After nearly two decades of weak growth, stagnant wages and stubbornly high inequality – alongside one of the worst productivity records in the developed world since the financial crisis – Britain’s central problem is how to get the economy growing again. We don’t build enough homes. We don’t generate enough cheap energy. We don’t invest […]
If the title Baron Walker of Broxton leaves you blank, let me help: Richard Walker is executive chairman of the frozen food retailer Iceland, succeeding his father Sir Malcolm Walker, the company’s founder, in 2023. He was on the Conservative Party’s approved list of parliamentary candidates, then resigned in October 2023 because the party had […]
As it touted the latest recipe change to its flagship beer Punk IPA in December, BrewDog decided to splash the news across many of the country’s billboards. The tagline? ‘Tastes like commercial suicide’. Rarely has a marketing campaign from the brewer proved so honest. This week, the one-time £2 billion company agreed a sale to […]
Britain is stuck in a growth ‘doom loop’. Public spending has ballooned, taxes are at a 70-year high and the same pattern repeats each year. The result is a country that works harder, pays more and gets less. It’s a policy environment that is hitting business hard at all levels, and is toxic for young […]
Peering tentatively into 2026, the UK’s business landscape is fraught with uncertainty, but one trend stands out: the remarkable ascent of Reform UK in the eyes of boardrooms. A groundbreaking report from Bradshaw Advisory, where I serve as a senior adviser, polls over 500 business directors and reveals a seismic shift in sentiment. Far from […]
As much as I hate to admit it, there is a lot to like in the Government’s water white paper. But there’s a reason for that: the best ideas are lifted straight from the Conservative Party. Stripped of the hollow slogans and performative toughness about tackling sewage that have dominated the debate in recent years, […]
Britain is brilliant at starting companies – but we must do more to scale them. We lead Europe for startups per capita and we’re behind only the United States globally for new companies launching in the tech sector. Yet during my time as a Treasury Minister and then Shadow Technology Secretary, I saw a clear […]
The latest ONS statistics paint a bleak picture for Britain’s economic outlook. Growth over the last three months is even slower than expected, with the UK’s GDP rising just 0.1% from July to September, half as much as forecast. That comes hard on the heels of the news on Tuesday that unemployment has hit 5%, […]
A generation ago, when asked how business was going, an owner might jokingly reply, ‘If it weren’t for the customers and staff, everything would be fine!’ Today, that’s changed. The greatest challenge facing small businesses isn’t customers or staff – it’s red tape, regulation and compliance. When I delivered the Adam Smith Institute’s Ayn Rand […]
The past 15 months have underscored one truth: Britain needs a stronger economy. Businesses, not government, drive growth. The UK’s 5.4 million small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) employ 16.6 million people – one in three voters – and generate £2.8 trillion in turnover. They are not only the engine of our economy but a vital […]
London Tech Week arrived with optimism and bold declarations. Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised £1 billion to scale the UK’s compute capacity for artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, praised the UK’s research credentials and private investment, declaring our AI ecosystem ‘perfect for take-off’. His only concern? The absence of sufficient computing infrastructure. It […]
Labour’s first year in government has already seen more U-turns than a learner driver on a test track. One came earlier this month, when Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds backed away from his own department’s plan to scrap long-standing exemptions for small companies filing accounts with Companies House. The proposed rule would have forced even micro-entities […]
A recent report by the IPPR has highlighted a crisis facing young people in Britain. Too many feel as though their time spent in school has failed to prepare them for the real working world. But whilst this is an undeniable truth, there is a larger problem at play – the anti-business attitude that has […]
A year ago, I stood inside Canons Leisure Centre watching the results roll in. After 14 years in power, the Conservatives had been comprehensively ousted. Keir Starmer was poised to take Downing Street with a commanding majority, and a supposedly reformed Labour Party was ready to write the next chapter of our national story. For […]
The UK stands on the precipice of an economic disaster that could define a generation. By Q3 and Q4 of 2026, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the beating heart of Britain’s economy, face a collapse in sentiment and viability that threatens to ripple through jobs, communities and the political landscape. This isn’t scaremongering; it’s a […]
The judges’ scores are in: Wise’s decision to float in New York is surefire proof that London is in the doldrums. Empty rhetoric and ‘get Britain building’ aside, as a financial centre our capital is stooping deeper and deeper into uncompetitiveness. Without a concerted, active effort from our Chancellor to fix our regulators, I’m afraid […]
