Confidence slipping fast as Reeves' tax hikes take hold

BUSINESS confidence plummeted in the three months to May as Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s tax hikes took hold while firms warn more pain is to come.

- By Samuel Norman

Consumer services’ optimism marked its eight consecutive month of decline at -42% while levels of business value plunged to -56%, down from -44% in February.

It sank too in business and professional services, said the CBI’s sector services survey.

The poll gathers responses from 215 firms and uses percentage indicators to reveal business trends in key areas like costs, sales and hiring.