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UK economy - case studies

ended 14. August 2025

Following this morning's GDP data, which showed the UK economy grew by 0.3% in the second quarter, Newspage asked business owners to record video shorts explaining the challenges they're facing as a business or charity right now, what they think of the Government's fiscal policies and how optimistic they are about the economy in the second half of the year. Views will appear below until midday.

2 responses from the Newspage community

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Editor
Tony Redondo
Founder at Cosmos Currency Exchange
Labour’s election win changed everything. After months of speculation and a tax-hiking budget, 95% of my business clients shelved 2025 plans, delaying equipment purchases and expansion. Staff reductions are common, with many hiring remote workers from South Africa and the Philippines. Personal clients postponing overseas holiday home buys, while more high-net-worth individuals are emigrating—young tech professionals to Dubai, young families to Mediterranean countries like Portugal and Italy for lifestyle and tax benefits. As currency brokers, the negative impact on business expansion is offset by growth in overseas hiring and emigration, keeping us busy. Still, I expect a very tough second half of 2025, risking stagflation.
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Keith Budden
Managing Director at Ensurety
Business at the moment is tough, probably the toughest I can remember in my 27 years of running my own business. The general feeling of malaise which seems to have enshrined the economy since pre last year's General Election stubbornly refuses to budge. As to the reasons why, I'm really not sure, but things I know certainly aren't helping are the continued wars in Ukraine and Gaza, Donald Trump's continued tarriff hokey-cokey and at a more direct level, the continued cost of living crisis, which despite many industries seeing wage rises is still seeing reduced consumer discretionary spend. Even for businesses like mine which are completely B2B, that lack of consumer spend still has an impact, if business is not receiving more money in, they have less to spend with other businesses like ours.

Here's hoping the final quarter of the year sees an uptick and the malaise lifts, but right now I'm not banking on it.