HLAS

The UK has secured an extension to arrangements that were due to expire, helping British manufacturers access lower or zero tariffs when selling their products to Mexico. The arrangement will come into effect from 1 January 2024 and will remain in place until a new UK-Mexico Free Trade Agreement enters into force. The deal will provide welcome certainty for UK businesses, helping them to continue avoiding high tariffs imposed by Mexico and maintain their competitive edge in the market. The announcement is particularly welcome news for the automotive and food and drink sectors, with road vehicles accounting for almost £300 [...]

The Department for Business and Trade has launched a call for input on an updated free trade agreement (FTA) with Turkey. The deal would replace the existing UK-Turkey FTA, which was rolled over from when the UK left the European Union but doesn't cover key areas of the UK economy like services, digital, and data. The consultation seeks input on: what you think about the UK’s current trading arrangements with Turkey; where the UK could make changes or improvements; and where you are facing challenges or constraints when attempting to trade with Turkey. The UK government will use this information [...]

Creative UK is accepting applications for the Creative Catalyst Challenge Fund, offering businesses an opportunity to access grant funding of up to £250,000. Supported by Innovate UK, this fund is designed to empower creative minds to channel their innovation towards addressing specific climate challenges within the industry. The focus of this grant is to support research and development that: combats waste; promotes decarbonisation; and minimizes the creative industry's impact on the environment. The deadline for applications is midday, Monday 27 November 2023. See: Creative Catalyst Challenge Fund - Creative UK (wearecreative.uk)

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) Heat Pump Ready (HPR) Programme Stream 2 Wave 2 competition will support applied research and development projects, focused on driving down the lifetime costs of domestic heat pump deployment, and improving the domestic consumer experience and acceptability of heat pumps through technology, tools, business model, and process innovation. It aims to develop solutions that: improve the ease of heat pump deployment in homes that are ‘complex to decarbonise’ by addressing physical, material, locational, technological, regulatory, or social challenges; develop innovative solutions to enable heat pumps to be deployed in ‘distress purchase’ [...]

The UK and Florida sign the 7th UK-US state level Memorandum of Understanding to boost trade and investment. Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to boost trade and investment between the UK and Florida. Florida has a GDP of over £1.1tn – the fourth biggest of any US state and roughly the same size as Spain. The MoU is designed to help make it quicker, easier, and cheaper for UK and Florida firms to do business and is targeted at sectors in which the UK and Florida have [...]

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has guidance on how to manage the risks to volunteers. The guidance explains how health and safety law applies to volunteering.  There is also information on: when to report incidents involving volunteers; and including volunteers in your risk assessments. The pages provide some specific advice for volunteers who manage non-domestic premises such as village and community halls, as well as guidance on charity retail and fundraising. See: Volunteering: How to manage the risks - HSE

UK inflation fell to 4.6% in October, due mainly to a fall in energy prices, but in general, supplier prices remain volatile. High interest rates and a stagnant economy mean managing your business’s cash and understanding the flow are now vital tools in maintaining resilience and being able to adopt flexible strategies for success. Cash flows are a reflection of all the cash that is flowing in and out of a business. Owners can look at the direction of the cash flows for insights about the health of specific products or services and overall market patterns. Some types of business [...]

Following a recent UK Government consultation and Royal Assent of the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023, flexible working will become the default for millions of employees who will be able to request flexible working from day one of their employment in 2024. Flexible working doesn’t just mean a combination of working from home and in the office – it can mean employees making use of job-sharing, flexitime, and working compressed, annualised, or staggered hours. The UK government states that the new measures will give employees greater access to flexibility over where, when, and how they work, and the government [...]

Buses are the most popular form of public transport in our country. They are an essential part of the national transport system, in both urban and rural areas. The government has announced £150 million new funding for local transport authorities in the North and the Midlands over the next financial year. This is the first tranche of £1 billion in new funding to improve bus services: £770 million for the North and nearly £230 million for the Midlands. The £150 million committed is from redirected HS2 funding, part of the new £36 billion Network North plan which will improve the daily transport [...]