Seven in 10 bosses think workers’ rights bill will dent growth June 6, 2025 Over seven in 10 bosses believe the government’s flagship workers’ rights overhaul will kibosh efforts to kickstart economic growth and lead to fewer new hires and more outsourcing of work abroad, fresh research has shown. According to a poll by the Institute of Directors (IoD), 72 per cent of business leaders in Britain believe that, [...]
Britain’s biggest growth threat is giving into doomsterism June 4, 2025 As the Spending Review looms over Westminster, Britain must not just lie down and accept decline, writes Simon Clarke.
Business growth expectations fall to weakest since 2022 June 2, 2025 Growth expectations among private sector firms continue to decline rapidly, fresh figures suggest, with forecasts reaching their lowest since September 2022. According to the CBI’s recent Growth Indicator survey, 30 per cent more private sector firms are expecting activity to fall than to grow over the next three months. “There is little sign of summer [...]
Bank of England rate-setter calls for interest rate cut May 30, 2025 A top Bank of England rate-setter has dismissed the latest spike in inflation and doubled down on calls for further interest rate cuts. Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Alan Taylor said the fresh inflation surge was driven by “one-off factors” related to President Donald Trump’s trade war. Whilst he said recent trade progress, with the [...]
UK business confidence bounces back from Trump’s tariff blow May 30, 2025 UK business confidence rallied in May as global financial markets made their recovery from President Donald Trump’s tariff onslaught. Lloyds Bank business barometer jumped 11 points over the last month to 50 per cent. – marking a nine month high. The lender surveys 1,200 companies and weighs up the percentage of firms that have a [...]
Company bosses hit pause on growth plans after tariff shock May 27, 2025 Top UK business leaders have sounded the alarm on geopolitical tensions, warning that trade uncertainties are threatening their growth prospects. Nearly half of UK chief executives admitted to being “very or extremely concerned” about the impact of tariffs on their company’s operations and sales in the upcoming year. Concerns have led to company chiefs slamming [...]
Week in Business: Will Starmer sack Rachel Reeves? May 23, 2025 Cracks are appearing in Labour's economic strategy - will Keir Starmer roll the dice and look for a new Chancellor to change course?
The £582m plan to create new UK economic powerhouse May 21, 2025 Plans to create a new economic growth zone in the West Midlands which is tipped to provide a £582m boost to the UK have been revealed. Land on the Wolverhampton/South Staffordshire border has been earmarked for ‘The Central Edge’ project while 14,700 jobs could be created. According to project leaders, the scheme would include 16.4 [...]
Starmer meets BlackRock’s Larry Fink for growth talks May 20, 2025 The Prime Minister this morning met the boss of the world’s largest money manager, in the latest such conversation as part of ministers’ growth agenda. Sir Keir Starmer held discussions with Larry Fink, who leads the $11.6tn giant BlackRock. Fink was pictured leaving Downing Street on Tuesday morning. This follows on from the American billionaire’s [...]
Is HSBC turning its back on Europe? May 20, 2025 When Georges Elhedery took the helm at HSBC, he wasted no time making his mark on the firm. Elhedery plotted a “simpler, more dynamic and agile organisation” in his sweeping restructure first announced in October 2024. One significant change introduced by the new bank chief was splitting the business into “eastern markets” covering the Asia-pacific [...]