Businesses continue to vote with their feet and shut up shop, a trend that shows no signs of slowing down, even before the budget is unveiled. So far this month, over 1,600 members’ voluntary liquidations have been recorded, according to filings with The Gazette. More than double the level for the whole of October last year. Business owners are heading for the hills, taking UK job prospects with them… 

The uptick in liquidations has been blamed on Reeves’ looming capital gains tax hike and expected cuts to business asset disposal relief. Keeping capital and business in Labour’s Britain is far from attractive – and this is before any tax hikes have been formally announced. Imagine the exodus after Halloween…

Labour’s penchant for high taxes has sent shivers down the spines of British business owners, prompting a flurry of sales as they scramble to escape the looming tax storm. Research from Lubbock Fine reveals a staggering 71% surge in mergers and acquisitions as business owners race to sell up. They fear Rachel Reeves’ imminent budget will tighten the tax noose around entrepreneurs with potential increases in capital gains tax…

Further fears that Labour will reduce business asset disposal relief, which allows people who own more than 5% of a company to sell their stake and pay a lower tax rate on their profits have fuelled the rush. Meanwhile, Labour have notably avoided any mention of tax rises in this bracket. If this is how business owners are reacting to potential tax hikes, one can only imagine the exodus that would follow if Reeves does announce a heavy-handed Autumn Statement…

The regulatory burden hitting businesses in the UK has risen by a whopping £6 billion a year under the Tories, according to a report by the Centre for Policy Studies. The equivalent of a 2p increase in corporation tax…

Despite cries from the Tories of being the party for business – a core Tory value – they’ve done little to promote them. Sunak announced an increased corporation tax from 19% to 25% in 2021. And now, despite assurances to cut red tape – much of what Brexit promised – the report points to more than 3,500 pieces of legislation over almost a decade that weigh down enterprises. Ten years to save British businesses?

The dearth of business experience among potential Labour MPs has been exposed, with over 60% of candidates vying for Labour’s top 100 winnable seats currently employed or have recently worked in the public or not-for-profit sector, according to consultancy Apella Advisors. Of the 36 that technically work in the private sector, they won’t exactly resonate with many business leaders, having jobs in law, writing, polling and PR. Only one works for a company listed on the London Stock Exchange. When their Shadow Secretary for Business and Trade is a career politician with no private sector background, the Labour candidates are only following suit…

James Kirkup, Partner at Apella Advisors wrote in The Times:

“If Labour is in power after the next election, British business will have to work harder than ever to explain itself to the people who make up the governing party.” 

Starmer and Reeves have been doing the rounds trying to convince global business leaders of their competence in handling business and trade, with many CEOs questioning the instincts of the party. Turns out, they were right to ask questions and these latest figures will reignite fears about the lack of business experience among Labour MPs; if these 100 Labour candidates are elected as expected, they will make up one third of the governing party. If Labour really are “pro-business” then they should have fielded candidates with business rather than bureaucratic expertise…

New figures from the UK Insolvency Service show company insolvencies have reached their highest level since 2009, when the global economy was in meltdown. Insolvencies in Q3 this year were 10% higher than last year – 37,722 companies were in “critical financial distress” and 480,000 were in “significant” distress. Meanwhile Hunt’s dangling spectral tax cuts ahead of the Autumn Statement and refusing to extend full expensing for companies…

Construction and real estate sectors have taken the strongest hit, with services and wholesale & retail trade behind. The number of creditors’ voluntary liquidations has reached levels not seen since the 1960s when data was first collected. Death by a thousand bankruptcies…

Rishi Sunak has today been re-heating his plans to make maths mandatory and it not the only thing going down well with the nation’s number-crunchers. In accountancy firm Deloitte’s quarterly survey of the UK’s leading Chief Financial Officers (CFOs), business confidence rose significantly at the start of 2023. It marks the largest increase since the Covid vaccine roll-out. Starmer will need to bring out his best canapés to best Rishi in sucking up to his core coalition of corporate elites.

The survey also reflects a positive view from industry leaders on Rishi Sunak’s record in government. Concerns over Brexit frictions have decreased in the wake of improved EU relations and the announcement of the Windsor Framework deal – they’re reaching their lowest level for six years. As expectations for inflation over the next year have also decreased, from 5.8% to 4.2% – meaning executives now expect Rishi to meet his pledge to half inflation. Sum-loving Sunak won’t need his abacus to work out that achieving his other four pledges might not be so easy…