Poundland supplier urges 'thorough' state probe into owner's conduct

German carmaker slashes profit margin to between -0.5% and 0.5% this year in face of competition from China The German carmaker BMW has issued its second profit warning in a year, blaming the costs of a restructuring programme including significant job losses in the face of continuing competition from China. The company is the latest to issue a profit downgrade in the German car sector, with Mercedes-Benz last week cutting its profit outlook. Western automakers have struggled to keep pace with l

Stuart Machin said said the retailer’s business costs have been pushed higher due to policies from the Budget.

While support from firms has increased, this coincided with the average water and sewerage bill rising by about 34% since April 2025.

Bigger workloads prompted firms in the services industry to take on additional staff in October, the PMI survey found.