UK unemployment is expected to rise to its highest level in five years in 2026 as previously announced tax increases begin to weigh on growth and hiring, according to new forecasts from the EY Item Club. The forecasters warned that joblessness could peak at 5.2 per cent in the first half of this year, up from the current 5.1 per cent and the highest level since January 2021, as modest economic growth is constrained by...
Gary Mazin is the owner and principal lawyer of Mazin & Associates, a Canadian personal injury law firm known for its steady, client-focused approach. His career reflects a mix of discipline, long-term thinking, and practical leadership. Born in the former Soviet Union, Mazin moved to Canada with his family at the age of four. He grew up in humble beginnings, an experience that shaped his work ethic and view on responsibility. “When you start with...
It is a Saturday afternoon. Your potential customer, let’s call him Mark, finally sits down with a cup of coffee. He has been meaning to make a photo book of his daughter’s first year for months. He has 1,200 photos scattered across his iPhone, his wife’s Instagram, and a random folder on his laptop. He lands on your website. He clicks “Create.” And then, he stares at a blank screen. Overwhelmed by the sheer volume...
Amazon is in early-stage talks to invest as much as $50 billion (£40bn) in OpenAI, in what would be one of the largest private technology investments ever made. According to reports, discussions remain preliminary and the final size and structure of any deal have yet to be agreed. If completed at the upper end, the investment would make Amazon the single largest backer in OpenAI’s latest fundraising round. The talks come as OpenAI looks to...
Donald Trump has described it as “very dangerous” for the UK to do business with China, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Shanghai on the third day of his official visit to the country. Trump’s comments followed the announcement of several agreements aimed at boosting trade and investment between the UK and China, reached after Starmer met Chinese president Xi Jinping in Beijing. Speaking to reporters at the premiere of a documentary about his...
Octopus Energy Group has unveiled a major joint venture with PCG Power to trade renewable electricity in China, marking a significant expansion into the world’s largest clean energy market. The deal was announced during Keir Starmer’s official visit to China, with Octopus founder and chief executive Greg Jackson joining the UK business delegation in Beijing. The new venture, called Bitong Energy, will combine PCG Power’s position as one of China’s fastest-growing investors and solutions providers...
Tens of thousands of so-called “zombie” businesses could collapse this year as mounting cost pressures and weak demand push companies to breaking point, insolvency specialists have warned. New research from Begbies Traynor shows a sharp rise in businesses experiencing severe financial strain, with a 44 per cent increase in companies classed as being in “critical financial distress” in the final three months of last year compared with the same period in 2024. In total, 67,369...
Lloyds Banking Group is handing more than £3.1 billion back to shareholders after delivering stronger-than-expected annual profits, underlining the financial firepower of Britain’s biggest domestic lender. The FTSE 100 bank reported full-year pre-tax profits of £6.66 billion, up 12 per cent on 2024 and comfortably ahead of the £6.38 billion forecast by City analysts. The performance was supported by lower-than-expected bad loan provisions and growing income from non-lending activities. Lloyds announced a final dividend of...
The UK’s advertising watchdog has banned a series of adverts by Coinbase, ruling that they implied cryptocurrency could help ease cost-of-living pressures and downplayed the risks associated with crypto investing. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld complaints from members of the public after the adverts ran in August, depicting Britain in various states of decline alongside a satirical slogan and the Coinbase logo. The campaign included three poster adverts and a video which portrayed families,...
Driverless taxis could begin operating in the UK as soon as September, according to Waymo, the US self-driving car firm owned by Alphabet. Waymo said it plans to launch a pilot robotaxi service in London in April, with the ambition of carrying paying passengers later in the year once regulations allow. The UK government has said it intends to introduce new rules in the second half of 2026 to permit fully autonomous taxi services, though...
