Business

Hundreds of Hull families to get school uniform money

Published

5 hours ago

September 12, 2025

Holly Phillips, East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

More than 1,000 students will get extra help with school uniform costs, Hull City Council has said.

Next month, Year 7 pupils in Hull who receive free school meals will be given a £50 uniform voucher – £10 more than in previous years.

The money, from the government’s Household Support Fund, will be distributed to families before the October half term.

Council leader Mike Ross said: “We are absolutely aware that we are still in a cost of living crisis, so we hope these increased grants can help make a difference.”

Ross added: “We know that £50 won’t cover every item of uniform, which is why we’ve called on the government to provide additional support to local authorities like Hull to be able to provide more help for children from low-income families.

“Having been asked to look at the level of funding for school uniforms by full council, I know it was the right move to increase the amount available for those in need.”

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Business

AstraZeneca pauses £200m Cambridge investment

Published

35 minutes ago

September 12, 2025

Mitchell Labiak

Mitchell LabiakBusiness reporter and

Simon JackBusiness editor

Getty Images

AstraZeneca has paused plans to invest £200m at a Cambridge research site in a fresh blow to the UK pharmaceutical industry.

The project, which was set to create 1,000 jobs, was announced in March 2024 by the previous government alongside another project in Liverpool, which was shelved in January.

Friday’s announcement comes after US pharmaceutical giant Merck scrapped a £1bn UK expansion, blaming a lack of government investment, and as President Donald Trump pressures pharmaceutical firms to invest more in the US.

An AstraZeneca spokesperson said: “We constantly reassess the investment needs of our company and can confirm our expansion in Cambridge is paused.”

Over the last 10 years, UK spending on medicines has fallen from 15% of the NHS budget to 9%, while the rest of the developed world spends between 14% and 20%.

Meanwhile, pharmaceutical companies have been looking to invest in the US following Trump’s threats of sky-high tariffs on drug imports.

In July, AstraZeneca said it would invest $50bn (£36.9bn) in the US on “medicines manufacturing and R&D [research and development]”.

Earlier this week Merck, which had already begun construction on a site in London’s King’s Cross which was due to be completed by 2027, said it no longer planned to occupy it.

The multi-national business, known as MSD in Europe, said it would move its life sciences research to the US and cut UK jobs, blaming successive governments for undervaluing innovative medicines.

Getty Images A close up of Pascal Soriot, chief executive officer of AstraZeneca Plc, speaking into a microphone during a signing ceremony event in Washington, DC in July where he was announcing the firm's $50bn investment in the US. He is wearing a dark suit and a white shirt and a US flag is in soft focus behind him. — AstraZeneca boss Pascal Soriot announced the firm’s $50bn investment in the US in July

AstraZeneca’s announcement on Friday means none of the £650m UK investment trumpeted by the last government will currently happen.

The paused Cambridge project would have been an expansion of its existing Discovery Centre, which already hosts 2,300 researchers and scientists.

The stoppage comes after it scrapped plans to invest £450m in expanding a vaccine manufacturing plant in Merseyside in January, blaming a reduction in government support.

It said at the time that after “protracted” talks, a number of factors influenced the move, including “the timing and reduction of the final offer compared to the previous government’s proposal”.

Successive UK governments have pointed to life sciences as one of its most successful industries.

Former chancellor Jeremy sector said the sector was “crucial for the country’s health, wealth and resilience” while Chancellor Rachel Reeves said AstraZeneca was one of the UK’s “great companies” days before it scrapped its Liverpool expansion.

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Business

CBA, NAB and other big banks building AI agents as business banking competition heats up

Published

2 hours ago

September 12, 2025

James Eyers

Major lenders are building artificial intelligence-powered “agents” – software that can do the same work as humans – in their business banking divisions, as the battle for AI supremacy in financial services intensifies despite workforce concerns about the risk to jobs.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia is building what it describes as “virtual relationship managers” in its business bank. The customer-facing technology is in a pilot stage as the bank discusses the timing of a market rollout with regulators.

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Business

AI Is Automating Technical Skills. Here Are the Soft Skills You Need.

Published

4 hours ago

September 12, 2025

Akin Oyedele

2025-09-12T16:31:04Z

If hard skills are increasingly being automated, employers are shifting focus to what AI can’t replicate: creativity, empathy, critical thinking, and other essential soft skills.

For years, technical abilities were king, but the tide may be turning.

Indeed’s Hiring Lab took a look at job postings and analyzed which soft skills were listed. The top were communication, leadership, and organizational prowess. Forty-three percent of all job listings had at least one soft skill advertised.

Soft skills show up in job postings across industries, but maybe not where you’d expect:

In a world where machines can write code and analyze spreadsheets, the need for human insight, emotional intelligence, and creativity has never been more critical.

Employers don’t just want workers who can do the job; they want people who can collaborate, innovate, and lead.

Sign up for BI’s Tech Memo newsletter here. Reach out to me via email at abarr@businessinsider.com.

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