Job creation from new businesses in the UK has fallen to an eight-year low, with start-ups hiring fewer staff and closures contributing to a rising economic toll, according to new analysis by Cynergy Bank. The bank’s Business Births & Deaths Index, which draws on official data from the Office for National Statistics, shows that the […]
OnlyFans, the content subscription platform best known for its ties to the adult entertainment industry, could soon have new owners. According to reports, a US investor group led by Los Angeles-based Forest Road Company is in talks to acquire the London-headquartered platform for up to $8 billion. The sale would mark a significant exit for […]
Millions of households across the UK will see some relief on their energy bills this summer, after energy regulator Ofgem announced a 7% cut to the price cap, reducing the average annual bill to £1,720 from July 1. The £129 drop follows a sharp 6.4% rise in April, which had pushed average annual bills to […]
Artificial intelligence systems could account for nearly half of all power consumption in global datacentres by the end of this year, according to new research — fuelling growing concerns over the environmental impact of AI technologies. The analysis, conducted by Alex de Vries-Gao, founder of the Digiconomist tech sustainability platform, suggests that AI could represent […]
The UK’s private sector shrank for the second consecutive month in May, fuelling concerns that the economy’s strong start to the year could be reversed in the second quarter. The S&P Global/CIPS purchasing managers’ index (PMI) — a key barometer of economic health — rose slightly to 49.4 in May from 48.5 in April, but […]
British consumer confidence has bounced back this month, according to the latest GfK survey, as fears of a global trade war subside and optimism about personal finances improves — despite a spike in inflation linked to rising household bills. The consumer sentiment index rose by three points to -20 in May, its highest level in […]
The UK government is considering selling the Sevington border control post in Kent, a facility built for post-Brexit customs checks, following this week’s UK-EU trade pact that could render dozens of similar sites redundant. Constructed in 2021 at a cost of tens of millions, the Sevington site near Ashford was designed to process up to […]
The UK government’s continued focus on traditional free trade agreements (FTAs) is misaligned with the country’s service-based economy, according to a new report from the Tony Blair Institute (TBI), which calls for a fundamental rethink of Britain’s trade policy. The think tank argues that lengthy, goods-focused FTAs offer diminishing returns and are poorly matched to […]
HSBC has told thousands of UK employees that their pay could be cut if they fail to meet new in-office attendance requirements, as the bank steps up efforts to tighten its hybrid working policy. In a memo sent to employees in its UK high street and commercial banking division, which employs around 24,000 people, the […]
OpenAI has announced a major strategic move to accelerate its expansion into hardware, with the acquisition of io, the San Francisco-based tech start-up founded by Sir Jony Ive, the former chief design officer at Apple. The merger, valued at $6.5 billion (£4.8 billion), will bring together Ive’s team of engineers, product developers and designers under […]