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Fuller's raised the price of a pint of beer by around 15p across its pubs after an 拢8m hit in staff costs, the firm's boss has said.

That came after April's minimum wage rise and increase in employer national insurance contributions, which combined for a double whammy on the hospitality industry.

Simon Emeny, the Fuller, Smith & Turner chief executive, said prices will be "under review" over the rest of the year, to make sure "going to the pub remains an affordable treat".

The pub group is just the latest to increase the cost of pints, with the British Beer and Pub Association warning the average price would top 拢5 for the first time.

Added costs on the sector, the BBPA said, would raise the average cost by around 21p.

But Emeny also said costs cannot be offset by price rises alone.

Fuller, Smith & Turner, which has around 5,500 staff, is investing in its bars and staff training, in the hope of driving sales higher and countering its costs.

"Six months down the line and I don't think price increases are the only answer," he said.

"It has to come through higher sales." 

He added the consumer spending outlook would be sensitive to the interest rate outlook - and whether the government increases personal taxes.

Fuller's posted a 32% jump in underlying pre-tax profits to 拢27m for the year to 29 March.

Like-for-like sales rose 5.2%, and the group said growth continued into the first 10 weeks of the new financial year, at a more muted rate of 4.2%.

Hybrid working is enjoyed by more than a quarter of British staff, having become steadily more common since 2020.

But it is higher earners who are benefiting the most, data from the Office for National Statistics reveals.

Almost half of workers (45%) with an income of 拢50,000 or more worked both from home and in the office between January and March, while just 8% of those earning less than 拢20,000 did.

Managers, directors and senior officials, those in professional occupations, and those with childcare responsibilities were the most likely to hybrid work.

Since 2022, there has been a "shift from full-time, office-based work to the hybrid-working pattern", the ONS said.

It has "become the 'new normal' for more than one in four workers".

Workers with a degree or equivalent qualification were 10 times more likely than those with no qualifications to work from home.

"Higher earners tend to have higher levels of education, which could give them greater access to roles involving hybrid and remote working," the ONS said.

The IT and professional, scientific and technical industries were some of the most likely to adopt hybrid working.

Workers aged between 30 and 49 were the most likely to hybrid work (36%), compared to 19% of employees aged 16-29 and 24% of those aged 50-69.

By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business and economics reporter 

Looking at Boeing's share price, you can see this tragic crash in India is already having an effect.

Its share price value is down more than 8% in pre-market trading. We'll get more detail when the New York Stock Exchange opens at 2.30pm.

Air India is majority owned by the Indian conglomerate Tata Group and minority owned by Singapore Airlines.

The part of Tata that owns Air India is a private company, so their share price value is not publicly traded and visible. So far, there's been no after-hours trading for Singapore Airlines.

Another multinational General Electric (GE) made engines for Air India's planes.  Its share price is down more than 4% in pre-market trading. 

No one likes the date in their calendar when their MOT rolls around. 

But to make things a little less stressful, consumer expert Scott Dixon - known as - has given us some tips on what to look out for to help your vehicle pass with flying colours. 

Some of the most common failures are faulty steering, brakes, suspension, worn or damaged tyres, cracked windscreens and faulty lights. 

Dixon recommends you get your car serviced a couple of weeks before your MOT, in case there are any complex or costly issues. 

This will give you time to get them fixed and get your car through first time without any advisories. 

Aside from taking your car for a service, there are also some easy checks you can run yourself... 

Suspension

Listen for unusual clunks while you're driving - this could be a sign of a damaged suspension. 

You could also check by pushing the car down on each corner. It should return to normal without bouncing a few times. 

Another option is to look with a torch under the wheel arch, as this should reveal any obvious defects. 

Lightbulbs

Blown bulbs are a common MOT failure, but they're cheap to fix. 

Walk around your car and check all the bulbs are working - this includes the headlights, sidelights, brake lights, indicators and the number plate bulb.

Dixon says it's "not an easy job" to change the lightbulbs yourself on most modern cars, as the MOT will also check the positioning of the light. He recommends getting this done professionally. 

Brakes

Squealing or grinding noises may be a sign your brake pads need replacing. 

You should also check whether your car stops in a straight line, or whether it pulls in different directions. 

Don't forget about the handbrake, too. Test it out on a slope and see if it securely holds the car. If it doesn't, you should get it adjusted. 

Wipers

It's easy to check if your wipers work okay, but you should also make sure to inspect the blades for tears and rips. 

They should be able to clean the windows with no smears. 

Dixon says you don't need to pay Halfords to change your wiper blade as you can "do it yourself in seconds". All you need to do is look for a YouTube tutorial. 

He also recommends buying the Bosch wiper blades, as he says these are good quality and will also be a sign you've looked after your car well when you come to sell it. 

Tyres

One thing to look out for is tread depth. You can do this by looking for the "wear bar" that sits between the tread. 

If it's close to 1.6mm and is low, you should get the tyre replaced so it's not flagged as an advisory. 

Also check for perished tyre walls, which can happen when a vehicle is standing for any length of time. 

Uneven tyre wear is another potential issue, and if there are signs of this you should get the tyre replaced and tracking and suspension checked. 

Seat belts

These must be in good condition and working order, with no tears or knots. 

Registration plates

Your number plates should be clean and visible with a working light bulb at the rear. You may need to give them a wipe and replace the bulb if necessary. 

Bodywork

This should be in good condition, without damage such as loose bumpers or sharp edges. 

Dixon advises against using automatic car washes during your car's lifetime, saying they "wreck your car". 

"It's not just your paintwork but they can also damage the wiper blades and the bodywork," he says. 

Check for warning lights

You'll need to take your vehicle to a trusted garage or mechanic for this. 

Exhaust emissions

Some diesel vehicles can fail their MOTs based on emissions. To avoid this, you can buy a fuel treatment pack and take your car for a good run to clear the fuel lines and tank.

Driving for at least 30 to 50 minutes at a sustained speed on a motorway or A-road should help to clear the filter. 

Windscreen

You should make sure the driver's view of the road isn't obstructed, so check for stone chips at eye level and remove any obstructions such as air fresheners and mobile phone cradles. 

What else should you think about? 

Make sure your car is clean beforehand, as a tester can refuse to do your MOT if the vehicle is filthy and full of rubbish. 

Giving your car a clean can also give you a chance to inspect it, Dixon says. 

Another thing to do is to check last year's MOT for any advisories that might crop up this time. 

These potential issues will still be there - so it's best not to ignore them. 

You can check your vehicle's MOT history using . 

Our coverage has been focused on the shrinking economy this morning - we'll now start bringing you the latest consumer and personal finance news too...

Ryanair will fine disruptive passengers 拢500, the airline has announced.

Customers whose "unruly" behaviour results in them being ejected from the aircraft will face the penalty.

The clampdown is being undertaken to ensure passengers and crew travel in a "comfortable and stress-free environment", says a Ryanair spokesperson.

"It is unacceptable that passengers are made to suffer unnecessary disruption because of one unruly passenger's behaviour," the spokesperson says.

"While these are isolated events which happen across all airlines, disruptive behaviour in such a confined shared space is unacceptable, and we hope that our proactive approach will act as a deterrent to eliminate this unacceptable behaviour onboard our aircraft."

Rachel Reeves declined to rule out 5% council tax rises this morning when she faced questions on Sky News after unveiling her spending plans. Political editor Beth Rigby says this is the tax she'll be keeping her eye on...

When something sounds too good to be true, it normally is.

For me, former shadow chancellor John McDonnell hit the nail on the head on Wednesday night as he remarked rather wryly to me that "the greater the applause on the day, the greater the disappointment by the weekend".

Because, in talking up the prospect of national renewal, the chancellor glossed over what the "hard choices" mean for all of us.

There are questions now swirling about where the cuts might fall in day-to-day budgets for those departments which are unprotected, with local government, the Home Office, the Foreign Office, and the Department for Environment all facing real-terms cuts.

My colleague Ed Conway, analysing the government figures, found cuts in the schools budget for the last two years of this parliament - the chancellor's top-line figure showed an overall rise of 0.6% over the five-year period of this Labour government.

There are questions too over whether council tax bills might be increased to top up local government and police budgets.

Reeves told me in an interview after her speech that they won't, but she has predicated increases in police funding and local government funding coming locally, rather than from central government, so I will be watching how that will play out... Read on here

What Reeves told us this morning

Speaking to Wilfred Frost on Sky News Breakfast, Reeves declined to rule out tax increases and insisted her spending review was fully funded: "I'm not going to write another four years' worth of budgets before we've even got through the first year of this government."

She added: "There was nothing that I did in the spending review that required further taxes, because everything that I set out yesterday was fully costed and fully funded."

Asked about council tax, she said: "The previous government had a policy of increasing or having a maximum increase in council tax of 5% a year. 

"Councils don't have to increase that council tax by 5% a year. But that was a cap that the previous government put in. And it's one that we've stuck to. So we haven't changed that policy."

She reiterated that "this government is not increasing taxes on working people".

"People have been through a lot these last few years and that's why it's really important for me to honour that commitment to not increase those key taxes that government levies on ordinary working people," she concluded.

Stamp duty changes announced by the chancellor at the last budget and that came into force in April contributed to the contraction of the economy, the Office for National Statistics has said.

Director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said there were signs some activity was brought forward from April to earlier in the year.

Services and production were behind what Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has called "disappointing" figures in April.

"Both legal and real estate firms fared badly in April, following a sharp increase in house sales in March when buyers rushed to complete purchases ahead of changes to stamp duty," says McKeown.

"Car manufacturing also performed poorly after growing in the first quarter of the year.

"In contrast, April was a strong month for construction, research and development and retail, with increases in these only partially offsetting falls elsewhere."

Overall, however, the economy still grew as a whole in the last three-month period, McKeown said.

The latest GDP figures are "clearly disappointing", the chancellor has told Sky News. 

The data for April, which you can read more about below, shows the economy shrank by 0.3% - 0.2 percentage points more than economists had predicted. 

Speaking to Sky News, Rachel Reeves says GDP is "very volatile" and the contraction was "perhaps not entirely unexpected". 

"We also know that April was a challenging month. There was huge uncertainty about tariffs," she adds, pointing to figures that show exports and production are weakening due to Donald Trump's trade war. 

"April was a difficult month and since then we have secured three trade deals with the US, India and the EU." 

The figures come after the government's spending review yesterday, which set out plans to boost economic growth. 

"I really focused on the priorities of the British people, investing in our country's security, in our health and in growing the economy because we need to get out of this low-growth cycle we've been in for the last few years," Reeves says.

The economy hasn't been able to sustain the strong performance it recorded at the beginning of the year, says business and economics correspondent Gurpreet Narwan.

The economy expanded by 0.7% in the first quarter, but has contracted by 0.3% in April, the Office for National Statistics estimates.

It shows this year's early boost was temporary, with people bringing forward house purchases to beat stamp duty and businesses trying to get orders out the door to beat any potential US tariffs, says Narwan.

"Now that some of that has fallen away, what we're seeing is this economy that's stuck in this low growth and high tax loop.

"You've got poor business confidence, consumers being hit with inflation and high government borrowing costs, which are impacting the chancellor's room for maneuver."

Services are down 0.4%, says Narwan, contradicting economists' expectations that a revival in consumer confidence at the beginning of the year was going to continue.

Construction, on the other hand, grew 0.9%, compared to a weak start to 2025.

"We might see some of the government's investment spending starting to come out of the door there."