🐄 One Dairy Farm Closes Each Day In The UK

February 28, 2025 ‱ Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

Hey there hustler!

Thought the biggest home intruder to worry about was a lanky spider or dodgy Amazon delivery? Think again.

Britain’s got a new house guest - two-metre-long snakes slithering into attics and wall cavities like they own the place. The Aesculapian snake, an escapee from a Welsh zoo (because, of course), is now breeding in North Wales and London.

Non-venomous, apparently great for pest control, and last seen here 300,000 years ago - so naturally, they’ve decided to make a comeback. What could possibly go wrong?

Here’s everything else you need to know from this week!

In Today's Issue

📰 Industry News

Here's a roundup of this week's top headlines shaking up the UK business world.

  • Ocado is to cut 500 jobs in its technology teams as part of the loss-making online grocery specialist’s efforts to reduce costs using artificial intelligence to help with research and engineering. (The Guardian)

  • Nvidia has signalled no drop in demand for its flagship chips among big AI spenders despite the low-cost challenge posed by Chinese rival DeepSeek. (Sky News)

  • By the end of 2024, more young people were not working, studying, or in training than in the last 11 years. Latest figures from the ONS say 987,000 people aged 16-24 were not in work, education, or training between Oct and Dec. (BBC)

  • Manchester United have confirmed that they will make up to 200 fresh redundancies as part of a wider company restructuring, having already overseen 250 job losses last year. (Mirror)

đŸ·ïž Quiz Clothing Calls In Administrators

Hundreds more high street jobs will be lost this week after Quiz Clothing, the troubled fashion retailer, called in administrators.

Sky News understands that the company, which was listed until recently on the London Stock Exchange, will see the closure of 23 of its shops, with about 200 employees expected to be made redundant.

🧀 One Dairy Farmer Goes Out Of Business Each Day

British dairy farmers are going under at a rate of one per day, as big companies like Saputo Dairy axe supply contracts, leaving farmers scrambling to survive. With supermarkets squeezing margins and inheritance tax changes looming, industry experts warn this could be the final straw for small dairy businesses.

What’s been happening:

  • Saputo Dairy (makers of Cathedral City & Clover) has dropped 13 farmers, cutting off a supply of 20 million litres of milk annually.

  • Farmers say they’re being paid below production costs and often don’t know what they’ll earn month to month.

  • The UK has lost 440 dairy farms in the past year, with just 7,100 remaining – a 6% annual decline.

Why It Matters

Dairy farming has long been a cornerstone of British agriculture. If this trend continues, we could see more reliance on imported dairy, higher prices, and fewer UK-based suppliers. While big businesses say these cuts are “necessary,” small farmers are being left in the dust. The question is: will policymakers step in, or will British dairy quietly disappear?

📈 Energy Bills On The Rise Again

Ofgem's new price cap means energy bills for a typical UK household will jump by ÂŁ111 a year from April, hitting ÂŁ1,849 annually. The 6.4% hike is higher than expected, adding pressure to household budgets. Analysts had predicted a 5% rise, but the reality is steeper - ÂŁ159 more than April 2024. Ofgem suggests considering fixed tariffs, though prices may drop again in July.

đŸ’Œ AI Won’t Kill Banking Jobs? 4,000 DBS Staff Cut

Singapore’s biggest bank, DBS, is cutting 4,000 jobs over the next three years as AI takes over tasks once done by humans. Meanwhile, the Bank of England insists AI won’t “mass destroy” jobs in the UK banking sector. So, who’s right? Is the UK safe from AI-driven job losses, or is this just the start of a global trend?

Key Points:

  • DBS Bank to phase out 4,000 roles as AI replaces human workers, but claims it will also create 1,000 AI-related jobs.

  • The Bank of England remains confident, with Governor Andrew Bailey arguing AI won’t lead to mass job losses in UK finance.

  • Global AI adoption is accelerating, and while no UK bank has announced similar cuts (yet), the DBS move raises questions about future workforce shifts.

So, Should UK Bankers Be Worried?

Right now, UK banks are keeping quiet on AI-related job cuts, but the financial sector is already automating everything from fraud detection to customer service. DBS’s move could be a canary in the coal mine, signalling how banks worldwide will approach AI-driven restructuring. While the Bank of England remains optimistic, DBS’s decision suggests that in the long run, AI might not destroy jobs outright—but it will reshape them, and not everyone will make the cut.

🌐 Just Eat Snapped Up For £3.4bn

Just Eat Takeaway.com has agreed to a £3.4bn (€4.1bn) takeover by Dutch tech investor Prosus, which aims to build a "European champion" in food delivery.

Prosus, already a major backer of Delivery Hero, is taking the company private, promising new investment and AI-powered growth.

Sky News

🏠 Over 70,000 Home Movers Set To Miss Stamp Duty Deadline

The clock is ticking for home-buyers, and not in a good way. With completion times stretching to an eye-watering 163 days - that’s over five months - tens of thousands of home-movers are now set to miss the 31 March 2025 stamp duty deadline according to Rightmove. And missing it could cost them big time.

For those unfamiliar, stamp duty (officially Stamp Duty Land Tax, or SDLT) is a tax you pay when buying property in England and Northern Ireland. The amount depends on the property price and your buyer status (e.g., first-time buyer or not). Once the current tax break expires, buyers will see an average increase of £2,500 in stamp duty—though first-time buyers purchasing higher-value homes could be hit with an extra £11,250. In total, home-buyers in England face a potential £142 million tax sting, simply because the property market moves at a glacial pace.

The Key Numbers Behind the Madness

- Completion times are painfully slow – The average home purchase now takes 163 days, making it a race against time to beat the tax hike.

- First-time buyers are hit hardest – Those buying homes between £500,001 and £625,000 will have to fork out an extra £11,250 in stamp duty. Even those buying at £425,000—previously exempt—will now owe £6,250.

- South East gets slammed the most – With 14,000 buyers at risk of missing the deadline, this region will feel the pain more than any other.

A Deadline that Feels Unfair

Let’s be honest - no one enjoys paying stamp duty, apart from the government. But when delays in the system are forcing 74,000 home-buyers to cough up extra cash through no fault of their own, it feels particularly brutal.

Industry experts are calling for a short extension to the deadline, arguing that the tax increase will disproportionately hit first-time buyers, many of whom have already spent years saving for a deposit. Without a change, expect a last-minute rush of buyers scrambling to complete before March 31st—because, let’s face it, no one wants to hand over thousands more to the taxman than they have to.

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