News in brief

7 November 2025:

FRC updates guidance on non-executive director remuneration. The Financial Reporting Council has published updated guidance as part of its regular updates to the guidance supporting the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024. The update provides clarity on how companies can structure non-executive director (NED), remuneration, recognising that companies may encourage NEDs to build personal shareholdings to foster alignment with shareholders and reinforce long-term commitment, whilst emphasising that any approach must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each company. Read more on the FRC website.

BDO fined £6.5m after regulator slams it for faking audit evidence. Business advisory giant BDO has been slapped with a £6.5m fine after two of its former audit engagement partners made admissions of misconduct. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) launched an investigation after receiving formal complaints about the dishonest conduct of a BDO senior manager between 2015 and 2019, including the creation of false audit evidence, the issuance of unapproved auditors’ reports, and the unauthorised insertion of partners’ signatures, reported CityAM.

Rachel Reeves ‘planning pay-per-mile tax for electric vehicles in budget’. Rachel Reeves is drawing up plans for a new tax for electric vehicles to announce in this month’s budget worth an extra £250 a year on average, according to reports. Under the plans, EV drivers would face a new charge of 3p a mile on top of other road taxes to offset falling revenue from petrol and diesel cars as drivers switch to greener options. The chancellor will reportedly argue that this will be fairer, as drivers of petrol or diesel cars currently pay £600 a year in fuel duty, on average, reported The Guardian. 

6 November 2025:

Economists call for interest rates to be cut to 3.75%. Top economists on City AM’s Shadow Monetary Policy Committee have called for interest rates to be cut to 3.75% in a narrow 5-4 vote. Economists from academia, business and City giants have said that the UK’s weakening demand and easing price pressures suggested the Bank of England should look to cut interest rates this Thursday, reported CityAM.

M&S profits halved after cyber-attack. M&S profits halved after it was hit by a cyber-attack which left shoppers unable to buy online from the company for months. The British high street chain's boss said the April attack was "an extraordinary moment in time" as it revealed it made £184m adjusted profit before tax for the first half of the year, compared with £413m the year prior. As well as disrupting its online business, the hack affected the company in-store too, leaving some shelves bare in the weeks after M&S was targeted, reported BBC News. Browse ICAEW’s cyber security resources.

UK to launch pilot scheme that helps homeless people access banking. Homeless people will for the first time be able to open accounts with the UK’s five biggest banks, in a pilot scheme marking the launch of the government’s financial inclusion strategy. The Treasury said its new national plan was meant to ensure financial services “worked for everyone”, as it also revealed programmes that could help rebuild the credit scores of domestic abuse victims, support families with no savings and roll out financial education in primary schools across the UK, reported The Guardian.

5 November 2025:

Minimum wage hike puts pressure on professional starting salaries. With Rachel Reeves poised to raise the minimum wage in her Autumn Budget, mid-tier professional services firms are bracing for significant impacts across the sector. As reported last week, the Budget will likely see employers forced to raise workers’ wages from £12.21 to at least £12.70 an hour, reported CityAM.

Third of British farmers made no profit in past year, report finds. A third of British farmers are making a loss or breaking even as they struggle with the loss of subsidies and looming inheritance tax changes, a report on post-Brexit farming has found. Only 14% of farmers surveyed for McCain Foods’ inaugural Farmdex report said they made 10% or more profit in the past year. In fact, many are making no profit at all, with 35% of the farmers reporting making a loss or breaking even, reported The Guardian.

ChatGPT owner OpenAI signs US$38bn cloud computing deal with Amazon. OpenAI has signed a US$38bn (£29bn) contract with Amazon to access its cloud computing infrastructure, as the start-up continues its run of major partnerships to secure computing power. In 2025, the ChatGPT maker has signed deals worth more than US$1tn with Oracle, Broadcom, AMD and chip-making giant Nvidia. Its latest deal reduces its reliance on Microsoft. As part of the seven-year agreement, OpenAI will gain access to Nvidia graphics processors to train its artificial intelligence models, reported BBC News. Browse ICAEW cloud computing resources. 

4 November 2025:

UK unemployment rate to hit 5 per cent next year, EY predicts. The UK’s unemployment rate is set to rise to five per cent in the beginning of next year before falling back, a leading forecaster has said. In its latest update on forecasts for UK growth, EY ITEM Club has suggested that the UK jobs market is set to see a further decline in the next few months. The unemployment rate has crept up from 4.4 per cent to 4.8 per cent in the last 12 months, reported CityAM.

Rachel Reeves’s 5% VAT cut on electricity bills will backfire, experts say. Proposals being considered by Rachel Reeves to cut tax on electricity bills will backfire, experts have warned, resulting in a giveaway to richer homeowners and undermining the UK’s climate commitments. The chancellor is understood to be looking at plans to eliminate the 5% VAT charge on electricity bills as a fast and simple way to reduce bills for consumers and ease the cost of living pressures that have aided the rise of Reform UK, reported The Guardian.

Police seize €1.3bn from Campari owner over alleged tax evasion. Shares worth €1.3bn (£1.1bn; $1.5bn) have been seized from the company that controls the manufacturer of Campari over alleged tax evasion, Italian police have said. Officials ordered the confiscation of the Campari Group shares from Luxembourg-based Lagfin as part of a year-long investigation into how it absorbed its Italian arm. It is accused of failing to pay a similar figure to that of the shares seized in taxes during that merger. The company said it had always acted according to tax laws, reported BBC News.

3 November 2025:

UK house price growth slows as buyers ‘sit on sidelines’ before Budget. British house price growth slowed in October, according to lending data, with analysts suggesting that buyers are “sitting on the sidelines” before a Budget that may bring new property taxes. The average house price rose by 0.3% month on month in October, Nationwide said, down from 0.5% in September. The average price of a home was £272,226, up from £271,995 in September, reported The Guardian.

£420m bill cut for heavy industry as union attacks 'obscene' energy profits. Bills for some of the country's most intensive business energy users will be cut by £420m from next year, the government has said. Speaking to the BBC, Business Secretary Peter Kyle said about 500 businesses in industries including steel, glass and cement would benefit from a 90% discount on their electricity network charges - up from 60%, reported BBC News.

Pension tax grab could threaten retirement for millions. A potential raid on pensions in the upcoming November Budget could cause pension funds to lose billions, threatening businesses and the retirement outcome for millions of Brits. UK pension funds could suffer a £50bn loss over the next five years if the Treasury decides to slash pension tax reliefs, according to analysis from wealth manager Rathbones, reported CityAM.