News

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...

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%...

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...

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...

The government must overhaul its “damaging” Employment Rights Bill or risk choking off growth, the head of Britain’s biggest business lobby group will warn on Monday — just two days before Rachel Reeves delivers her second Budget. Rain Newton-Smith, chief executive of the CBI, will use the group’s annual conference in London to caution that ministers have failed to listen to employer concerns about the bill, which includes tougher unfair dismissal rights and guaranteed working...

When Britain’s adopted steel king Lakshmi Mittal, gala-favourite philanthropist and one of the country’s most visible billionaire residents, quietly announced he was shifting his tax residency to Switzerland, it barely caused a ripple in Westminster. Another wealthy non-dom heading for more forgiving fiscal pastures, shrugged the commentariat. But for anyone paying attention to Britain’s charitable sector, Mittal’s departure is more than a footnote in a tax-policy debate. It is a red flag. A warning. A...