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Germany's proposed changes to sick-note regulations may overlook the root causes of rising absenteeism, researchers warn. In 2024, German workers averaged 22 days of sick leave - among the highest levels internationally. Factors such as chronic understaffing and low pay are contributing to mental health issues, leading to increased absences, says researchers who study sickness, mental health and labour markets. They increasingly point to deeper problems in professions where absenteeism ​is high, including nursing, care work and teaching. Under plans agreed by Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition, telephone sick notes would be scrapped and employers could require medical certificates from the first day of absence.

 

U.S. News

The AI boom is blurring the economic signals central banks rely on to set monetary policy, raising the risk they will make damaging mistakes, Bank for International Settlements economists warn. 

 

Financial Times

UK shop price inflation slowed to 0.9% in July, down from 1.2% in June, as retailers offered heavy promotions on food, clothing and footwear, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC)-NIQ Shop Price Index. Non-food inflation eased to 0.2% from 0.6%, while food inflation fell to 2.2% from 2.4%, although fresh food inflation rose to 3.1%. The BRC warned that higher employment costs, packaging taxes, global instability and climate-related disruption are likely to increase pressure on retail prices in the months ahead.

 

Bloomberg

Reuters

The Standard

Frasers has cleared the final regulatory hurdle for its proposed €2bn takeover of Hugo Boss, after the European Commission approved the deal, making its €38-per-share cash offer unconditional. Frasers, which already owns more than 30% of Hugo Boss, launched the voluntary offer in June. Hugo Boss has continued to recommend shareholders reject the bid, describing it as "financially inadequate". The offer remains open for acceptance until August 13th and would further expand Frasers' portfolio of investments across the retail sector.

 

Insider Media

Reuters

GSK plans to reduce its back office workforce to finance a £400m mega-campus in Cambridge, which will house over 1,000 scientists. The cost-saving drive will also fund a new pipeline of drugs ahead of the expiration of exclusivity on four HIV medicines between 2028 and 2030, which accounted for almost 20% of GSK’s revenues last year.

 

Financial Times

The Guardian

The Times

City AM

The Daily Telegraph

Entain will eliminate 500 jobs to manage rising UK tax rates and increased competition from prediction markets. The online gambling tax rate rose from 21% to 40% in April, adding approximately £200m in annual costs. Entain aims to offset at least 50% of this increase through job cuts.

 

London Evening Standard

Nvidia and dozens of other tech companies including Microsoft, SpaceX and Palantir have launched a new artificial intelligence safety initiative focused on open models. The announcement follows news that a Chinese open-weight AI model was able to defend against a cyberattack carried out by rogue OpenAI models. The target of the attack, startup Hugging Face, was unable to use leading U.S. frontier models to defend itself, because guardrails did not distinguish between aggressor and defender. Instead, it turned to a self-hosted, open-weight Chinese model, which was not bound by those same rules. “The Open Secure AI Alliance will work to remediate and disclose vulnerabilities using open technologies,” Nvidia said. “The recent Hugging Face security incident delivered a clear reminder: cyber defenders need open, frontier agentic systems for self-defense.”

 

CNBC

Grant Thornton's UK equity partners received a £35.2m payout following a significant stake acquisition by private equity firm Cinven. Companies House filings revealed that around 208 partners each received approximately £160,000, boosting their annual earnings by 23%. The deal, announced in November 2024, marked Grant Thornton as the largest UK professional services firm to accept external equity investment, resulting in a reported revenue growth of £787m, a 4% increase from the previous year. Richard Moriarty, chief executive of the Financial Reporting Council, noted in March the importance of maintaining independence and ethics in audit firms amid rising private equity interest.

 

City AM

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has fined EY £1.1m and its London managing partner, Julie Carlyle, £49,000 for audit failings linked to the now-collapsed retailer Made.com. The investigation revealed that EY and Carlyle did not adequately assess the accuracy of the retailer's financial forecasts or gather sufficient evidence regarding deferred tax assets. Penrose Foss, executive counsel at the FRC, commented: "In this case the auditors relied on management's forecasts without applying sufficient challenge or carrying out adequate testing to obtain sufficient evidence." Made.com went into administration in 2022 after a decline in consumer demand.

 

Bloomberg Tax

Financial Times

Retail Gazette

City AM

According to new research by Deloitte, the UK's largest companies are making fewer error-driven adjustments to their climate and sustainability metrics. The analysis of FTSE 100 firms revealed that nearly 70% made adjustments in 2025, particularly for greenhouse gas emissions, up from about 50% in 2024. Notably, the number of error-driven restatements decreased by 23% compared to the previous year. These findings come as the UK prepares to mandate climate reporting for many listed companies next year.

 

Bloomberg Tax

Boeing reported a net loss of $428m in the second quarter, primarily due to unexpected costs from the Air Force One refurbishment programme. The aerospace company achieved revenues of $24.6bn, with commercial jet deliveries increasing from 143 to 171.

 

Financial Times

Reuters

The Times

LVMH has reported a return to growth in its key fashion and leather goods division for the first time in almost two years, with second-quarter organic revenue rising 1% to €8.9bn, supported by improving demand at Dior and continued growth at Louis Vuitton. Group organic sales increased 3% to €19.5bn, ahead of market expectations, while first-half recurring operating profit fell 4% to €8.7bn due to currency movements, with operating margins remaining stable at 22.5%. LVMH also reported 11% growth in its watches and jewellery division and a 5% increase in wine and spirits sales, while noting that disruption from the Middle East conflict reduced quarterly organic growth by around one percentage point.

 

Bloomberg

Financial Times

Reuters

Wall Street Journal

Mercedes-Benz has revised its 2026 revenue forecast downwards, citing a slowdown in the Chinese market. The company reported a 30% drop in second-quarter sales in China, impacted by fierce competition and changing consumer sentiment.

 

Financial Times

Reuters

Data from Employment Hero suggests UK hiring is shifting towards practical and technology-led roles as businesses cut costs and adopt AI. Construction employment rose 2.1% in June and 8.1% over three months, while manufacturing increased 4.7% monthly and 9.3% annually. Education roles grew 4.4%, and science and technology recorded the strongest monthly rise at 5.7%. Kevin Fitzgerald, Employment Hero’s UK managing director, said many young people were “changing tack” towards vocational careers and apprenticeships. By contrast, accountancy employment fell 6% over three months, banking declined 5.7%, and administrative roles slipped 0.3% in June. Automation, economic pressure, political uncertainty and skills shortages are contributing to weaker recruitment in finance and office-based work.

 

Daily Mail

HM Revenue & Customs has recovered more than £8m from settlements with hundreds of cryptocurrency investors three years after launching a crackdown on crypto tax evasion.

 

Financial Times

Twenty-one doctors in the UK are suing the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) for professional negligence after being wrongly informed that they had passed a key exam. The error affected hundreds who sat the Membership of Royal Colleges of Physicians written exam in September 2023. Many of the doctors worked for more than a year without being aware that they were not qualified to do so. Those affected by the error "suffered immediate career uncertainty, professional embarrassment and emotional distress, health consequences and financial consequences", accord to the "Letter of Claim" seen by the Sunday Telegraph.

 

The Sunday Telegraph

The Times

Swiss Gruyère producers are searching for new export markets after higher US tariffs reduced demand in one of their most important overseas markets. The industry's association has cut production by 5% for a second year to prevent oversupply and support prices. Producers say the US, which previously accounted for around 13% of Gruyère sales, cannot easily be replaced because of its size and purchasing power, although efforts are underway to expand sales elsewhere.

 

Reuters