Cost Squeeze Intensifies: Business Burdens, Energy Bills, and Rate Fears Collide

71.5% — the staggering increase in the annual regulatory cost stack for a typical 50-employee UK business between 2016/17 and 2026/27, climbing from £1.16m to £1.98m.

Money Moves

• Business costs surge as labour and taxes bite — Employer National Insurance is up 141%, auto-enrolment pensions have rocketed 442%, and the minimum wage has jumped from £7.20 to £12.71 an hour, squeezing margins and investment.
• £150bn grid overhaul will raise energy bills —...