I’m at one of those events where people are “business casual”, and, I kid you not, two-thirds of the men are wearing quarter-zips… Since when did quarter-zips become a thing? Also Rishi: accidental style icon

Insurers! Just let me fill out a form and email me a quote. I do not need or want a phone call from you. I certainly don't want a "have you got a moment", and then to be put on hold for 10 minutes. How complicated can it be for me to GIVE YOU MY MONEY?

📺 I'm not sure if I'm more embarrassed about the Boomers who like Mrs Brown's Boys or the Gen Xers whose favourite sitcom is Only Fools and Horses

🦐 For anyone asking, it wasn't me... I would have finished all of them 😏

But Miles cast doubt on the veracity of briefings given to media later in which government sources said improvements to the OBR's forecasts meant the they could avoid raising income tax rates. "It certainly didn't reflect anything that was news from the OBR being fed into the government."

🚗 The demise of Zipcar is a travesty... If there was one thing that the mayor / TfL should have been encouraging and subsidising, it should have been this. Sure, Lime bikes are fine, but how else are people expected to move "stuff too big for a bike" in inner London without a car?!

🛍️ After a disappointing October, retailers discounted early to get sales moving... but what's the betting that consumer caution and Budget uncertainty led to a disappointing November too?

Budget speech: "permanently lower (business) rates for retail, hospitality and leisure... lowest since 1991... paid for by warehouses" UKHospitality analysis of Valuations Agency data released later that evening... Honestly wondering what the Chancellor meant by "lowest since 1991..." 🤷‍♂️

In general, Tesco is quite good at UX… Until it’s lunchtime, you’re trying to buy a meal deal, there’s a queue behind you at the self service checkouts, and it asks you to reset your password before you can get your Clubcard discount 🤦‍♂️ Went to Sainsbury’s instead!👌

🎄 Will the Budget put a dampener on Britons' Christmas shopping plans? I discussed with Irina Anghel for @bloomberg.com, and you can read her report here: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

🎅 Christmas shopping is starting earlier and earlier... or is it? I discussed with @amyborrett.ft.com for this weekend's @financialtimes.com. Read her report here: on.ft.com/487Czya

Breal aka Keystone on the brink of administration “due to a slump in sales amid weakening consumer confidence”

🇭🇰 The Tai Po fire is a tragedy for Hong Kong - truly their Grenfell or worse, with 100s still missing. But compare with the UK govt response to Grenfell: HK already 3 charged with manslaughter, and temp accommodation and a £30m+ immediate compensation fund set up in just one day. HT: Jonathan Eley

🛍️ In case you missed it (and journos will have got this at 3pm yesterday), this was my snap reaction to the #Budget and its impact on the high street ⚖️ tl;dr: short term easing of cossie-livs should help Christmas trading, but cost of doing business in 2026, well, not so much…

The budget. Business rates. The reduction in the multiplier to 38.2p BUT the removal of the 40% business rates relief PLUS an increase in the rateable value means a 45.9% increase in my business rates for next year. Yay.

🍺 Pubs Budget impact because I have pub followers: + vague promises about licensing and business rates - alcohol duty up by RPI in Feb - living wage up 4%, 18-20yr olds up 8.5% - zilch on HospitalityUK’s lower VAT ask - personal taxes up means punters have less to spend So, basically Not A Scrap…

What does this OBR analysis miss? Higher business rates on large supermarkets. Higher NLW, esp on 18-20 year olds. What do we think that will do to grocery prices?

I’ll ask again. How does salary sacrifice tax work for DB pensions? Nice fat guaranteed pensions, no tax?

🛍️ Back on (my) topic, the main thing for retail and other high street businesses is... nothing. BRC, UK Hospitality and others calling for: - Lower VAT for hospitality - VAT refunds for tourists - Business rates reform and reductions That'll be a no, then...

Stolen from Paul Johnson on X, presented without comment 📈

The irony is that nobody is listening to her, everyone is just pouring over that OBR doc

This is going to be an anticlimax, isn’t it?

Ooops

In a LinkedIn first, I've just seen my first *obviously sponsored* post from one of my mutuals. How do I know? I've been approached by two different (possibly AI-generated?) people from the sponsor asking if I'd like to do a "collaboration, ad or paid partnership" with them 🙄 Don't do it, kids...

Budget day at last.

London still looks pretty cool in winter, eh?

Looking forward to seeing how this applies to public sector workers with final salary pensions. How much extra National Insurance will NHS staff have to pay?

Lidl is selling a £150 Reformer machine for Black Friday, and I can feel Pilates instructors all around the country wincing...

🪁 I can’t believe Downing Street “sources” are still flying Budget kites… do they realise there are less than 24 hours to go? They’ve literally blocked out the sun already… ☁️

💿 Crowdsourcing the answer to this... I'm moving flats, and I have boxes of CDs, haven't used in years, mostly from 1990s/early 2000s. Nothing mega valuable: mostly mainstream chart stuff and some obscure folk/country/blues etc. Books will find a good home via Oxfam/other, but what to do with CDs?

i’m not crying you’re crying xkcd: Fifteen Years

🛒 Guess what's gonna happen to grocery prices that are already going up, GUESS Anti-inflationary Budget, my arse...

💿 Crowdsourcing the answer to this... I'm moving flats, and I have boxes of CDs, haven't used in years, mostly from 1990s/early 2000s. Nothing mega valuable: mostly mainstream chart stuff and some obscure folk/country/blues etc. Books will find a good home via Oxfam/other, but what to do with CDs?

My 75 year old mum put all these symptoms down to "old age"... Only an insistent GP surgery persuaded her to get tested. Please don't wait to check, especially if you or your loved ones are older.

🍫 This smells of sour grapes... Tony's doesn't own the monopoly (or trademark) to chunky chocolate. They're not the only ones who source fairtrade or otherwise. They're about as "punk" as another private equity-backed business I can think of...

☕️ Greggs sausage roll with a Pret filter coffee in a Starbucks reusable cup… Dontcha wish you could smoosh all your favourite food-to-go places into one?!

📉 The key observation about today’s retail sales is that shoppers are “keeping their powder dry”: they started their Christmas shopping later, they’ve not bought new season’s fashions, they’re buying less food… What could turn the tide? 🤔 My comments: bit.ly/4ocye1x

I pity the poor copywriter who had to get this Lizzie Line poster past TfL’s lawyers, who insisted on caveats for the words “fast” and “greener”

🪟 In an A+ case of nominative determinism, I’m getting blinds fitted in my new flat tomorrow… by Kevin Window!

🧾 …but maybe, maybe, if I’m at an expensive full service restaurant, like one of those logos here, maybe I don’t want to spend £50+ per head on dinner and then be forced to download an app and pay on my phone, just because you want me to “generate data”. It’s called “hospitality” for a reason…

*2.1 million* people follow Eating with Tod… Who are you? And, frankly, WHY?

People in the UK: "Hold my coffee" *yoy = inflation since Labour took office (HT: @harvirdhillon.bsky.social)

What nonsense is this? It's a free market, and people should be able to buy and sell tickets for whatever the market will tolerate. If you're desperate enough to pay £4k to see Oasis... Also, doesn't the government have more important things to do, y'know, like balance the Budget? on.ft.com/3X0Y79i

🥪 Ahhh, well, it was good while it lasted, and definitely encouraged me to buy lunch at Pret more often (when I was near qualifying shops…). Long live the Pret meal deal…

F. M. L. Just decide what you want to tax, and stop u-turning FFS 🤦‍♂️

🚲 I'm seeing lots of angry men (and they're all men...) complaining about this, but, let's face it, we all know middle-aged MAMILs were using this benefit to discount high-end performance bikes that were never going to be used to "cycle to work"... Glad the chancellor is closing the loophole

🍞 This is such a Telegraph article, featuring a rent-a-quote comment from the permanently-angry Real Bread Campaign… I mean, if you don’t like it, don’t buy it… and have you seen how much bread costs at Gail’s?!

📺 If you found this year's John Lewis ad as frustratingly clichéd as I did, you're gonna love this tongue-in-cheek semiotic breakdown of every last image in the ad by @nickasbury.bsky.social...

🍺 Finally a beer that describes me and @citradelica.bsky.social* 📌 Sutton Arms (*apart from the "dignified" bit, obviously)

📈 Fascinating to read @robarmstrong.bsky.social talking about a K-shaped recovery in the US (www.ft.com/content/09d4...) Is there a similar trend in the UK? See the divergence in my PwC sentiment index (www.pwc.co.uk/industries/r...) and the Asda income tracker… (corporate.asda.com/newsroom/202...)