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The National Cyber Security Centre have published new guidance for organisations on network security fundamentals. Using networks has become fundamental to many businesses, ensuring they continue to operate and stay secure.

Pulpex, a sustainable packaging company, has received £43.5 million from the National Wealth Fund in exchange for an equity share of the business. The Scottish National Investment Bank is also investing £10 million with a further £8.5 million coming from existing investors. This investment will help Pulpex build its first commercial-scale manufacturing facility near Glasgow. You might wonder why there is so much interest in Pulpex!

The Environment Agency (EA) have reported an increase in soil run-off incidents in Devon and Cornwall during January. There were 25 incidents of heavy rain carrying loose soil running from fields – almost double the number of incidents reported in January 2024. This can be bad news for farmers as crops, top soil, organic matter and nutrients are lost in run-off incidents. In addition, there are then the costs of recultivating those fields.

The Chancellor Rachel Reeves met recently with major financial firms at Canary Wharf, encouraging them to invest in emerging markets to boost Britain’s economy. A key initiative launched at the meeting was the “London Coalition on Sustainable Sovereign Debt,” which aims to improve debt financing in developing countries by bringing together private sector and government stakeholders.

10 major culture projects around the UK are set to receive additional funding amounting to more than £67 million. The projects may provide a welcome boost to attracting tourism to these areas, as well as opportunities for local construction and other businesses.

The Charity Commission have launched a statutory inquiry into Zlotchiv over concerns about its financial controls. It appears that irregularities in the charity’s financial management include a series of bounced cheques from the charity’s bank account alongside payments that appear to be related party payments but were not disclosed by the charity in its annual returns.

The creative industries provide about £124 billion to the UK economy, with the cultural sector supporting 666,000 jobs. However, many arts and culture related venues, museums, libraries and heritage buildings are struggling. The Arts Everywhere Fund will provide additional financial support to the creative industry, particularly aimed at organisations in urgent need of financial support to stay up and running and to carry out vital infrastructure work.

A letter from the government’s Non-Domestic Rates Team to councils has confirmed the Business Rates Relief measures for 2025/26 announced at the 2024 Autumn Budget. Here’s a summary.

Inflation figures for January 2025 were released last week and showed a surprising jump to 3.0%, up from 2.5% in December. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that the largest upward contribution to the change came from transport, and food and non-alcoholic beverages.

According to a survey of 2,000 businesses carried out by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), just over a third are planning redundancies or to recruit fewer people ahead of National Insurance and Minimum Wage rises this April. 42% of those surveyed have said they will increase prices to cover the increased costs. 25% are looking at cancelling or downscaling plans for investing or expanding their business.

Topps Tiles, which is the largest tile specialist in the UK, purchased 30 CTD Tiles stores as part of a deal after CTD entered administration in August 2024. CTD was previously the second largest specialist tile retailer in the UK, so this was a sizeable acquisition for the tile world.

While numbers don’t lie, it’s well known that they can be manipulated to fit a story. Can you tell when it’s happening? The Office for National Statistics (ONS) are running a webinar that they describe as eye-opening and will do a deep dive into the world of statistical misuse.