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Finance leaders are increasing AI spend while tightening control expectations. Basware research shows AP adoption running ahead of governance maturity.
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Unilever’s volume rebound has strengthened the case for brand investment. The group raised its full-year outlook after second-quarter growth.
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CAF Bank’s online outage has exposed specialist banking resilience pressures. Charities were pushed towards phone banking after a software-linked vulnerability.
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EY’s Made.com audit sanction adds pressure on corporate assurance standards. The FRC found serious breaches in high-risk audit work.
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Monzo is turning brand building into a global expansion lever. Its first global platform, Get busy living, arrives as the digital bank pushes beyond challenger status.
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Graduate hiring is weakening under finance-led cost pressure, Deloitte finds. The latest CFO Survey finds cost control is the leading factor reducing graduate recruitment among major UK companies.
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SME innovation plans are weakening under R&D tax relief uncertainty. RCK Partners research finds 62% of R&D-active SME finance chiefs have cut investment after reforms to the UK regime.
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Holiday pay enforcement is becoming a wider employer compliance issue. The Fair Work Agency is preparing for expanded enforcement as government consults on how statutory holiday pay rules should be policed.
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Pension capital could move closer to British scale-up funding plans. Major providers are exploring a £1bn vehicle to back high-growth science and technology companies, with the British Business Bank supporting the proposed fund.
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Manufacturing output has returned to growth after months of strain. NatWest’s tracker shows stronger confidence and easing cost inflation, though services and SMEs remain weaker.