Disposable income falls for the fourth consecutive month. One in five UK households struggles to cover essential bills as wage growth lags behind rising costs, pressuring Chancellor Rachel Reeves ahead of the upcoming Budget.

First meetings with investors are less performance, more partnership. Jamie Roberts, Managing Partner at YFM, explains why chemistry can make or break an initial PE meeting — and how founders who treat it as a conversation, not a pitch, set the tone for lasting collaboration.

EV salary sacrifice delivers measurable benefits for both employees and employers. Thom Groot, CEO of The Electric Car Scheme, argues that the upcoming autumn Budget must preserve this crucial incentive — one that is helping middle-income families access affordable electric transport and driving real progress towards net zero.

Brussels prepares to push Washington over stalled tariff reforms. The European Union will urge the United States to honour more of July’s trade agreement, including cutting 50 % tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, amid concern that delays are undermining post-pandemic industrial competitiveness and transatlantic supply-chain recovery.

Searches for Christmas temp jobs hit record levels in September. New research from The Accountancy Partnership shows a 23% year-on-year rise in festive job searches, suggesting that Britons are seeking seasonal work earlier than ever amid continuing financial strain.

Government borrowing exceeds forecasts by £9.9 billion this fiscal year. Public sector borrowing reached £17.4 billion in October, marking the third-highest October on record. The cumulative borrowing since April is £116.8 billion, intensifying economic pressures as the Budget approaches.

Klarna claims its AI now matches workload of 853 staff. The payments company says its generative-AI customer-service assistant has handled millions of queries with human-level satisfaction, underscoring automation’s accelerating impact on service jobs as financial-technology leaders weigh the gains — and risks — of digital labour.

Addiction is already in the workplace, often hiding in plain sight. As Professor Marcantonio Spada of Onebright writes, silence and stigma prevent many from seeking help until crisis strikes. Creating open, supportive cultures where employees can talk about addiction is both compassionate and critical for business health.

Budget talk is already weighing on Britain’s Christmas shoppers. New BRC and GfK data shows consumer sentiment sliding again in November, just as inflation eases and retail sales stumble. With Rachel Reeves facing a sizeable fiscal gap, retailers are braced for a Budget that could define demand well into 2026.