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23rd April 2025
 
THE HOT STORY
PM and Equalities Minister welcome gender ruling
Bridget Phillipson, the Equalities Minister, has expressed her support for the recent Supreme Court ruling on gender recognition, saying that it provides essential clarity for spaces such as hospital wards and women's refuges. She plans to update Parliament on the ruling's implications for public bodies and businesses. While some Labour MPs worry about the ruling's impact on transgender individuals, Phillipson believes it is necessary for the safety of women, particularly those who have experienced male violence. The Equality and Human Rights Commission will collaborate with ministers to develop new guidance on implementing the ruling, which prioritises biological sex in single-sex facilities. Phillipson emphasised the need for appropriate services for all, including transgender individuals. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has welcomed the Supreme Court's ruling, saying that it provided "clarity" that "a woman is an adult female."
HEALTH & WELLBEING
Aldi worker claims mental torture
Tibor Muranyi, a 56-year-old warehouse worker at Aldi in Derby, has accused the supermarket of subjecting him to "mental torture" after it claimed he was lying about his injuries from a workplace accident. Following a collision in November 2020, Muranyi suffered severe back pain and was unable to work for four months. He said: "I couldn't comprehend that they were claiming that I was being dishonest after everything that I had suffered." Despite the incident being captured on CCTV, Aldi alleged fundamental dishonesty. Muranyi's lawyer, Jaro Bernat, highlighted the increasing trend of defendants making spurious claims against genuine claimants. A spokesperson for Aldi said that the health and wellbeing of employees is "always our top priority."
WORKFORCE
Councils announce 3.2% pay offer for school staff
Cllr James Lewis, the chair of the National Employers for local government services, has announced that more than 1.5m council employees and school staff across 350 local authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland "have been offered a pay increase of 3.20% from 1 April 2025." The pay offer also includes "a proposal to delete the bottom pay point (SCP2) from the national pay spine on 1 April 2026." Lewis said the National Employers "believe their offer is fair to employees, given the wider economic backdrop." Mike Short, head of local government services at Unison, said that with "household bills still rising, council and school staff need a decent pay award after years of below-inflation deals and deep cuts to local government services," adding that the union "will meet to discuss the offer in early May before deciding next steps."
British Steel cancels redundancy plans
The government's decision to put British Steel into public ownership means workers are no longer at threat from mass redundancies. China-based Jingye, British Steel's previous owner, had been consulting on up to 2,700 job losses. However, new chief commercial officer Lisa Coulson has confirmed that officials are "closing the redundancy consultation without action," meaning a "difficult and worrying time" for staff is over. A spokesman for Unite said the union "is pleased that British Steel have come to their senses and realised that job losses are not the way to ensure Britain remains an industrial power."
Manufacturers warn of job cuts
Industry leaders have issued a warning that UK manufacturers may begin cutting jobs "within weeks" unless the government secures a trade deal to mitigate the impact of US President Donald Trump's tariffs. Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said that the tariffs could have a "severe, significant and immediate" effect on high-end carmakers like Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin. He has also urged ministers to consider a temporary furlough scheme to support affected workers. Stephen Phipson, chief executive of Make UK, echoed these concerns, indicating that layoffs could start by summer if a deal is not reached.
WORKPLACE
Office vacancy rate falls for first time since 2020
The amount of empty office space across the UK has started to fall for the first time since 2020, according to figures from commercial real estate data firm CoStar. The analysis shows that UK office vacancy fell to 8.6% at the end of March, compared with 8.7% at the start of 2025. Data shows that 4.6% of UK office space was vacant at the start of the pandemic. CoStar says corporate renters moved into 1m sq ft more office space than they exited in Q1, with vacancy rates dipping in about 50% of the country’s big towns and cities. Meanwhile, analysis from Remit Consulting shows that UK offices are now the busiest they have been since before the first lockdown, with an average daily occupancy rate of about 38%. While this marks a post-pandemic high, it remains far below the 60% level seen before the pandemic.
CORPORATE
Company closures hit highest rate since 2010
Analysis of published insolvency notices shows that more than 1,100 businesses across the UK have faced winding-up orders in the first fifteen weeks of 2025. This is up almost a quarter compared to the same period in 2024 and marks the fastest rate of corporate closures since 2010. The City AM analysis also shows that almost 2,200 firms have faced winding-up petitions as creditors look to recover unpaid debts. This is more than a fifth higher than a year ago and the highest rate since 2012. Tom Russell, vice president of insolvency and restructuring trade body R3, said "a number of economic and political issues" are putting pressure on businesses, adding: "High costs and cautious consumer and client spending mean creditors are being more aggressive about pursuing the money they are owed."
ECONOMY
IMF cuts UK growth forecast
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has downgraded its UK growth forecast by 0.5% due to concerns over a potential trade war stemming from US President Donald Trump's new tariffs. The IMF now expects the UK economy to grow by 1.1% this year. It also pulled back on its forecast for 2026, saying it foresees growth of 1.4% for the UK economy – down from a previous prediction of 1.5%. Analysts did, however, upgrade Britain’s growth forecasts for 2028 and 2029 by 0.1 percentage point each. Despite the downward revision for 2025, Chancellor Rachel Reeves noted that the UK is still expected to be the fastest growing European G7 country, suggesting that the IMF "has recognised that this government is delivering reform which will drive up long-term growth in the UK." The IMF has also downgraded its prediction for overall growth in 2025, saying it expects the global economy to expand by 2.8%. The US is forecast to see growth of 1.8% this year, marking a significant downgrade on the 2.7% the IMF predicted in January.
INTERNATIONAL
One in three German companies plans job cuts this year
More than one in three German companies plan to cut jobs this year, according to a survey by the German Economic Institute (IW). Employers in the industrial and construction sectors remain particularly pessimistic, the survey of more than 2,000 companies showed. "Donald Trump's whims come at an inopportune time and are a severe test for the German economy," IW's head of macroeconomics, Michael Groemling, said about the tariffs recently announced by the US President.
Wildberries allegedly employing North Korean workers
Videos from a Russian warehouse suggest that Wildberries, the country's largest e-commerce platform, is employing hundreds of North Korean women, potentially violating UN sanctions. The footage shows workers in company uniforms at a facility near Moscow. Wildberries denies the allegations, but the reports raise concerns about the use of North Korean labour abroad and the enforcement of international sanctions.
OTHER
Earlier and more sleep linked to better test performance
Researchers at the University of Cambridge and Fudan University in Shanghai have found that young people who go to sleep earlier, and who sleep for longer, tend to have better brain function and perform better in cognitive tests. The study, which tracked the sleep patterns of more than 3,000 adolescents, found that the 37% of young people who tended to go to bed and fall asleep earliest performed best in tests involving vocabulary, reading, problem solving and focus. Cambridge professor Barbara Sahakian said: "Even though the differences in the amount of sleep that each group got was relatively small, at just over a quarter-of-an-hour between the best and worst sleepers, we could still see differences in brain structure and activity and in how well they did at tasks."
 


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