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1 week ago | 
bmmagazine.co.uk | Jamie Young
UK business confidence has fallen to its lowest level in over two years, according to new data from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), as rising tax pressures and escalating global trade tensions take their toll on corporate sentiment.
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1 week ago | 
bmmagazine.co.uk | Jamie Young
Shares in major car manufacturers around the world surged on Monday after President Trump signalled that he may offer temporary exemptions to the steep new tariffs imposed on imported vehicles and parts. Speaking to reporters, Trump said he was “looking at something to help car companies”, noting that manufacturers needed “a little bit of time” to relocate production to the United States.
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1 week ago | 
bmmagazine.co.uk | Jamie Young
Britain’s leading retailers are calling on the government to urgently review import tax rules that allow ultra-cheap goods from Chinese e-commerce giants such as Shein and Temu to enter the UK duty-free—warning that the country could face a surge in low-cost imports rerouted from the US following the introduction of sweeping tariffs by President Trump.
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1 week ago | 
bmmagazine.co.uk | Jamie Young
Coventry-based FinTech innovator Inicio AI has secured £2.6 million in seed funding to scale its AI-driven affordability assessment platform, in a move that could reshape how organisations evaluate financial wellbeing. The funding follows the company’s recent victory at Birmingham Tech Week’s prestigious OneToWin pitch competition.
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1 week ago | 
bmmagazine.co.uk | Jamie Young
Booked it, a fast-growing technology provider specialising in advanced booking, CRM, marketing and loyalty solutions, has secured a £2.5 million investment from Calculus Capital to accelerate its expansion plans. The funding comes as the company targets £1 billion in total bookings, building on rapid momentum across the social and entertainment sectors.
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1 week ago | 
bmmagazine.co.uk | Jamie Young
UK businesses are grappling with what’s being described as a “harrowing” year, as confidence slumps in response to rising domestic tax burdens and mounting global trade tensions, according to new research from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). The ICAEW’s closely watched business confidence monitor fell to minus 3 in the first quarter of 2025, down from 0.2 in the previous quarter, marking the lowest reading since late 2022.
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1 week ago | 
bmmagazine.co.uk | Jamie Young
Wage growth across the UK picked up slightly in the three months to February, defying a weakening labour market and providing a fresh challenge for the Bank of England as it weighs when to start cutting interest rates. New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that average weekly earnings, excluding bonuses, rose by 5.9 per cent year-on-year in the December to February period—up from 5.8 per cent in the previous month.
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1 week ago | 
bmmagazine.co.uk | Jamie Young
Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JP Morgan Chase, has warned that the United States faces a 50 per cent chance of recession, citing the fallout from President Trump’s sweeping trade tariffs and a growing mix of economic headwinds. Speaking as markets continue to reel from the uncertainty triggered by the new tariff regime, Dimon said the world’s largest economy faces “considerable turbulence”.
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1 week ago | 
bmmagazine.co.uk | Jamie Young
A clear majority of UK voters believe the government should prioritise strengthening trade ties with the EU over pursuing a new economic deal with the United States, according to new polling released this weekend. The findings, published by the internationalist thinktank Best for Britain, suggest that public opinion has shifted decisively since the Brexit referendum, with many voters now viewing the UK’s economic future as more closely aligned with its European neighbours.
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1 week ago | 
bmmagazine.co.uk | Jamie Young
Britain’s top companies were already tightening their belts in anticipation of a worsening global economic outlook — even before President Trump’s tariff U-turns sent markets into a tailspin. A new Deloitte survey of FTSE 350 finance chiefs, carried out at the end of March, shows that concern about geopolitical risk was at its highest level since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Fears about the health of the US economy — still the largest in the world — were also elevated.
