Are we in the calm before the economic storm? May 20, 2026 There is a palpable sense of being in the calm before the storm. Thanks to the backward-looking nature of most economic data releases, we’re being fed glimpses of the gathering gloom. The latest GDP growth data from the ONS covered Q1 and came in at a respectable 0.6 per cent. However, it has been widely [...]
Standard Chartered bets on AI as it cuts ‘lower value human capital’ May 19, 2026 Standard Chartered has announced plans to slash almost 8,000 back-office roles, stoking fears about the wide scale threat artificial intelligence poses to the global job market. The London-headquartered lender said it would reduce over 15 per cent of its support functions by 2030, equivalent to around 7,800 jobs, as boss Bill Winters pushed through a [...]
Unemployment back up as UK job vacancies fall May 19, 2026 Unemployment crept back up despite a fall in last month’s data as it was shown that the UK jobs market weakened in the last quarter. The Office for National Statistics said the UK unemployment rate was five per cent in the three months to March 2026. The unemployment rate had dropped to 4.9 per cent [...]
Tories pledge to slash tax and red tape in ‘alternative King’s Speech’ May 10, 2026 The Tories have set out their vision for the UK economy, pledging to slash taxes and red tape to “back innovation, entrepreneurship and growth”. Kemi Badenoch’s party has said it would slash welfare spending, scrap business rates for high street business and repeal Labour’s workers’ rights reforms. The Conservatives have published their “alternative King’s Speech,” [...]
John Caudwell: Mentoring isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s an economic imperative April 29, 2026 Mentoring young people is early-stage investment in human capital , and the results are clear, writes John Caudwell.
Back to the 1970s: Brits know the damage being done to our economy April 23, 2026 By late 1978 Britain was in the grip of what became known as the Winter of Discontent. Waves of strike action caused huge economic and social disruption as rubbish piled up on the streets and bodies went unburied. It was a crisis for the Labour government and a low point in Britain’s recent history. It [...]
McDonald’s targets jobless Gen Z with ‘UK’s largest work experience programme’ April 22, 2026 McDonald’s has launched the UK’s largest ever work experience programme in a major recruitment drive that will specifically target the ballooning number of young Brits that are neither working nor in full-time education. The fast-food chain will hand out some 2,500 paid placements to young workers over the age of 16 as part of a [...]
Job vacancies fall to lowest level in five years April 21, 2026 The UK jobs market took a turn for the worst as job vacancies fell to their lowest level in nearly five years, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the number of vacancies fell by an estimate of 29,000 in the three months to March. It is the lowest level of [...]
Unemployment to peak at 5.8 per cent as jobs market faces ‘biggest hit’ since pandemic April 20, 2026 Britain is set to be “pushed to the brink of a technical recession” in the coming year as the economic fallout of the war in Iran dampens growth prospects and sends unemployment soaring. The latest Item Club report sees the UK economy flatlining in the second and third quarters as it digests the consequences of [...]
UK suffered biggest unemployment surge in G7 April 16, 2026 UK unemployment rose at a faster pace than any country in the G7, the OECD has said, with a sharp rise in joblessness particularly damaging for the youngest people. Unemployment levels across the country rose sharply by 0.8 percentage points over the year to 5.2 per cent between the last three months of 2024 and [...]