Author: AbellMoney

The UK’s electric vehicle market hit the brakes in November, delivering its weakest growth in almost two years as the Chancellor’s looming pay-per-mile tax sowed uncertainty among buyers, and left Tesla nursing the sharpest fall in registrations.
New figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that just under 40,000 battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) were registered last month — only a 3.6% rise on November 2024, and a dramatic slowdown for a sector expected to accelerate rapidly towards the government’s net-zero goals.
It marks the softest year-on-year expansion since late 2023, when global supply chains were still snarled, and leaves BEVs on a 26.4% market share, short of the government’s 28% target for this stage in the transition.
The slowdown comes after weeks of pre-Budget speculation in which Treasury sources aired, and then confirmed, plans for a new EV excise duty (eVED). From April 2028, BEV drivers will pay 3p per mile and plug-in hybrid drivers 1.5p per mile, replacing the fuel duty revenue lost as motorists ditch petrol and diesel.
For a typical BEV driver covering 8,500 miles a year, the charge equates to £255 in road tax, a significant shift from the current near-zero cost regime.
The SMMT warned the move risks “endangering the UK’s net-zero transition”, adding that demand could collapse at the very moment it needs to surge. The Office for Budget Responsibility estimates the change could mean 440,000 fewer EV sales over the next five years.
Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT, said the warning lights were flashing: “This should be a wake-up call. We cannot take sustained EV growth for granted. We should be encouraging drivers to switch, not punishing them for doing so.”
Fresh data from New AutoMotive suggests Tesla was the sector’s biggest casualty, with UK registrations down almost 20% month-on-month to 3,800 vehicles,  slipping to just 2.5% market share.
Chinese rival BYD, which has leaned heavily into hybrids and plug-in hybrids, more than tripled its UK registrations over the same period.
The divergence reflects a broader shift in buyer sentiment: plug-in hybrids were the fastest-growing powertrain in November, up 14.8%, while petrol and diesel continued their structural decline.
Alongside the new EV mileage tax, Rachel Reeves extended grants for new EV purchases until 2030, with some new Renault and Mini models now qualifying for the maximum £3,750 discount.
But with cost perceptions still the biggest barrier to uptake, analysts warn the government has work to do.
Jamie Hamilton, automotive partner at Deloitte, said: “The new mileage charge will increase the running costs of EVs and may slow uptake. The industry must now redouble efforts to communicate the long-term value and investment behind the transition.”
With global carmakers betting billions on electrification and the UK’s own ZEV mandate gathering force, ministers will be hoping November’s slowdown is a blip — not the beginning of a much steeper decline.
Read more:
Tesla takes the biggest hit as UK EV growth stalls amid new road-tax fears

Ocado has claimed a rare financial win after US grocery giant Kroger agreed to pay the British retail-tech group $350 million (£276m) in compensation, even as it scrapped another of the automated warehouses built around Ocado’s much-touted robotic fulfilment technology.
Shares in the FTSE 250 company jumped as much as 16% in early trading on Friday before settling nearly 7% higher, offering brief respite for a business that has seen its market valuation collapse from £22 billion during the pandemic boom to barely £1.6 billion today.
The payout follows Kroger’s decision to cancel the opening of a fourth Ocado-powered customer fulfilment centre in Charlotte, North Carolina, one of two facilities previously scheduled for 2026. It comes only weeks after Kroger said it would shut three other automated warehouses because they had “not met financial expectations”.
Kroger will proceed with five remaining sites, plus a sixth still due to open in Phoenix next year, but the retrenchment has deepened concerns about Ocado’s ability to scale its technology in the world’s largest grocery market.
What began in 2018 as a 20-warehouse vision to transform US grocery logistics has so far delivered just eight, and even those have struggled to overcome the formidable economics of long-distance food delivery across vast American territories.
Despite the mounting doubts, chief executive Tim Steiner maintained a bullish tone, saying Ocado remained “excited about the opportunity” in the US and was “investing significant resources” into supporting Kroger’s logistics operations.
Ocado said both companies remain committed partners and would focus on driving profitable volume through the remaining fulfilment centres.
‘If you were a future partner, you’d rethink’
John Hudson of Premier Miton Investors,  a firm with a short position in Ocado,  was blunt. “It doesn’t look great that Ocado’s biggest partner has started closing warehouses. If you were a potential partner going forward, you might rethink.”
Clive Black of Shore Capital went further, warning that Ocado’s credibility in securing future licensing deals had been “absolutely blitzed”.
“Any retailer looking at Ocado’s proposition is going to read the Kroger report, which basically said the partnership was economically unviable,” he said. “You’d need a pretty strange form of due diligence to ignore that and not call Kroger, or Waitrose, Morrisons or Sobeys, and ask why they pulled back.”
Each of those retailers has scaled back or restructured ties with Ocado in recent years.
The company, long derided as a “jam tomorrow” stock,  has produced a full-year pre-tax profit only once in its 25-year history. It is also facing a significant refinancing deadline in 2027, with £350 million of convertible bonds and a £300 million revolving credit facility both falling due.
Its joint venture with Marks & Spencer, launched in 2020 after Ocado ditched Waitrose, has also been strained amid missed performance targets and a dispute over “true-up” payments.
Still, Steiner urged investors to take a long-term view: “Shareholders should only have invested if they believe that in the long term we’re going to be a profitable business,” he said.
For now, the business has secured a much-needed cash injection — but with Kroger trimming its commitment and other global partners cooling on Ocado’s model, the question remains: where does future growth come from?
Read more:
Ocado secures $350m Kroger payout as another US robo-warehouse is scrapped

One of Britain’s biggest DIY investment platforms has warned that prolonged budget speculation inflicted real financial damage, after savers rushed to drain about £600 million from their pensions amid fears Rachel Reeves would slash tax-free lump sum rules.
Michael Summersgill, chief executive of AJ Bell, said months of rolling briefings and hints of a tax raid had prompted thousands of customers to make precautionary withdrawals in September and October, convinced the Treasury was preparing to cap the 25% tax-free pension commencement lump sum.
Under current rules, savers aged 55 and over can withdraw up to £268,275 tax-free. Reeves ultimately chose not to touch the allowance, but Summersgill said the period of uncertainty had again shaken confidence.
“We saw the same pattern last year when similar fears led to £300 million of early withdrawals,” he said. “Speculation alone can be damaging, and this year has been no exception.”
While the Treasury backed away from altering pension lump sum rules, it did press ahead with controversial changes to the Isa system, and Summersgill did not mince his words.
From April 2027, savers under 65 will only be allowed to put £12,000 per year into cash Isas, even though the overall £20,000 annual allowance remains unchanged. The government intends the remaining £8,000 to flow into stocks and shares Isas to boost investment in UK markets.
But in a move that shocked many in the industry, HMRC will also impose a new tax charge on interest earned on uninvested cash held within stocks and shares Isas by under-65s. Transfers from stocks and shares Isas into cash Isas will be banned to prevent workarounds.
Summersgill called the changes “the polar opposite of simplification” and said the interest charge was “just crazy, so unhelpful”.
“How the government has got this lost along the way, I do not know,” he added. “There is nothing positive about the interventions being proposed.”
AJ Bell reported a 22% rise in pre-tax profits to £137.8 million for the year to 30 September, with revenues up 18% to £317.8 million. Platform assets hit a record £103.3 billion, helped by £7.5 billion of net inflows and £9.3 billion of market gains.
But shares fell 7.6% after the firm said it would step up spending by more than £15 million in the coming year to accelerate growth, funding new technology, marketing and additional engineering hires.
Summersgill said the increased investment was vital: “There’s a huge growth opportunity. I’m not doing my job if we don’t invest aggressively to capture it.”
The company expects pre-tax margins to ease to around 39–40% in 2026, down from 43.4% this year, reflecting the ramp-up in spending.
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AJ Bell hits out at ‘crazy’ Isa overhaul as tax fears trigger £600m pension exodus

Britain is on the cusp of an entrepreneurship surge that could reshape the workforce and inject billions into the economy, according to new research revealing that one in ten adults plans to start a business within the next year, the equivalent of more than 5 million people.
The findings, published in the Entrepreneurship Revolution report from Block and Public First, paint a picture of a UK increasingly powered by independent enterprise, side-hustles and digital-first microbusinesses. The report warns, however, that outdated financial systems and a lack of modern tools risk throttling the country’s entrepreneurial potential.
The report suggests the country’s startup culture is being fuelled overwhelmingly by younger adults. Two-thirds (67%) of 18–34-year-olds say they are considering, or actively interested in, starting a business, compared with the national average of 40%. Nearly two in five (38%) young adults have already launched a small business or side-hustle.
Side-hustles are fast becoming a pillar of the UK economy with 15% of Brits already running one and 13% doing additional work, such as tutoring or childcare, to supplement their income.
Ethnic minorities are playing an outsized role in the shift, with 25% currently running a side-hustle and 23% planning to start a business within 12 months.
But a gender divide remains. While nearly a third of young women (29%) have already started a business or side-hustle, this rises to 42% among young men.
Only one in five side-hustlers say they have no interest in turning their idea into a full-time job – a signal that a new generation of job-creating startups could be waiting in the wings.
But access to funding remains the biggest barrier with 37% say better access to finance would help them grow, followed by improved tools and technology (30%) and support with marketing (30%).
The report also highlights a £4bn economic failure in the lending market: more than 50,000 viable SMEs are rejected for loans every year, despite low default rates. Meeting this demand, the report argues, could unlock £7.4bn in additional economic output.
John O’Beirne, CEO of Squareup International, said the findings expose a system still biased in favour of large incumbents: “The ambition to start and grow businesses is there, but many entrepreneurs still find the financial system stacked against them. Fairer, more flexible funding frees founders to scale, manage cash flow and invest in growth.”
The research shows early success for non-traditional finance models such as sales-linked funding. More than half of Square sellers surveyed said accessing finance through Square was easier than with banks.
Meanwhile, modern payment solutions are proving transformative.
Buy Now, Pay Later tools helped generate £6.6bn in additional sales in 2024, according to the report.
Rich Bayer, CEO at Clearpay, says even a marginal uplift in productivity could make a seismic difference: “If just 1% more SMEs grew revenue faster than headcount, it would add £24.6bn to the UK economy each year. That is a huge untapped opportunity.”
‘I started as a hobby baker — now it’s my full-time business’
Among those powering the boom is founder Gaya Vara of Gaya Bakery, who turned a lockdown passion into a thriving boutique patisserie.
“Baking began as a creative outlet while I worked in finance — but demand grew quickly,” she said.
“Our online store has been instrumental in that growth. But running a shop has its own magic. Customers walking in, smelling freshly baked pastries — that human connection can’t be replicated online.”
As the appetite for entrepreneurship strengthens, the research makes one thing clear: the UK stands at a crossroads. Get finance and digital tools right, and Britain could unleash a new era of growth powered by small, creative, resilient businesses. Get it wrong, and a generation of talent risks slipping through the cracks.
Read more:
Young Brits drive UK’s entrepreneurship boom as two-thirds plan to work for themselves

Two of London’s oldest and most storied food markets, Smithfield and Billingsgate, are set to begin a new chapter in the Docklands after the City of London Corporation confirmed Albert Island as their future home.
The decision marks a dramatic turnaround after both markets appeared destined for closure last year when rising costs forced the Corporation to abandon a £740 million relocation plan to Dagenham. At the time, traders feared the historic meat and fish hubs, which have supplied London for more than eight centuries, would be lost entirely.
Instead, the Corporation has now earmarked a 10-hectare brownfield site at Royal Docks, next to London City Airport, offering a lifeline to traders and preserving a piece of the capital’s commercial heritage. The move is subject to planning approval from Newham Council and the passage of a private bill through Parliament to repeal the Acts that legally tie both markets to their current sites.
The Corporation estimates the project will generate £750 million in local economic activity and support around 2,200 jobs in one of London’s most deprived boroughs. Plans for Albert Island also include a new shipyard for Thames vessels, a marina and further regeneration initiatives.
Greg Lawrence, chair of Smithfield Market Traders’ Association, welcomed the news, calling it a “significant step forward” for the industry.
“This location offers traders the space and opportunity to grow our businesses while continuing to serve customers across London and the south-east.”
For traders who have worked the markets for generations, the announcement ends months of anxiety and uncertainty. Many had feared that permanent closure would wipe out long-standing supply chains and devastate independent fishmongers and butchers across the capital.
The Corporation faced fierce criticism earlier this year from traders and hospitality businesses who warned that closing the markets without a replacement would cause irreversible damage. Fishmongers from Hackney’s Ridley Road Market, many of whom shop daily at Billingsgate, publicly warned that losing the wholesale site would put them out of business.
Alicia Weston, founder of food poverty charity Bags of Taste and spokesperson for the fishmongers, said the new location was “the best we could have hoped for”.
“What was absolutely key for the fishmongers was that there should be a replacement market. Albert Island isn’t too far from the current site and gives traders a fighting chance.”
Smithfield has operated near Farringdon for over 800 years, becoming one of the world’s oldest continuously functioning markets. Two of its buildings are being transformed into the new London Museum, set to open in 2026.
Billingsgate moved to its current site beside Canary Wharf in 1982 and has long been slated for redevelopment into housing as part of wider regeneration.
Despite diminished volumes compared with their pre-supermarket heyday, an independent report found the two markets still supply roughly 10% of all meat and fish consumed in London and the south-east, underlining their continued importance to the region’s food economy.
The Corporation said traders can remain in their current locations until at least 2028, giving time for construction at Albert Island and for agreements with developers to be finalised. The new “New Smithfield” and “New Billingsgate” complexes will also include a food school and continue apprenticeship programmes to support future generations of traders.
Chris Hayward, policy chair at the City of London Corporation, called the move “undeniable progress”, although he acknowledged the project remains at an early stage.
Read more:
Centuries-old Smithfield and Billingsgate markets secure new Docklands home on Albert Island

The Bank of England has warned that the global race to build artificial intelligence infrastructure is increasingly being fuelled by debt, creating a growing risk to financial stability if the current AI boom turns into a market correction.
Governor Andrew Bailey said valuations of AI-driven technology companies were now approaching levels last seen during the dotcom bubble in the US, and levels not seen since the financial crisis in the UK and EU. The Bank’s latest Financial Stability Report goes further, highlighting a new risk: the deepening reliance on credit markets to finance an estimated $5 trillion of AI infrastructure over the next five years.
While the tech giants dominating the sector, the so-called “hyperscalers”, will fund part of this investment through their own cash flow, the Bank estimates around half will be financed through external borrowing, much of it debt. That, it warns, is a vulnerability hiding in plain sight.
“The AI sector is a particular hotspot,” Bailey said. “The role of debt financing is increasing quickly as firms seek large-scale infrastructure investment.”
If sentiment towards AI shifts and valuations fall sharply, the Bank cautions that the sector’s growing ties with the credit markets could amplify losses and trigger wider instability. A sell-off in America’s AI-heavy stock market, where AI companies now account for 44% of the S&P 500’s market value and have driven 67% of its gains this year, would inevitably spill over into the UK despite the FTSE 100’s relatively limited exposure.
Nvidia, the chipmaker at the centre of the AI boom, recently became the first company to hit a $5 trillion valuation, though its shares have since slipped back.
Even so, Bailey insisted the Bank’s planned loosening of capital rules for UK lenders remains the right step, citing strong results from its latest stress tests and the increased resilience of the banking sector since 2008.
But the message for business leaders and investors is clear: the AI gold rush is increasingly being underwritten by borrowed money. If high-growth earnings forecasts do not materialise, the correction could be sharp — and this time, the shockwaves could travel through the credit markets as well as the stock exchanges.
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AI investment boom built on debt poses growing risk to financial stability, Bank of England warns

Labour has suspended one of its own MPs after he broke ranks to vote against the party’s contentious inheritance tax changes for farmers, deepening internal divisions over the reforms and fuelling anger in rural communities.
Markus Campbell-Savours, the MP for Penrith and Solway, was the only Labour member to oppose the measure in the Commons on Tuesday night. The proposal – part of the Budget resolutions – passed comfortably by 327 votes to 182, but more than 80 Labour MPs abstained, reflecting widespread discomfort within the party.
Campbell-Savours, who represents one of England’s most rural constituencies, said he could not support changes to agricultural property relief (APR) that he believes will devastate family farms. The reforms introduce a 20 per cent tax on agricultural land and businesses worth more than £1 million, despite earlier assurances from Labour figures that APR would be left untouched.
Speaking during the Budget debate, he warned that many elderly farmers still making arrangements to transfer assets now faced “devastating” consequences.
“I was one of those Labour candidates who reassured farmers that APR would not be touched,” he told MPs. “I want to be able to walk around my community knowing I did all I could for them. I cannot break my word.”
On Wednesday, the Chief Whip Jonathan Reynolds informed him that he had lost the Labour whip, effectively expelling him from the parliamentary party.
Labour sources confirmed the decision, making Campbell-Savours the latest MP to be sidelined for refusing to back the government’s economic programme.
The reforms have sparked furious criticism from farming organisations and rural MPs across the political spectrum. Opponents argue that the majority of farms affected are small, family-run operations – not “wealthy land barons” – and that the reforms do little to curb tax avoidance by celebrities and billionaires buying farmland to shelter wealth.
Senior Conservative MP Victoria Atkins, the shadow environment secretary, accused Labour of waging an “assault on farmers and family businesses”.
“Suspending their only MP who dared to vote against their vindictive Family Farm and Business Taxes proves how out of touch they are,” she said. “Only the Conservatives will stand up for rural and agricultural communities.”
In the Budget, the Chancellor sought to soften the blow by allowing unused portions of the £1 million APR and business property relief allowance to be transferred between spouses and civil partners. But the concession has done little to calm farming groups, many of whom had believed the previous shadow Defra team’s public commitment that APR would remain intact.
The reforms were first proposed in last year’s Budget, prompting months of lobbying from the agricultural sector. Despite this, Labour pressed ahead, insisting the changes target wealthy estates while protecting the majority of working farms.
Campbell-Savours’ suspension now places Labour under fresh scrutiny over its relationship with rural voters – a constituency the party has publicly vowed to rebuild trust with since winning the General Election.
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Labour suspends MP Markus Campbell-Savours for defying party over inheritance tax raid on farmers

An aerospace engineer who challenged her employer’s transgender toilet policy has lost her discrimination case, after an employment tribunal ruled that Leonardo UK’s approach was lawful and proportionate.
Maria Kelly, a people and capability lead at the defence giant, claimed she experienced harassment, direct sex discrimination and indirect sex discrimination after the company allowed transgender women to use female toilets. Her grievance centred on an incident in March 2023, when she said she encountered a transgender colleague in a women’s bathroom. She told the tribunal she subsequently began using a “secret” toilet due to discomfort and concerns over privacy.
The claims were dismissed in full by employment judge Michelle Sutherland in a written judgment published on Wednesday following a hearing in Edinburgh in October.
Leonardo UK employs around 9,500 people. Judge Sutherland noted that Kelly was the only employee to raise concerns about the policy, despite multiple channels being available to do so.
She found that Kelly had not been put at a legal disadvantage, writing: “Any fear or privacy impact could be addressed by affected female staff making recourse to the single-occupancy facilities.”
The tribunal also rejected arguments that safety risks increased, ruling that the possibility of 0.5% of male staff using the women’s toilets “would not have changed the overall risk profile”.
The judgment concluded that Leonardo’s toilet access policy was “a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim”.
The ruling comes in the wake of the UK Supreme Court’s decision in April, which held that “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological sex — a landmark judgment invoked heavily by Kelly’s legal team.
Kelly said the tribunal “fundamentally misunderstands both the law and my case”, adding she intends to appeal urgently to the Employment Appeal Tribunal.
Sex Matters chief executive Maya Forstater claimed the judgment was “incompatible” with the Supreme Court’s ruling in For Women Scotland, criticising what she called the tribunal’s “gender identity–based” interpretation.
Leonardo UK acknowledged the tribunal outcome, saying in a statement: “Our focus now is to ensure workplace conduct remains respectful and our facilities’ policies continue to meet legal standards. We will review forthcoming Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance when published.”
Employment lawyer Hina Belitz of Excello Law said the ruling illustrates the “complicated picture” facing courts and employers following the Supreme Court’s clarification of biological sex in equality law.
“This is particularly the case when determining whether individuals have rights to protected single-sex spaces,” she said.
Read more:
Engineer loses discrimination case against Leonardo UK over transgender toilet access policy

Jaguar Land Rover has parted ways with Gerry McGovern, the veteran design chief responsible for the company’s highly polarising pink-themed rebrand — a marketing campaign criticised for featuring high-fashion models, avant-garde slogans and not a single Jaguar car.
Industry publication Autocar reported that McGovern, 69, was asked to leave the business on Monday and was “escorted out of the office,” bringing an abrupt end to his 21-year tenure as one of the most influential figures at the carmaker. JLR declined to comment on the departure.
McGovern’s exit comes just weeks after PB Balaji, previously chief financial officer at parent company Tata Motors, took over as JLR’s new chief executive. The leadership reshuffle follows a turbulent year marked by falling demand for premium cars in China, semiconductor supply concerns and a major cyberattack that halted production for five weeks.
Jaguar’s December 2024 relaunch — revealed at Miami Art Week — was widely ridiculed for ditching the brand’s famous “growler” emblem in favour of a high-fashion aesthetic. The glossy campaign featured models with angular haircuts walking through a pink, sci-fi landscape, accompanied by slogans such as “delete ordinary,” “copy nothing,” and “live vivid.”
There were no cars in the campaign video, a decision the company defended at the time as “bold and imaginative.”
The controversy deepened when Jaguar unveiled a concept model in neon “Barbie pink,” prompting comparisons to Lady Penelope’s car from Thunderbirds. Critics on social media labelled the campaign “woke” and out of touch.

Former US President Donald Trump accused JLR of being in “absolute turmoil,” branding the rebrand “stupid.” Tesla chief executive Elon Musk mocked the campaign, asking: “Do you sell cars?”
Despite the uproar, McGovern remains widely respected for reshaping some of JLR’s most iconic models. He led the reinvention of the Defender, elevated Range Rover as a luxury sub-brand and oversaw Jaguar’s transition towards an all-electric lineup, including the “neo-brutalist” Type 00 concept.
Raised in Coventry, McGovern studied at the Royal College of Art before embarking on a career that included roles at Chrysler, Peugeot, Austin Rover and Ford’s Lincoln division. He joined Land Rover as director of advanced design in 2004 and later became JLR’s chief creative officer, also joining the company board.
McGovern’s departure comes as JLR battles production volatility and macroeconomic strain. Dutch semiconductor firm Nexperia has warned it can no longer guarantee deliveries due to political tensions with China, while October’s phased restart of production followed a cyber incident that forced Tata Motors to take a $228.5 million charge.
The pink rebrand had come to symbolise, for some critics, a period of misjudged corporate experimentation — a trend analysts say is now reversing, aided by a shareholder push for more commercially grounded marketing. Retailers such as American Eagle have recently enjoyed strong stock performance after returning to more mainstream, celebrity-driven campaigns.
With Jaguar’s first new electric model due next summer, McGovern’s departure raises fresh questions about how much of his creative vision will survive under JLR’s new leadership.
Read more:
Jaguar ‘dumps designer’ behind pink rebrand after backlash over ‘car-free’ campaign