Recruitment stalls as staff costs rise: Pre-budget nerves and mounting staff costs pushed Britain’s employers to apply the brakes to recruitment last month. The Times reports that two separate surveys today paint a gloomy picture of the UK’s employment activity, pointing to falling output, shrinking permanent recruitment and a surge in candidate availability, underlining business concerns about the economic outlook. A report from KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) showed permanent placements fell again in November, although at the slowest rate since July 2024, while temporary billings contracted after a marginal rise in October. The latter are revenues that consultancies receive from placing people in temporary or contract positions. The findings echo the latest numbers from the Office for National Statistics which showed that the rate of unemployment hit 5% in the three months to September, the highest level in more than four years. The KPMG-REC index measuring the supply of permanent jobs was 45.5 last month, with redundancies and fewer vacancies driving the second fastest rise in candidate numbers since 2020. It was a slight improvement on the 45.2 figure for October. Any reading below 50 signifies contraction. Lisa Fernihough, head of advisory at KPMG UK, said the figures showed the market “remains stuck in contraction”, with hiring “kept on ice” by budget uncertainty and high employment costs. Neil Carberry, chief executive of the REC, said employers may delay major hiring decisions until January, adding that while the budget “was not the horror show of last year … there was little in it to fire the heart of firms”. Meanwhile the employment index from BDO, the accounting and consulting firm, fell from 93.95 to 93.53 in November, the weakest reading since April 2011. Services weakened, with output sliding from 102.75 to 98.12 as inflation and low consumer confidence hit demand. Scott Knight, head of growth at BDO, said: “The run-up to Christmas is usually a golden time where business booms and revenues are shored up, but so far this year it’s falling flat.”

Concert venues face the music over business rates: Concert arenas face soaring property taxes that could lead to bills more than doubling over the next five years, raising the prospect of higher ticket prices. Analysis of government data has found a steep increase in the valuations used to calculate the business rates levied on venues such as the O2 arena in London and Co-op Live in Manchester. The rateable values for some concert sites have increased by up to 300%, according to analysis by the global tax firm Ryan for the Press Association. The rateable values, which are determined by the Valuation Office Agency, are multiplied by a set factor determined by the location and nature of the enterprise paying business rates. Wembley Arena’s 300% rise in rateable value to £3m is the largest percentage increase of any big venue. Its property tax bill will rise by £124,875 to £541,125 in 2026-27. The property tax bill of the O2 arena, in Greenwich, southeast London, which has hosted global stars such as Usher, Lady Gaga and Billie Eilish this year, could increase by up to £1.8m to £8m in 2026-27, the analysis said. Mark Davyd, the founder and chief executive of the Music Venue Trust, a charity supporting UK grassroots venues, said the business rates rise would “have to be passed on” to consumers and that the music industry had been “singled out to be attacked”.

Staff to be encouraged to join union under new employment bill: Every employer in Britain will be required to hand their staff pro-union messaging written by Whitehall under Labour’s proposed overhaul of workers’ rights. The Times reports that under the Employment Rights Bill, bosses will be legally obliged to tell staff about their right to join a union. Official documents reveal that ministers will provide an approved statement to stop “hostile” employers discouraging membership. The wording, to be issued either annually or at key stages, would set out what unions do, the rights available to members and details of any unions recognised in the workplace. The Tories said it amounted to forcing bosses to hand out “government-dictated propaganda” to promote trade unionism. A government source said: “People have a right to join a trade union if they want to in their workplace – just as they have a right not to, if that’s their personal choice.” The source said the change would “remove the need for conflictual acts” with regard to union access to the workplace such as anti-union practices or unions distributing leaflets outside. It would also “reduce tensions between some employers and unions in the interest of employees”. Labour’s programme of reforms to workers’ rights is due to return to parliament on Monday. It has been caught in a stand-off between peers and MPs over the original plan to give workers the protection against unfair dismissal on day one, and measures to ban “exploitative” zero-hours contracts. A compromise was reached last week under which unfair dismissal protections would be gained after six months’ service. Other day-one rights to parental leave and sick pay remain set to go ahead.

Budweiser raises a glass to its booze-free punters: Budweiser Brewing Group officially opened its second European de-alcoholisation facility last week at Magor, a $3.9n investment, underlining the group’s belief that Britain’s thirst for non-alcoholic beer is no passing fad. The Times reports that for the first time AB InBev’s alcohol-free brands, including Corona Cero and Stella Artois 0.0, will be brewed on British soil rather than shipped from Belgium, where the drinks giant is based. “There’s so much consumer demand and pull from beer drinkers in the market we decided to invest here in the UK,” says Brian Perkins, president of AB InBev’s West Europe business unit, which covers the UK, Ireland and Spain. Traditionally non-alcoholic beer has been made by removing the alcohol through filtration or burning it off, before re-adding some components. AB InBev opts for a different strategy called “vacuum distillation”. This is where the beer is placed in a low-pressure environment that reduces its boiling point, allowing the alcohol to separate and evaporate but without messing up the taste. Without this method it’s very hard to achieve 100% non-alcoholic beer, AB InBev has said. The opening of the 1,700 sq ft facility marks the latest step by large brewers who are stepping up production of their low and no-alcohol offerings in response to shifting consumer patterns. While the debate goes on over whether the global downturn in the alcohol industry will reverse as the consumer environment improves, Perkins believes the adjacent trend of rising popularity of low and non-alcoholic drinks is structural and “not a flash in the pan”. “People are more interested in health and wellness, in a balanced lifestyle, but they still have a fundamental desire to get together and connect with people and be social,” he said. “Even though [no-alcohol] may be relatively small today, we are betting on this ... and want to continue to shape and lead it and offer more choices and more great products to consumers. We will always be prepared to invest to make that happen.”