It’s been difficult for some months now to focus on anything other than the geopolitical mayhem emanating from the White House, whether it is the shilly-shallying over tariffs or the apparently empty rhetoric about the endlessly imminent solution of the many vicious conflicts around the world. The degree to which utterly extraordinary events have become normalised is an astonishing development,
The 2024 Autumn Budget had significant implications for UK businesses, introducing a wide range of cost increases effective from April 2025. As organisations across sectors grapple with an uncertain economic landscape, these changes are being felt at every level, from small enterprises to large multinationals. The key measures in the Autumn Budget The major provisions of the Budget affecting the business
The Government’s flagship Employment Rights Bill (ERB) legislation radically reforming workers’ rights and employers’ obligations is still going through Parliamentary scrutiny and revision. Many of its most contentious measures will not come into effect until some as undefined date in 2027. Yet it’s fundamental importance to the business community and the UK economy are plain to see from the ongoing
When looking at the position of UK business investment, now at last, there is some positive news with the Office for National Statistics announcing that business investment in the UK jumped by 5.9% in the first quarter of 2025, marking the fastest pace of growth in two years. It is now 8.1% above the level in the same quarter a
As we look at the economy this month, here in the UK there is little cheer. With a succession of adverse statistics in recent weeks doing little to dispel the feeling that the government’s efforts to promote and then deliver the growth that is desperately needed to repair the public finances, have yet to bear any tangible fruit. The initial
A flexible, high skill and plentiful UK labour market is central to the government’s ambitions to grow the economy through investment and increased productivity. Unfortunately, any discussion of the current state of the UK labour market is almost entirely anecdotal, a regrettable situation at such a crucial time but one made inevitable by the shortcomings of the only comprehensive set
