PM Starmer thanks UK businesses, says we’ve ‘asked a lot’
Sir Keir Starmer, UK prime minister, has begun addressing the BCC’s Global Annual Conference 2025 at the QEII Conference Centre.
Starmer (who was billed as ‘senior cabinet minister’ on the agenda) is back in London from the NATO summit in The Hague earlier this week.
He tells top business chiefs that the British chambers of commerce which exist across the UK play an important role – in creating jobs, wealth, and tax receipts.
Starmer then thanks UK businesses for the financial contribution they’ve made.
Starmer says the government has been addressing an unprecedented mess, and has “asked a lot of you” (a nod to the tax rises in last autumn’s budget).
That money, Starmer says, has gone into the NHS and brought waiting lists down, invested in the skills of young people, and into building new homes, roads, and infrastructure.
They are all vital for the long term growth of our country. But none of that would have been possible without your contribution.
[nice words, but businesses didn’t choose to pay higher national insurance contributions, and – as flagged earlier – they are demanding no more tax rises]
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Updated at 09.37 BST
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Starmer: A period of global conflict like we haven’t seen in a long time
Keir Starmer then takes questions.
Q: How concerned are you about the economic impact if there is a renewal of violence in the Middle East?
Starmer points out there has been an immediate impact on oil prices (downwards) since the Israel-Iran ceasefire was agreed at the start of the week.
He expains that one reason for his push for clean power, and renewable energy, is to achieve energy security.
Starmer adds that he thinks we are “living in a period of global conflict….the like of which we haven’t seen in a very long time.”
The world is more unstable, he adds.
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Starmer: Britain will be global champion for free trade
Starmer ends his speech by telling the British Chambers of Commerce’s annual conference that he is determined that Britain becomes “the global champion for free trade”, and promises to back British business.
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Starmer hails ‘hat trick’ of trade deals
Starmer then toots his own trumpet (or possibly waves his own rattle) over the three trade deals the UK has arranged in recent months, with India, the United States and the EU.
Starmer, a notable football nut, says this is his first hat trick since his children were seven years old, and he could still get the ball past them.
So I’m going to take this particular hat trick.
Starmer says the CEO of carmaker Jaguar Land Rover, Adrian Mardell, made it “crystal clear” that thousands of jobs across the West Midlands had been saved by the US trade deal, which brought down tariffs on UK car exports.
The PM tells UK businesses that these deals are a “transformation” of the UK’s global brand, explaining:
They said it wouldn’t be possible to get a US deal. It wouldn’t be possible to get an EU deal. If you had a US deal, you had to choose between the two. And it certainly wouldn’t be possible to get an India deal.
But, we’ve been able to get them, and that is brilliant for Britain and brilliant for you. And we’ll go forward from here.
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Starmer: we’ve got to stop doing that British understatement thing
Keir Starmer then tells UK businesses we need to “stop doing that British understatement thing”.
He says he’s optimistic about creating the best possible conditions for UK businesses to succeed, while conceding that he knows “the trading environment is not easy”.
Starmer insists he’s fighting for businesses, adding:
But together, I do believe we’ve got to stop doing that British understatement thing. And we do it all the time, including me.
Believe you me, this is a great moment to get on the phone to the world and say, take another look at Britain.
Starmer adds that Jensen Huang, the CEO of chipmaking giant Nvidia, told him that “Britain is in a Goldilocks situation on AI”, and ready to take off.
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Starmer: We’ve stabilised the economy
Starmer then tells the BCC conference that the spending review earlier this month is a “clear shift” towards investing in the future of the UK, not simply tackling the promises it inherited.
Starmer says his administration have “wiped the slate clean”, stabilized the economy, and can now move onto building a fairer Britain, with change and renewal.
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PM Starmer thanks UK businesses, says we’ve ‘asked a lot’
Sir Keir Starmer, UK prime minister, has begun addressing the BCC’s Global Annual Conference 2025 at the QEII Conference Centre.
Starmer (who was billed as ‘senior cabinet minister’ on the agenda) is back in London from the NATO summit in The Hague earlier this week.
He tells top business chiefs that the British chambers of commerce which exist across the UK play an important role – in creating jobs, wealth, and tax receipts.
Starmer then thanks UK businesses for the financial contribution they’ve made.
Starmer says the government has been addressing an unprecedented mess, and has “asked a lot of you” (a nod to the tax rises in last autumn’s budget).
That money, Starmer says, has gone into the NHS and brought waiting lists down, invested in the skills of young people, and into building new homes, roads, and infrastructure.
They are all vital for the long term growth of our country. But none of that would have been possible without your contribution.
[nice words, but businesses didn’t choose to pay higher national insurance contributions, and – as flagged earlier – they are demanding no more tax rises]
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Updated at 09.37 BST
Here’s our news story on Shell doubling down on its denials that it is planning a bid for BP:
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Outlook for growth in UK living standards is ‘bleak’
A new report this morning warns that Britain faces a “bleak” outlook for living standards growth.
The Resolution Foundation has calculated that typical disposable incomes, after housing costs, are on track to grow by just 1% over the second half of the decade. That would be a rise of just £300.
Lower-income families are on course to fare even worse, with incomes projected to fall by 1 per cent over the second half of the decade.
Pensioners are set to fare best of all, with their incomes forecast to rise by 5% (£1,500) over the period, while families with children are set for no income growth.
A key factor, it seems, is housing. Those with a mortgage are on track to see their incomes fall by 1%, on average, as households whose fixed-rate deals end face higher costs.
Those who own their property outright will avoid this mortgage bombshell, and see their incomes rise 3% on average.
The Resolution Foundation point out that policy changes – such as ending the two-child limit – would lift average incomes.
Adam Corlett, principal economist at the Resolution Foundation, says:
“The living standards story of the decade so far has been bust and boom, with Covid-19 and a cost of living crisis followed by a much-needed recovery last year. But the rest of the decade looks bleak, with typical household incomes set to grow by just 1 per cent over the next five years.
“There are winners and losers within this weak outlook, with pensioner incomes set to grow by a healthy 5 per cent over the rest of the decade, while the poorest half of the population are set to see their incomes fall.
“But a stronger economy and the right policy interventions can brighten this outlook. Maintaining strong wage growth and returning to pre-pandemic employment levels would make middle-income Britain far better off, while ending the two-child limit can lift living standards for poorer families.”
🚨 Latest Living Standards Outlook🚨
How have incomes have fared over the decade so far, and what may lie ahead given current economic forecasts and the Government’s tax and benefit policies?
And how could targeted policy changes could improve the outlook for the poorest.… pic.twitter.com/verZhvgVw2
— Resolution Foundation (@resfoundation) June 26, 2025
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FTSE 100 opens slightly higher
There’s a calm feeling to trading in the City this morning, with the market slightly higher.
The FTSE 100 index has risen by 6 points, or 0.07%, in early trading to 8725 points, led by gambling firm Entain (+2.3%) and mining company Anglo American (+1.8%).
BP (+0.1%) and Shell (+0.17%) are both slightly higher.
Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, says:
“Shell has denied media speculation of early talks to buy rival BP. Structurally lower oil prices are causing the majors to look at their options, but given Shell’s superior asset quality and balance sheet, any combination may be difficult for its shareholders to stomach.
Cherry picking some flagship assets could be another option, but that’s unlikely to satisfy BP investors. For now, the focus for Shell is likely to remain on buying back its own shares.”
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Updated at 08.31 BST
160 jobs at risk at Hull bioethanol plant
Joanna Partridge
160 jobs are at risk at Associated British Foods’ Vivergo bioethanol plant in Hull, as the company begins consultations with staff at the same time as it holds negotiations with the government over the future of the site.
It has blamed the UK-US trade deal – which would allow US ethanol into the UK tariff-free – for worsening the situation for the business.
ABF – which also owns the Primark clothing chain and the parent of breadmaker Kingsmill – had earlier in the week extended its deadline for deciding the fate of the plant until today, in the hope that the government would come up with a support package.
Bioethanol is a petrol substitute produced from agricultural products.
Vivergo, along with Ensus – which is owned by Germany’s Sudzucker Group and operates a bioethanol plant in Teesside – are behind nearly all of the UK’s bioethanol production capacity. The plants and people working in their supply chains support thousands of jobs.
An ABF spokesperson said it welcomed the government’s decision to launch formal negotiations with the company over the future of Vivergo.
They added:
“Over the coming weeks, we will engage intensively and transparently with officials to try to find a viable path forward.
In parallel, we will today begin consultation with our employees. This process will conclude with a major decision to be made on the plant’s future, which will depend on whether the negotiations deliver a credible route forwards.”
In the past few months, ABF has criticised the way the government applied regulations to imported ethanol and said this as “undermined” business. It said this situation had been “made significantly worse by the UK’s trade deal with the US”.
Under the trade deal with the US, the current 19% tariffs on US ethanol will fall to zero, while the 1.4bn-litre quota represents the size of the UK’s entire current ethanol market.
The removal of the tariff on bioethanol came as the US agreed to cut the 25% tariff rate on British steel aluminium exports as part of the trade deal, negotiations along with a lowering of the tariff on 100,000 British cars to 10%.
ABF said it had been holding “extensive discussions” with the government.
However, it told investors on Thursday that unless the government can “provide both short-term funding of Vivergo’s losses and a longer-term solution” it will close it down once consultations with staff end and it has fulfilled all its contractual obligations, and has not bought wheat since 11 June.
The Hull Vivergo plant would close by 13 September.
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Pound highest since January 2022 against dollar
Sterling has hit its highest level in three and a half years against the dollar, following reports that Donald Trump could appoint a new US central bank early.
The dollar has weakened, after the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was considering announcing his pick to succeed Jerome Powell – whose term expires next May – earlier than expected.
Trump has been increasingly exasperated by Powell, as the Federal Reserve resisted his calls for lower interest rates. Announcing Powell’s successor early would put the focus on where the next Fed chief thought interest rates should be set.
The WSJ reported:
In recent weeks, the president has toyed with the idea of selecting and announcing Powell’s replacement by September or October, according to people familiar with the matter. One of these people said the president’s ire toward Powell could prompt an even-earlier announcement sometime this summer.
Trump is considering former Fed governor Kevin Warsh and National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett, according to people familiar with the matter. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is being pitched to Trump by allies of both men as a potential candidate, some of these people said. Other contenders include former World Bank President David Malpass and Fed governor Christopher Waller.
The dollar has dropped by 0.2% against a basket of currencies this morning, pushing the pound up to $1.37 for the first time since January 2022.
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Britain has focused too much on trying to sign major trade deals with other countries, ministers have said, as they lay out the case for a big shift in post-Brexit trade policy.
The change forms the heart of the government’s new trade strategy, which ministers are publishing today.
The strategy marks a turn away from the days of pursuing wide-ranging free trade agreements with countries such as the US and India, which were sold as one of the biggest prizes of Brexit.
Instead, ministers say they now want to focus on more modest agreements such as deals to recognise foreign professional qualifications, which can help the UK’s services sector in particular… More here:
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Shell says it has ‘no intention’ of making offer for BP
Energy giant Shell has declared it has “no intention” of making an offer for rival BP, after takeover speculation swept the City last night.
In a statement to the City, Shell insists it has not approached BP, and that no talks have taken place.
It says:
In response to recent media speculation Shell wishes to clarify that it has not been actively considering making an offer for BP and confirms it has not made an approach to, and no talks have taken place with, BP with regards to a possible offer.
Under the takeover code, this means Shell can’t bid for BP for six months, unless it has the agreement of BP’s board, or if another company bids for BP, or if BP asks for a code waiver, or if there is a material change of circumstances.
Shell explains:
This is a statement to which Rule 2.8 of the Code applies and accordingly Shell confirms it has no intention of making an offer for BP. As a result Shell will be bound by the restrictions set out in Rule 2.8 of the Code.
Last night, the Wall Street Journal reported that “early-stage talks” were taking place between Shell and BP to agree a historic £60bn takeover to create one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies.
BP has been the subject of takeover speculation as investors have been unconvinced by its turnaround plan, pushing its value down over the last year.
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Updated at 07.51 BST
Introduction: UK businesses plead for no more tax rises
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
UK businesses are urging the government to resist any temptation to impose further taxes on them, warning it would undermine Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves’s mission to grow the economy.
Business leaders are gathering at the QEII Conference Centre in central London today, for the British Chambers of Commerce’s annual conference, where memories of last autumn’s budget tax hikes are still fresh.
Shevaun Haviland, the BCC’s director general, will declare that if the government is serious about growth, then it cannot tax business any further.
She’ll warn that businesses were taken by surprise by the size and scale of the rise in National Insurance Contributions in the last budget.
Haviland is expected to say:
“We were unprepared for the huge burden placed upon us, and it led many of us to rethink our growth plans. As a result, our business confidence measures have fallen to their lowest levels since 2022.
For the government to achieve its Growth Mission, people need to stay in work and businesses need to invest. As always, businesses soak it up and move forward, but they feel like they are wading through treacle.”
New research released by the BCC shows that the tax hike has hit hiring. It found that:
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One third of firms (32%) said they have either made staff redundant or are planning to as a direct result of the NICs increase.
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13% say they have already made staff redundant and 19% say they are actively considering redundancies
Business chiefs will also hear from Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, and Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative Party leader.
The BCC’s intervention comes as the government struggles to keep within its fiscal rules, with forecasts it may need to raise taxes in the autumn.
Ministers also face a significant rebellion the benefit cuts within its welfare bill. Abandoning the bill would blow a £5bn hole in Rachel Reeves’ budget.
The government is also trying to woo businesses with a flurry of strategic plans. Earlier this week it unveiled its industrial strategy, and today it is presenting a trade strategy – which it says will protect vital UK industries and help businesses export.
The agenda
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9.15am BST: “Senior cabinet minister” addresses BCC’s annual conference.
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9.45am BST: Shevaun Haviland, director general of the BCC, addresses its conference
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12pm BST: Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, addresses BCC annual conference
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1.30pm BST: Latest estimate of US GDP for Q1 2025
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3.25pm Kemi Badenoch MP, Leader Of The Opposition, addresses BCC annual conference
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