Office for National Statistics data out today tells a sorry tale for UK business start-ups as the number of registered VAT or PAYE businesses has fallen for the first time since 2011. From March 2022 to 2023 there was a 0.9% decrease in the number of companies. Every category of registered business saw a decrease, apart from local authorities and non-profits which rose by 2% and 0.8% respectively. Quelle surprise…

With public sector productivity already down 9.5% this year the new stats from the private sector don’t make happy reading for Hunt ahead of what looks to be a damp Monday Business Day at Tory Conference, especially as corporate executives are banging on Keir Starmer’s door and shelling out £2,520 just to attend a forum at Labour conference. Great timing for a corporation tax hike…