Business News Round Up (25/07/2025)
UK retail sales rebound in June falls short of expectations
UK retail sales rebounded less than expected in June, despite the warm weather helping to drive a recovery across food stores. The Office for National Statistics on Friday said sales volumes rose 0.9 per cent last month, following a revised 2.8 per cent decline in May. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a rise of 1.2 per cent. “Following a poor May, it was an improved month for retail sales with growth across all main sectors. The warm weather in June helped to brighten sales, with supermarket retailers reporting stronger trading and an increase in drink purchases,” said Hannah Finselbach, senior statistician at the ONS. June was England’s warmest on record, the UK’s Met Office said. Retail sales are the first official spending figures for June and provide further evidence that the UK’s strong economic growth in the first quarter of 0.7 per cent has waned in the second quarter.
https://www.ft.com/content/e125570d-d330-47cc-a442-40efc600221b
UK firms cutting staff at fastest pace since February as economic pressures mount
UK businesses are reducing staff numbers at the fastest rate since February, according to new data, as higher payroll taxes and uncertainty over US tariffs put increasing pressure on company costs and consumer demand. The flash S&P Global purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for July showed a further slowdown in economic momentum, with fresh orders falling, export sales contracting, and employers citing the need to cut headcounts due to rising costs and subdued demand. “Survey respondents widely commented on the need to reduce headcounts in response to higher payroll costs and subdued customer demand,” the report noted. The PMI, a key indicator of private sector health, fell from 52 to 51 in July, signalling continued but weakening growth. A figure above 50 suggests expansion, while anything below indicates contraction. Most of the decline came from the services sector, which fell from 52.8 to 51.2, while manufacturing output increased slightly to 50.
https://bmmagazine.co.uk/news/uk-business-job-cuts-tax-tariff-pmi-july-2025
Scottish firms cut energy bills and emissions in £54m Smart Data Drive
Through the Smart Manufacturing Data Hub, 140 firms adopted AI-driven tools to boost efficiency, reduce waste, and unlock the potential of their data. Manufacturers across Scotland have cut energy costs and emissions by nearly a third through a major programme that helped firms make better use of their data. The Data Lab, Scotland’s centre for data and artificial intelligence, played a key role in delivering the £53.8m Smart Manufacturing Data Hub (SMDH), which supported businesses in adopting new digital tools. Despite the potential of technologies like AI and machine learning, SME manufacturing firms struggle to adopt them because of financial, technical and practical challenges in changing how they work. The SMDH programme sought to help tackle these challenges by providing expert support and funding. 320 firms across the UK, including 140 in Scotland, took part in more than 200 projects tackling machine efficiency, energy waste and supply chain disruption.
https://www.digit.fyi/scottish-manufacturing-data
Manchester sees strong half year, but Liverpool hit by ‘critically’ low levels of space
Manchester’s office market saw the strongest start to the year since the pandemic, a new study has shown – but Liverpool had a slow six months as the city continues to suffer from a lack of space. Avison Young’s Big Nine report into office activity in UK cities outside London showed total take up in Manchester of 542,107 sq-ft in Q2, down 3% on Q1 but still above the ten-year average. The property giant said H1 2025 “has been the strongest start of the year since the pandemic”, with 1.1 million sq-ft of take up. Some 36% of take-up in Q2 was from the media, telecoms and creative sectors. Meanwhile, Liverpool saw a “quiet start to the year” as office availability was the lowest in any of the Big Nine cities with “critically” low levels of grade A space available.
https://www.business-live.co.uk/commercial-property/office-market-focus-manchester-sees-32128482