Chancellor Rachel Reeves is being urged to seize the moment and use artificial intelligence to “Make Britain Great Again”, as business leaders and technology experts warn that AI may be the only route to growth in a Budget constrained by Labour’s tax promises. The calls come as the government prepares to announce thousands of new AI-related jobs and billions of pounds of investment in a bid to boost productivity and reboot the stalled UK economy....
A new British venture capital fund has secured major backing from Qatar to accelerate investment into quantum computing start-ups, marking a significant vote of confidence in one of the UK’s fastest-growing deep-tech sectors. Firgun Ventures, co-founded by academic and former Culture Trip founder Kris Naudts and ex-Goldman Sachs banker Zeynep Koruturk, has closed its first investment round at $70 million (£53 million). The largest contribution came from the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), with further backing...
The government is facing renewed pressure to strengthen online safety laws after rejecting key recommendations designed to curb the viral spread of misinformation, despite agreeing with most of MPs’ findings on the scale of the problem. The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee today published the government and Ofcom’s responses to its July report, which concluded that the Online Safety Act (OSA) does not tackle the algorithmic amplification of false content and leaves users exposed to...
Leading employers and workplace wellbeing experts have urged the government not to sideline employee health and productivity reforms, warning that rising unemployment and growing fiscal pressures make action more urgent than ever. At a meeting of the Policy Liaison Group on Workplace Wellbeing on 21 November – chaired by Gethin Nadin and led by renowned psychologist Professor Sir Cary Cooper – participants agreed that the recommendations in Sir Charlie Mayfield’s recent Keep Britain Working review...
Disposable income has fallen for the fourth month in a row, with new data revealing that one in five UK households can no longer afford to cover their weekly essential bills — piling pressure on Chancellor Rachel Reeves just days before her tax-raising Budget. The latest Asda Income Tracker, compiled by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), shows that low- and middle-income families — who make up 60% of all UK households —...
Nammo UK has been selected to supply the main engine for the European Space Agency’s Argonaut lunar lander, a major element of the NASA-led Artemis programme that will return humans to the Moon in the early 2030s. The announcement was made at ESA’s European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, where senior representatives from ESA, Nammo, Thales Alenia Space, OHB System AG and Thales Alenia Space UK took part in a formal signing ceremony. The Buckinghamshire-based company...
New research findings reveal that 34% of people living with diabetes do not feel supported in the workplace, highlighting a persistent gap between corporate well-being policies and the lived experience of employees managing the condition. The survey shows that many workers still feel isolated when trying to balance blood glucose monitoring, medication, diet management and the daily demands of their job. Respondents said that open conversations about health and well-being remain rare, and that employers...
Graduate employment has slipped back to pre-Covid levels as a weakening economy depresses hiring and unwinds the temporary post-pandemic surge in opportunities, according to new research from Prospects at Jisc. The annual What do graduates do? report, published on 25 November, shows a sharp deterioration in outcomes for the 2023 graduating cohort, who entered the labour market during a period of slowing demand and were surveyed in autumn 2024 as conditions worsened further. Just 56.4%...
One of the UK’s fastest-growing tech companies has announced the relocation of its headquarters to Bournemouth, as cloud accounting scale-up iplicit positions itself to become the South Coast’s next billion-dollar “unicorn”. The company — which provides a next-generation cloud accounting platform for mid-market businesses and charities — will base its frontline support team at Patch Bournemouth, reinforcing the town’s reputation as an emerging tech hub. iplicit previously operated from London and Poole under a remote-first...
Capital Business Media Group, the privately owned international media company behind the UK’s largest SME title Business Matters, today announces it has renewed its commitment to the Carbon Neutral programme for another two years, extending a sustainability accreditation the company has proudly held for over a decade. This renewed certification underscores Capital Business Media Group’s long-standing pledge to operate responsibly across its global footprint and continue embedding sustainable business practices into every level of its...
