged owing to issues “unrelated to the performance of its music business”.Shares in UMG, which have been listed in Amsterdam since 2021, had lost more than a quarter of their value in the past year alone. The shares jumped by 11% on Tuesday after news of Pershing’s proposal
UK’s leading AI research institute told to make ‘significant’ changes
The UK’s leading AI research institute has been told to make “significant” changes by its main source of taxpayer funding.The Guardian revealed last week that the board of the Alan Turing Institute was reminded of its legal duties by the charity watchdog after a whistleblower complaint.The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) body, which awarded the ATI a five-year, £100m funding package in 2024 and is its largest single source of funds, said it had conducted a review of the institute and found it underperforming in terms of strategy and delivering value for money.“The review concluded that overall strategic alignment and value for money are not yet satisfactory,” the UKRI said.Last summer, the government made clear that it expected a strategic overhaul at the nominally independent organisation and indicated the need for management changes, adding that its funding could be reviewed
Google to tap into gas plant for AI datacenter in sharp turn from climate goals
Google’s plan for a partnership with a natural gas power plant that could provide energy for one of its datacenters in Texas was unearthed by new research and confirmed by the company. The move is part of an ongoing about-face for the tech giant, which once pledged to be carbon neutral by 2030 and has long been seen as a pioneer in clean energy.The gas power plant is slated to be built in Armstrong county, a sparsely populated area in the Texas panhandle. According to a report by the research organization Cleanview, the project is being led by Crusoe Energy, which partnered with Google to develop the datacenter campus known as “Goodnight”, named after a nearby town.Crusoe filed for a permit in January to build the 933-megawatt power plant on the site of the Goodnight campus, which showed the facility would operate off the grid and provide energy to at least two buildings on the campus, according to Cleanview
Courtney Lawes ‘officially un-retiring’ for England after announcing Sale move
The former England captain Courtney Lawes is returning to the Prem to join Sale at the end of the season after two years withBrive. The 37-year-old retired from international rugby after the 2023 Rugby World Cup and made the move to France after winning the 2023-24 Premiership title with Northampton.Sale confirmed on Tuesday that he would be moving to the north-west of England with his return making him eligible again for international duty. Lawes said: “I’m really excited to be joining Sale. My body feels good and I’m still performing at a high level
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