The announcement of the economic prosperity deal between the USA and the UK has generated much political and media ballyhoo. Despite the euphoria, cooler heads in many UK manufacturing sub-sectors are discounting the comments from the two countries’ leaders and their senior advisers, and instead they are scouring the detail-lite four and a half page deal document for anything tangible
Let’s start with a question: Was fraud prevention ever just a finance function? After 27 years working in fraud prevention across the private, public, and third sectors, I can confidently say the answer is no. Throughout my career, I’ve seen fraud fall under the remit of Audit, Risk, Legal, Compliance, Governance, Security, the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), and, yes,
In May last year, all the talk was about how vibrantly the activity in the UK services sector was accelerating. What a difference a year makes as the latest S&P Global UK Services PMI Index for April 2025 dipped below 50, indicating that the sector was contracting. This ended a 17-month run of growth. New order books at service companies
A month ago, all the economic buzz was about the Chancellor’s Spring Statement and the real-world implications as the significant cost hikes from the Autumn Budget finally landed with a shuddering thud onto the business models of UK companies. That seems a lifetime away already, as attention has moved on from more parochial considerations to the global trade turmoil unleashed on
In an unwelcome verification of the Chancellor’s repeated reminders that we are living in a ‘changing world’, within hours of her Spring Statement her fiscal goal posts were facing an unceremonial relocation by the threat of 25% tariffs on all motor vehicles and parts exported into the USA. This followed hard on the heels of post-Statement observations by numerous economists
How will America’s ‘Liberation Day’ hit UK businesses? After weeks of increasingly fevered speculation, we finally know how the main thrust of the pivot towards protectionism in the US might affect the UK economy and what UK exporters will have to deal with: Tariffs will be charged at 10% on all goods exported by the UK to the USA, with
