The government has just announced that thousands of government credit cards will be cancelled as part of a crackdown on wasteful spending. With spending on these cards reportedly increasing fourfold in the last four years, it’s a reminder that keeping an eye on expenses is crucial.

The Bank of England held its regular meeting to discuss interest rates last Thursday. They voted to hold interest rates at 4.5% as had been widely expected prior to the meeting. The Bank targets an inflation rate of 2% and has already predicted that inflation will rise this year before dropping at the end of the year. However, inflation for the 12 months to January 2025 increased to 3.0% from 2.5% in December, a much higher and faster increase in inflation than had been expected.

For affected businesses there is now just a week left to submit their 2024 packaging data under the new extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR) scheme. The new legislation came into force on 1st January 2025 and requires data to be submitted by 1 April 2025. Large businesses are expected to submit their July-December 2024 data, whereas small businesses must submit their January-December 2024 data in one annual submission by that date.

As part of the changes being gradually introduced by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCT), identity verification is set to become a Companies House requirement. This is one of a number of changes that the Act is making to better protect the data held at Companies House.

Goldman Sachs published their “The Growth Agenda” report last week. This is a report that puts forwards the ideas of small business owners that could help to boost the UK economy. The report looks at issues around several areas that affect small businesses and include ideas that may help to drive growth.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced that it has cleared Boporan’s proposed purchase of two feed mill sites. These are located at Burston and Radstock and currently owned by For Farmers. The inquiry made by CMA had two phases. After the phase 1 investigation the CMA concluded that the purchase of the Radstock did not raise competition concerns and the sale of this mill has already completed.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves met with senior Fintech representatives at No. 11 Downing Street last week to discuss growth opportunities as well as new draft legislation aimed at streamlining financial regulations. The proposed reforms focus on updating the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) rules inherited from the EU. These changes will empower the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to eliminate redundant regulations.