Report reveals HMRC service wait times for taxpayers

HMRC has been heavily criticised following a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) that revealed taxpayers spent million hours on hold in 2023/24, equating to 798 years. This figure has more than doubled from 3.2m hours in 2019/20. During this period, HMRC...

Staff rates fall while pay growth rises

Both permanent and temporary job placements continue to experience slight declines across all sectors, marking the 19th consecutive month of such trends. In the accounting sector, the number of permanent and temporary positions notably decreased compared to April...

Interest rates to remain at 16-year high

The Bank of England (BoE) chose to maintain interest rates at 5.25% for the sixth consecutive time last Thursday, despite inflation remaining above its 2% target at 3.2%. Alongside the interest rate decision, the BoE released its latest economic and inflation...

UK no longer in recession

The UK's economy has outperformed expectations with a 0.6% growth in GDP between January and March, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This performance, surpassing the anticipated 0.4% increase, marks a turnaround from previous contractions and...

Higher mortgage rates hit property rebound

The property market's recovery has faltered due to rising mortgage rates, which are deterring potential homebuyers, according to the latest survey from The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). After three consecutive months of increased activity, new...