UK faces years of anaemic growth amid tax and regulation burden, says Next

Bosses at the clothing and homeware chain Next are forecasting years of “anaemic” growth across the UK, with the retailer claiming that regulation, government spending and higher taxes will hurt jobs and productivity.The FTSE 100 company, which is headed by the Conservative peer Simon Wolfson, said that while it did not believe the economy was heading towards a “cliff edge”, the weakening outlook gave the company “another reason to be cautious”.“The medium- to long-term outlook for the UK economy does not look favourable,” the retailer said as it released its results for the six months to July.The company, which sells its own-brand clothes and homeware alongside other brands’ products, and controls the UK distribution of the US brands Gap and Victoria’s Secret, said the rising tax burden and government spending commitments, among other factors, were putting pressure on businesses and restricting economic growth.“At best we expect anaemic growth, with progress constrained by four factors: declining job opportunities, new regulation that erodes competitiveness, government spending commitments that are beyond its means, and a rising tax burden that undermines national productivity,” it said

Bank’s interest rate vote and bond plans are little help to Reeves before budget

“Gradual” and “predictable” are the watchwords at the Bank of England. But for Rachel Reeves, preparing for a tough autumn budget, a more activist approach from Threadneedle Street could have helped.The central bank had two pieces of bad news for the chancellor on Thursday: borrowing costs would be held unchanged at the current elevated level, while the Bank would proceed with a plan to sell billions of pounds in UK government bonds.Both decisions had been widely expected in financial markets. But an alternative outcome was not outside the realms of possibility and could have helped bail out the Treasury a little before the autumn budget

What is new in UK-US tech deal and what will it mean for the British economy?

Donald Trump’s arrival in the UK on Tuesday night was accompanied by a multibillion-dollar transatlantic tech agreement.The announcement features some of the biggest names from Silicon Valley: the chipmaker Nvidia; the ChatGPT developer, OpenAI; and Microsoft. Big numbers were involved, with Microsoft hailing its $30bn (£22bn) investment as a major commitment to the UK – and adding, in an apparent swipe at its rivals, that it was not making “empty tech promises”.Here is a breakdown of the announcements in the UK-US “tech prosperity deal”, spelling out what is explicitly new in them.Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, hailed the “single biggest announcement” in the pact and insisted it was not an empty promise

UK is going to be ‘AI superpower’, says Nvidia boss as he invests £500m

Jensen Huang, the co-founder and chief executive of the US AI chipmaker Nvidia, has predicted “the UK is going to be an AI superpower” as he announced a new £500m investment in a British firm.Huang, who is due to join Donald Trump at Wednesday night’s state banquet with the king, said he was taking an equity stake in NScale, a UK cloud computing company, and predicted it would earn revenues of up to £50bn over the next six years.“We’re here to announce that the UK is going to be an AI superpower,” he told a press conference in London.Huang cited as evidence of Britain’s potential its universities and several companies founded in the UK, ranging from the AI giant DeepMind to the driverless car startup Wayve. “You just don’t appreciate it

Publicity frenzy surrounds Gout Gout, but he has the super power to cope

The sight was, frankly, ridiculous. Crowded around 17-year-old Gout Gout were 30 reporters – most of them middle aged men – asking the year 12 student about a running race. The mass was crammed in tight, sweaty and rich in odour, in a cavern under Japan National Stadium still humid from the day despite a late shower leaving a shimmer on the track.But this mania is now customary in the age of Gout. The boy himself saw the funny side, giving his first genuine smile amid the madness, when asked what it makes him feel to be the subject of such fascination

Giants New Zealand must be wary of bogey team Canada in World Cup semi

Canucks have gone under the radar at Women’s Rugby World Cup but underdogs can upset the championsFor anyone who might be thinking champions New Zealand are a shoo-in to make the Rugby World Cup final, Canada have three key attributes to suggest they can knock out the Black Ferns in their semi-final on Friday evening: Belief, fast ruck speed and Sophie de Goede.Canada are the world No 2 side and came close to beating England at the 2024 WXV 1, yet have gone under the radar in the buildup to this tournament and during its early stages, with much of the attention focused on the potential for a rematch of the 2022 final between New Zealand and hosts England. Against the Black Ferns in the last four at Ashton Gate, Canada will still be viewed as underdogs in some circles, something the team have spoken about a lot, according to the wing Alysha Corrigan.“It is something that isn’t new for us, we are usually seen as that underdog and not always getting that recognition we think we deserve,” says Corrigan. “I think that is something that fuels our fire