Business News Round Up (31/07/2025)
UK ‘to create toughest late payments laws in G7’
The UK government plans to create what it is calling the ‘toughest late payments laws in the G7’. It said they will be the most significant legislative reforms in 25 years to tackle an issue that shuts down 38 businesses every day and costs the UK economy £11bn a year. SMEs employ 60% of the country’s workforce and generate £2.8tn in turnover. However, the odds have been stacked against small businesses, with cashflow problems caused by not being paid on time holding them back from scaling up. The new laws are set to give stronger powers to the Small Business Commissioner to empower them to wield fines, worth potentially millions of pounds, against the biggest firms who persistently pay their suppliers late. The Small Business Commissioner will be given new powers to carry out spot checks and enforce a 30-day invoice verification period to speed up resolutions to disputes.
https://businesscloud.co.uk/news/uk-to-create-toughest-late-payments-laws-in-g7
North West firms’ trading optimism resilient in July, despite three-point drop on June
Business confidence in the North West fell by three points during July to 52%, according to the latest Business Barometer from Lloyds. While firms’ optimism in their own trading prospects remained unchanged at 52%, their optimism in the wider economy fell by five points month-on-month to 52%. Taken together, this gives a headline confidence reading of 52%, versus 55% in June. Looking ahead to the next six months, North West businesses identified their top target areas for growth as evolving their offering, for example by introducing new products or services (55%), entering new markets (39%) and introducing new technology, such as AI or automation (36%). The Business Barometer, which surveys 1,200 businesses monthly, provides early signals about UK economic trends both regionally and nationwide. Overall, UK business confidence increased one point in July to 52% – its highest level since 2015 and the third consecutive monthly increase.
Scottish economy shrinks in May as Grangemouth closure bites
Scotland’s onshore economy shrank by 0.2% in May 2025, reversing a revised growth of 0.1% in April, according to official figures. The data also indicates a broader downturn, with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimated to have contracted by 0.4% in the three-month period to May, a significant decline from the 0.4% growth recorded in Q1. The primary driver of the monthly decline was the manufacturing sector, which detracted 0.4% from the headline figure. The Scottish Government noted this was partly due to the cessation of oil refining at the Grangemouth facility. Providing a partial counterbalance, the professional, scientific and technical services sector was the largest contributor to growth, adding 0.2% to GDP. Kevin Brown, a savings specialist at Scottish Friendly, suggested the Grangemouth closure was a “single, large and one-off incident” that might skew the figures to “appear worse than might be more broadly apparent in the economy”.
Manchester city centre’s office sector records strongest first half in six years
Manchester city centre experienced the strongest office take-up in six years, the latest Manchester Office Agents Forum (MOAF) report reveals. Take-up in the first half of 2025 of 581,542 sq-ft, across 102 transactions saw the region record the strongest levels of demand in the first half of the year since 2019. Stand out transactions in the latest quarter included Softcat acquiring 35,391 sq-ft at Manchester Goods Yard, Enterprise City and Havas taking 31,000 sq-ft at Bruntwood SciTech’s 3 Circle Square. The take-up figures for South Manchester for Q2 equated to 121,515 sq-ft of workspace transacted across 80 deals, which is up by nearly 27% compared with the number of deals registered during Q1. Turning to the Salford Quays and Trafford market, the take up for Q2 accounted for 108,123 sq-ft of workspace, which is a significant increase on the 28,737 sq-ft transacted in the first quarter of the year.