Responding to the launch of a new partnership with China, as part of the Prime Minister’s visit to Beijing, Jonathan Geldart, Director General of the Institute of Directors, said: “The new collaboration agreements that the UK and China negotiated in Beijing this week represent a great step towards long-term partnership.

The UK Government has announced a targeted support package for pubs and music venues to mitigate the impact of rising business rates. From April 2026, eligible venues across England, including the vital hospitality hubs of Yorkshire, the North East, and the North West, will receive a 15% discount on their business rates bills, followed by a two-year real-terms freeze.

90% of professional football clubs expect to report financial losses for 2025. Global interest in domestic game continues to grow with record-breaking revenues of £6.4bn in the Premier League in 2024, rising club valuations and a surge in interest in women’s football. Clubs face persistent high costs, with wages representing 63% of revenues in the Premier League and 93% in the Championship, and over 90% expect to incur pre-tax losses in 2025, with the nearly the same proportion stating that they will require shareholder funding in the near future. There is widening financial disparity both between and within the English professional leagues.

Winning Leadership: Lessons from 50 Years in Business is a business book with a difference. It is written by an author who can claim that old adage, “been there, done that”, and I suspect he has got the tee-shirt! The author, Ralph Pickles, has half a century of experience in business and has picked up a wealth of knowledge along the way.

JD Sports: New dynamics as Nike re-engages with wholesale and new brands gain fashion relevance; market outperformance is unlikely in mature markets such as the UK and US. Burberry: A real turnaround remains uncertain; while the scarf and trench coat market is smaller than leather goods, selective pricing actions could help improve margins.

UK manufacturers remained under significant pressure in the quarter to January, with output and orders declining, capacity utilisation falling and investment plans weak, according to the latest quarterly CBI Industrial Trends Survey. Optimism continued to decline, but manufacturers were their least pessimistic since July 2024.

Pharmacy2U, the UK’s leading online pharmacy, has today taken its first step into the care home sector with the acquisition of Care Quality Pharmacy.

Ecommerce and logistics specialist Staci has secured a significant contract with Waldencast Brands - which owns the brands Glaze, Whind and Coats - supporting the group as it expands across the UK and EU. The partnership, which began in August 2025, will contribute to Waldencast Brands’s plans to build a global platform for beauty and wellness brands.

Businesses are entering one of the most precarious periods of the year, with the weeks following Christmas often proving decisive for companies already under financial strain. That's the view of a leading insolvency expert, who has highlighted that the start of the new year is when “hidden problems come to the surface”.