Construction sector businesses welcomed the announcement made by the Chancellor and Deputy Prime Minister that the government will be making a £2 billion investment for the building of 18,000 new social and affordable homes. Sites available for development in Manchester and Liverpool may be the first to benefit from the funding, the majority of which will be spent in 2026/27.
The government has announced a £20 million package that will help community land trusts, housing cooperatives and other community groups to build over 2,500 new homes in the next 10 years. Some advantages of community-led housing projects include having local people locate and design new homes that meet the specific needs of their local area.
Over 100 female entrepreneurs, banking representatives, and government officials gathered in Leeds last week for an event focused on breaking down financial barriers for women-led businesses. Hosted by UK Export Finance (UKEF) and with speakers from Female Founder Finance and the Invest in Women Taskforce, the event celebrated the success of British businesswomen while exploring ways to increase access to finance and international trade opportunities.
From 1 May 2025, all B2B (business to business) parcels travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland will need to have information submitted onto the Customs Declaration Service. This is something your parcel carrier will typically handle; however, you will need to provide them with additional information so that they can do this. In some cases, you may also need to pay duty.
The government has just announced that thousands of government credit cards will be cancelled as part of a crackdown on wasteful spending. With spending on these cards reportedly increasing fourfold in the last four years, it’s a reminder that keeping an eye on expenses is crucial.
The Bank of England held its regular meeting to discuss interest rates last Thursday. They voted to hold interest rates at 4.5% as had been widely expected prior to the meeting. The Bank targets an inflation rate of 2% and has already predicted that inflation will rise this year before dropping at the end of the year. However, inflation for the 12 months to January 2025 increased to 3.0% from 2.5% in December, a much higher and faster increase in inflation than had been expected.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is exploring Artificial Intelligence’s (AI) ability to help them detect and investigate foodborne illness outbreaks. UKHSA experts have conducted a study where they have assessed different types of AI on their ability to analyse online restaurant reviews and pick out indications of foodborne gastrointestinal illnesses.
For affected businesses there is now just a week left to submit their 2024 packaging data under the new extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR) scheme. The new legislation came into force on 1st January 2025 and requires data to be submitted by 1 April 2025. Large businesses are expected to submit their July-December 2024 data, whereas small businesses must submit their January-December 2024 data in one annual submission by that date.
As part of the changes being gradually introduced by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCT), identity verification is set to become a Companies House requirement. This is one of a number of changes that the Act is making to better protect the data held at Companies House.
The new National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates will come into force from 1 April 2025. There are also changes to the National Insurance employers pay that take effect from 6 April. For many businesses, the April payroll will represent a sizeable step up in labour costs.
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