Farmlay welcomed North East MSPs and councillors to Cockmuir Farm outside Strichen last Friday 21st November as part of Quality Meat Scotland's (QMS) ‘Meating Our Potential' campaign. This encourages Scotland's beef farmers to add just two more cows to their herd each year to help ensure the supply of beef meets the ongoing buoyant consumer demand.
The headline numbers look unchanged. Income tax rates stay the same.
21 apprentices have become the first to graduate from the UK's pioneering degree-level forestry programme. 21 apprentices have graduated from the UK's first degree-level forestry apprenticeship at the University of Cumbria, marking a significant milestone in efforts to grow the next generation of professional foresters.
Rachel Reeves's budget was seen as a "make or break" moment for the chancellor and the government, which is suffering from low approval ratings and rapidly fading public confidence. At the same time, threats of a leadership challenge and the impending May elections mean Keir Starmer has a tricky path to navigate.
Standards will see all drivers, vehicles and operators subject to robust checks and requirements on safety and accessibility across the UK. Ministers will change the law to strengthen safety and protections for passengers in taxi and private hire vehicles (PHVs).
A discussion about 45 minutes long explaining the implications of the 2025 Autumn budget. Lots of details.
The amount invested into Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) through UK's largest VCT broker were up 538% yesterday, versus the average November day last year. Total VCT applications hit £2 million on the 27th November, the day after the Budget, up from an average £319,700 last year.
Billpayers to benefit from an average of £150 off the costs of energy bills. We announced in the Autumn Budget that we will cut the cost of living, including by taking an average of £150 off the costs of household energy bills from April next year.
Rachel Reeves's second budget landed in an unusual fashion. Before she delivered it, most of the key details had already been revealed accidentally by the Office for Budget Responsibility.
At least the budget is over, months of speculation, leaks and u-turns has made it one of the most feverish of budgets. This budget fever even slowed down the economy, with consumers holding back to see what taxes would go up.
On 26 November the UK Chancellor delivered her Budget, bringing to a close what has felt like a long period of speculation since the summer. The wait was not quite as long as anticipated however, as the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) accidently published their Economic and Fiscal Forecast a few hours early, revealing many of the headline decisions taken in the Budget.
Agreement reached with key stakeholders on the unfair dismissal elements of the Employment Rights Bill. The Government convened a series of constructive conversations between trade unions and business representatives.
SSEN Transmission has become the first company to sign up to the Highland Social Value Charter (HSVC), marking a significant milestone in delivering long-term socio-economic benefits for communities across the Highlands. Investment commitments from the company include funding for roads, new homes, jobs, and work for local contractors in addition to a local and regional fund for communities to apply to.
The Highland Council continues to call for meaningful engagement from the Home Office over its plans to temporarily accommodate up to 300 adult male asylum seekers at Cameron Barracks, Inverness. It follows an email on Monday from Alex Norris MP, Minister for Border Security and Asylum, to Council Leader, Raymond Bremner, which failed to answer questions raised by the Council or address community concerns.
The government is ending the current "customs duty relief" that lets many small parcels enter the UK duty-free if they're worth £135 or less. After the change, all imports — even low-value parcels — will be subject to customs duty.
The Chancellor has moved decisively to ease cost of living pressures with welcome support on energy bills and for larger families. She has also increased her fiscal wiggle room, funded by the expected freeze in income tax thresholds and sensible reforms that help to level the playing field on personal taxes.
In an ONS survey held before this week's contentious Autumn Budget, fewer transport & storage companies said they are expecting an increase in turnover in December than any comparable sector, while a surprise 10.9% reduced the price of their services in October. This was significantly more than any other business sector, says the home delivery expert Parcelhero.
When the full, unexpurgated diaries of the Conservative MP Sir Henry "Chips" Channon were published in 2021, these disarmingly frank accounts of his aristocratic life in mid-20th century Britain caused a stir. They revealed the inner thoughts of a renowned social climber and rightwing snob, whose political career never recovered from his record as an appeaser of Nazi Germany.
In the 2025 Autumn Budget, the UK government introduced a significant reform of the business-rates system — a reform that has quickly become known in the media and logistics sector as the "warehouse tax." Despite the name, this is not a brand-new tax created specifically for warehouses. Instead, it is a restructuring of existing Business Rates, the property tax paid annually by all commercial premises.
The Budget 2025 strengthens HMRC's capability to pursue tax avoidance and evasion: it increases the rewards paid to informants who supply valuable information that leads to recovery of unpaid taxes (for high-value cases—above £1.5 million). The government will introduce enhanced powers and sanctions against tax-advisers who facilitate non-compliance — effective from 1 April 2026.