Business Matters has been announced as launch media partner of the Rural Business Awards 2026, the free-to-enter national awards celebrating rural enterprise on 4 November.
Category: In Business
Advice on growing your small and medium sized business, SME, in the UK. Hiring and managing staff and finance plus marketing all on one website
Pubs, punters and pizza boxes: World Cup set to deliver £3.8bn windfall for British business
The 2026 World Cup is forecast to unleash £3.8bn in UK consumer spending, with pubs, bookmakers and food delivery firms the big winners, but not everyone will score.
Jeremy Hunt may have just written the growth manual Britain has been waiting for
Sir Jeremy Hunt’s Can We Be Rich Again? offers a candid, costed eight-point plan to revive UK growth. Business Matters reviews the former chancellor’s blueprint for SMEs and policymakers.
In cod we trust: industry urges ministers to back Britain’s chippies before the high street loses its national dish
Britain’s £1.2bn fish and chip industry is being squeezed by NIC hikes, energy costs and cod prices driven up by Middle East tensions. Industry leaders urge ministers to back the high street’s most resilient sector.
The British chipmaker quietly building a global challenger in county Durham
Pragmatic Semiconductor, the Durham-based maker of ultra-thin flexible chips, is gearing up to become the UK’s largest chipmaker by volume — and has its sights set on an IPO.
Nine in ten companies still waiting for AI to pay off, warns Accenture chief
Soaring adoption is failing to translate into bottom-line returns, fuelling fresh anxiety over inflated valuations across the AI sector
UK firms need a sharper strategy to win in a changing American economy
America is still growing, but British firms eyeing the US in 2026 need sharper regional targeting, disciplined pricing and a realistic view of cost, says Blick Rothenberg.
Horner joins Oakley Capital to steer premium sports dealmaking
Former Red Bull boss Christian Horner has been appointed as a sports investments advisor by private equity firm Oakley Capital, signalling fresh ambitions to scale its premium sports portfolio.
ISA shake-up risks unwinding a decade of simplification, warns Charles Stanley
From April 2027 the cash ISA allowance falls to £12,000 for under-65s and a 22% charge will hit interest on cash in stocks & shares ISAs. Charles Stanley’s Rob Morgan warns the reforms risk reversing the 2014 simplification and deterring cautious savers.
Hauliers, hotels and farms warn they are ‘in survival mode’ as fuel costs spiral
Rural SMEs say the Iran war has pushed diesel and heating oil to breaking point — and households will be next to feel the pain
Apprenticeships ‘tougher to land than Oxbridge places’ as ministers pledge £600m for 60,000 new starts
Skills minister Baroness Smith says securing a UK apprenticeship is now tougher than winning an Oxbridge place, as ministers promise £600m to create 60,000 new posts amid a youth jobs crunch.
Alvotech founder Robert Wessman threatens to quit Britain over ‘anti-wealth’ tax regime
Icelandic billionaire and Alvotech founder Robert Wessman says inheritance tax, capital gains hikes and political instability are pushing him to leave the UK — taking jobs, capital and R&D investment with him.
Overseas investors retreat from UK commercial property as red tape bites
Foreign investment in UK commercial property has tumbled 30% to £3.6bn in Q1 2026, with planning delays, the building safety backlog and the upward-only rent review ban blamed for spooking overseas capital.
Nightlife chief brands Chancellor’s summer VAT cut a ‘superficial fix’ that abandons clubs and festivals
Chancellor’s summer VAT cut for family attractions ignores clubs, festivals and live music venues, NTIA’s Michael Kill warns, branding it a ‘superficial fix’
Manual gearboxes set to vanish by 2030 and diesel is tailgating its demise
Manual gearboxes and diesel cars will all but vanish from UK showrooms by 2030, analysts warn. Here’s what the shift means for SME owners, fleet managers and company car schemes.
