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UK director confidence improved in August but remained deeply negative. The IoD index rose from -63 to -49, while investment intentions remained below zero and businesses continued to report high costs and significant policy uncertainty.
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Government plans would give regions greater control over investment strategy. Local industrial plans, grid connections, skills, and consolidated funding are being placed within a wider devolution programme led through the new Number 10 North operation.
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E.ON’s UK chief has left potential OVO job cuts open. The companies employ about 12,000 people between them as competition scrutiny continues ahead of a proposed 9.6-million-customer combination.
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Government has launched a new forum to expand creative exports. The Creative Trade Forum is accompanied by £10m of Innovate UK funding aimed at helping creative-technology companies scale and reach overseas markets.
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Matt Huntly is scaling Sampl through sharper product sampling measurement. The founder and CEO discusses customer intent, data discipline, founder transition, and international growth across 35 markets.
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Sainsbury’s plans 10,000 work experience opportunities for young people nationwide. The programme combines school engagement, employability workshops, and practical workplace exposure as youth employment conditions remain difficult.
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Zero-hours reforms could raise employer costs and alter staffing models. CIPD research finds two-thirds of employers using the contracts expect higher HR and management costs, while around a third anticipate redundancies or greater reliance on alternative workers.
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Entry-level opportunities are shrinking as employers adopt more workplace automation. Work Foundation research finds more than a third of employers have cut junior roles, with the reduction particularly pronounced among medium-sized and large organisations.
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UK marketers report losing substantial working time to administration. Optimizely research finds 45% spend at least a quarter of their week on low-value tasks amid growing workflow complexity.
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Leading banks increasingly combine credit fundamentals with advanced technical skills. GICP’s analysis of 1,500-plus job postings finds judgement, governance, communication, data, and AI capabilities appearing together across modern credit roles.