
Insolvencies Jump to 11-Month High as UK's Tax Hikes Take Toll
The number of companies going bust in England and Wales rose to the highest in 11 months as firms struggled with the Labour government's tax hikes and a broader slowdown in the economy.
Insolvencies rose to 2,238 in May, a 15% jump from a year earlier, the government's Insolvency Service said on Friday.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


New York Times
13 minutes ago
- New York Times
Gareth Bale leading consortium to buy Cardiff City
Gareth Bale is leading a consortium that has made an approach to buy Cardiff City. Bale's group sent a letter of intent to Cardiff owner Vincent Tan last month, which expressed their desire to purchase the Welshman's hometown club and included financial numbers. The proposal was rejected but interest from the former Real Madrid winger in Cardiff remains strong — whereas he is not in the frame to acquire Plymouth Argyle, despite recent reports. Cardiff declined to comment. Advertisement Cardiff were mooted as a possible destination for Bale, 35, in 2022 after he left Real Madrid but he signed for LAFC instead, where he made 14 appearances before retiring after the World Cup in Qatar. The Welshman's potential involvement in Cardiff comes after his former Tottenham Hotspur and Madrid team-mate Luka Modric became a co-owner of their south Wales rivals Swansea City earlier this month. Bale, who announced his retirement as a player in January 2023, would be the latest big name to attach themselves to an ownership group of a team in the English Football League. NFL legend Tom Brady became Birmingham City's minority owner in August 2023, while American golfers Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas bought shares in Leeds United before their promotion to the Premier League in May. Cardiff have been a Premier League side as recently as 2018-19 but finished bottom of the Championship last season, two points off Plymouth in 23rd, recording only nine wins. Head coach Omer Riza was sacked in April and replaced on an interim basis by Bale's former international team-mate Aaron Ramsey, though he could not change their fortunes. Brian Barry-Murphy has been appointed head coach ahead of the 2025-26 season, as Cardiff prepare for their first campaign in the English third tier since 2003.

Wall Street Journal
27 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
Week Ahead for FX, Bonds: PMI Data, Middle East Conflict in Focus
Preliminary purchasing managers' surveys in the eurozone, U.K. and U.S. are among the biggest highlights in the week ahead. The surveys on manufacturing and services activity are an important indicator of economic growth. The data come amid concerns about President Trump's tariff policy and the Israel-Iran conflict. Noting that the global PMI data for May signaled some improvements in current and expected future output growth, S&P economists said in a note: 'With tensions rising in the Middle East, pushing oil prices sharply higher, the flash PMI data will be keenly assessed to see whether April really represented 'peak gloom' in terms of business confidence, or whether executives consider the economic and political environment to have deteriorated further.'


Bloomberg
31 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Bloomberg Daybreak Weekend: US GDP, Nike Preview
Bloomberg Daybreak Weekend with Tom Busby takes a look at some of the stories we'll be tracking in the coming week. - In the US – a look ahead to U.S GDP and personal spending data and Nike earnings. - In the UK – a look ahead to TheCityUK's annual conference. - In Asia – a look ahead to Bloomberg's China economic survey. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Guests: -Michael McKee, Bloomberg International Economics and Policy Correspondent, to preview next week's U.S GDP/personal spending data. - Poonam Goyal, Senior U.S. E-Commerce and Retail Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, to preview Nike earnings. -Leo Kehnscherper, Bloomberg European Asset Management Reporter, looks ahead to TheCityUK's annual conference. -Julian Harris, UK Economics Editor, looks ahead to TheCityUK's annual conference. - Eric Zhu, China Economist for Bloomberg Economics, discusses Bloomberg's China Economic Survey. -Karishma Vaswani, Bloomberg Opinion Columnist in Singapore, discusses her column: 'US Rethink on Australia Subs Is China's Win.'