Marketing Newscast

(Edited 23 April 2025)

British workers are among the saddest, loneliest and most disengaged in Europe, according to The Gallup State of the Global Workplace 2025 report, which has tracked global employee wellbeing since 2009. The UK was beaten only by Cyprus in the misery stakes, with some 26% saying they reported daily feelings of sadness, and 17% admitting to daily loneliness. Only 10% said they felt engaged at work last year, down from 20% in 2009. On a continental basis, Europe as a whole ranked last in employee engagement, although across the world, employee engagement fell 2% in 2024, only the second time the metric has declined in the last 12 years, the other time being 2020, when covid lockdowns began. Gallup said it had calculated that the global fall in employee engagement cost the world economy $438bn (£329bn) in 2024. A fully engaged workforce could add 9% to global GDP, it also estimated. American and Canadian workers were the most engaged overall, but also the most stressed out. Gallup defines disengaged employees as resentful that their needs are not being met at work, with the potential to undermine what their engaged workers are doing, while recognition for good work, feeling that they have a purpose and having a supervisor that cares about them as a person are factors of an engaged employee.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has downgraded its UK growth forecast by 0.5% this year because of US President Donald Trump’s trade war, which it said has brought global tariff rates to “centennial highs”. The IMF now believes the UK economy will grow by 1.1% in 2025. Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “This forecast shows that the UK is still the fastest growing European G7 country”. “The report also clearly shows that the world has changed, which is why I will be in Washington this week defending British interests and making the case for free and fair trade,” she added. Reeves flew to the US yesterday. The IMF also warned that Trump’s tariffs will force governments to borrow more to cope with the resulting global economic slowdown, and that a flood of new debt could mean that “further turbulence could descend upon sovereign bond markets, especially in jurisdictions where government debt levels are high”. It noted government debts have risen already to 93% of global GDP, up from 78% a decade ago.

Separately, the Office for National Statistics has revealed the Treasury massively overshot borrowing forecasts by £14.6bn last year. Public sector borrowing, excluding banks, hit £151.9bn in the year to March, well ahead of projections made just last month by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) of £137.3bn for the 2024/25 financial year. All in all, public sector borrowing was £20.7bn higher than the previous year and the third highest on record. ONS Chief Economist Grant Fitzner said: “Our initial estimates suggest public sector borrowing rose almost £21bn in the financial year just ended as, despite a substantial boost in income, expenditure rose by more, largely due to inflation-related costs, including higher pay and benefit increases”. He further noted that at the end of the financial year, “debt remained close to the annual value of the output of the economy, at levels last seen in the early 1960s.” Veteran journalist Andrew Neil commented on X that the data showed excess borrowing despite a “substantial boost in tax revenues” proved it was a “made-in-Downing Street” problem, rather than one attributable to “the ‘black hole’” [Chancellor Rachel Reeves] claimed to have inherited.” He added: “The OBR couldn’t even get borrowing right for a financial year almost finished. Yet fiscal policy is predicated on what it thinks borrowing will be in 2029/30. It’s not economics. It’s the theatre of the absurd”.

Research by City AM has shown that businesses across Britain are being shut down at a rate not seen since the 2008 financial crash. More than 1,100 companies faced winding-up orders in the first fifteen weeks of 2025, according to the newspaper’s analysis of published insolvency notices, an increase of nearly a quarter compared to last year and the fastest rate of corporate closure since 2010. “Nearly 2,200 businesses have also faced winding-up petitions, a legal manoeuvre by creditors to claw back unpaid debts, an increase of more than a fifth since 2024 and the highest rate since 2012,” its report stated. City AM reporter Simon Hunt attributes the figures to “the precarious position many small and medium-sized companies find themselves in as they struggle to pay off debts under the burdens of tax hikes, higher wage bills and sluggish growth”. Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith told City AM: “With a government which is engaged in a tax and culture war against wealth creators, it is no surprise that businesses are being wound up at the fastest rate for a decade. The government needs to take urgent steps to reverse this, starting with shelving the damaging union-inspired Employment Rights Bill which will only make things worse.” A Treasury spokesperson responded: “The last few years have been incredibly difficult for business. That’s why this pro-business government is determined to improve the total business environment. We know the vital importance of businesses to our economy which is why we are focused on creating opportunities for businesses to compete and access the finance they need to scale, export and break into new markets.”

Could it get worse? Manufacturing trade body Make UK yesterday warned MPs it might, telling the Business and Trade Select Committee that factory owners will be forced to begin laying off staff within “months” unless Sir Keir Starmer can strike a trade deal with the USA, because trade tariffs imposed by Trump on UK imports to the US are already hurting demand for British-made products. Trump has imposed a general 10% tariff on all goods, and 25% tariffs on steel and cars. Make UK CEO Stephen Phipson told the committee: “We don’t know from one day to the next whether Trump is going to carry on, whether he’s going to suspend [the tariffs], whether he’s going to change. It makes planning your business and your investments extremely challenging. Some manufacturers are putting in temporary contingency plans at the moment, hoping that in the next month or two we can get some sense and they don’t have to do the next level, which will be, if you see a demand reduction, scaling back factory capacity.” Asked if this meant layoffs, he confirmed they could begin as soon as this summer, adding: “They will absolutely have to”. He added it was worse for small and medium-sized firms, who are “living hand to mouth ... So for them, it’s a much more direct impact. The larger ones can put this off for a few months, but the smaller ones are going to see it now.”

Marks and Spencer emailed all its customers yesterday to explain it had been managing a “cyber incident” “over the last few days”. CEO Stuart Machin wrote it had been necessary to “temporarily make some small changes to our store operations” as a result, and that he was “sincerely sorry if you experienced any inconvenience”. Stores remain open and the M&S website and app are operating as normal, he said, but there “may be some limited delays to your Click and Collect order, which we are working hard to resolve”. In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, the FTSE 100-listed retailer said it had reported the incident to the relevant data protection supervisory authorities and the National Cyber Security Centre. Although not explicitly mentioned in Machin’s email, it has transpired that customers in store were unable to purchase goods using contactless cards, and click and collect order stations were down for about 48 hours. M&S says it does not believe any staff or customer data has been accessed.

Santander is reportedly seeking to hive off its UK motor finance division from the rest of its banking business. Bloomberg says the Spanish bank has sought permission from regulators to separate the car loan business from the rest of its British subsidiary, which is facing an estimated £2950m payout as part of the ongoing motor finance scandal. A judgement from the Supreme Court on whether lenders will have to cough up compensation to borrowers for selling car loans without disclosing the existence of commission payments to brokers is due later this year. It is known that Santander is considering exiting the UK market entirely, and ditching the now-risky car loan sector would no doubt make it more attractive to potential buyers.

Back in the US, President Trump has backed away from his stinging criticism of Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell, whom just yesterday he called “Mr. Too Late, a major loser”, whose “termination cannot come fast enough”. Now, Trump says he “no intention” to sack him, just that he “would like to see him be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates”. “It’s a perfect time to lower interest rates. If he doesn’t, is it the end? No, it’s not, but it would be good timing. It could have taken place earlier, but no, I have no intention to fire him,” he said.

Meanwhile, profits at Tesla have hit a five year low. The electric car company’s net income fell 71% to $409m (£307m) in the three months to the end of March, marking its least profitable quarter since 2020. Sales came in at $19.3bn, down 9% and well below market estimates. Analysts are blaming owner Elon Musk’s alliance with Donald Trump – which has sparked a boycott of the brand - and the US president’s trade war. The poor figures prompted Musk to say he will cut back "significantly" his role in the US government as head of the Department for Government Efficiency (Doge) next month to just one to two days per week. He has been accused of taking his focus off Tesla since his appointment to the job, which involves rooting out and eliminating government waste.