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This morning, hundreds of thousands of teenagers opened their GCSE results. For most, the next step is already mapped out. For a growing number, it is not, and that is where one of Britain’s most expensive problems begins.

The latest official figures show that 1.01 million 16 to 24 year olds are not in education, employment or training, 13.5 per cent of the age group and the first time the total has passed one million since 2013. The number had been edging towards that mark for months. Analysis by the charity Impetus puts the annual cost in lost GDP at £27 billion.

I have spent 25 years working across education, employability and youth services, and this month I became chief executive of City Year UK. I have argued before that the NEET challenge is now a business problem, because every one of those million young people is a customer, a colleague and a taxpayer the economy is doing without. Results day is where the pipeline into that statistic quietly begins.

Nobody becomes NEET on the day the envelope opens. It happens in the months that follow, when a teenager without family networks cannot find work experience, when entry level vacancies ask for experience nobody will give them, and when the first knock-back turns into a second and a third.

Government is moving. Alan Milburn’s independent review into youth inactivity is due to publish its final report this summer, and the Youth Guarantee is backed by £1.5 billion to help young people into work or training. I have set out elsewhere what I would ask of policymakers. But employers do not need to wait for Whitehall, and the smartest ones will not.

Make service the first rung

At City Year UK we recruit 18 to 25 year olds to spend a year volunteering in schools serving all communities across London, the West Midlands and Greater Manchester. They mentor and tutor pupils who need extra support, and in return they gain training, structure, professional networks and a track record that proves they can turn up, take responsibility and deliver.

It is a straightforward exchange. Schools gain capacity, pupils gain a role model close to their own age, and a young adult gains a launch pad into work. Nothing on a CV says more about readiness than a year spent showing up for other people’s children.

That is exactly what employers say they cannot find at entry level. So here is my ask of business leaders this results week. Offer guaranteed interviews to young people who complete a year of service or similar programmes. Open work experience to teenagers whose parents cannot arrange it through their own contacts. Strip out entry criteria that screen for polish rather than potential.

And remember that six in ten of the million are economically inactive rather than unemployed, many managing health conditions. They will not respond to a job advert. They need employers willing to meet them halfway, through supported routes back in.

The official numbers are updated again within days, and few expect good news. But the figure is not fixed. Every teenager who opened an envelope this morning is somebody’s future hire. Business gets to decide whose.

Victoria Head

Victoria Head is joining City Year Uk the beginning of August as Chief Executive Officer, bringing more than 25 years of leadership experience across education, employability, skills development, youth services, and social impact.

Throughout her career, Victoria has focused on creating opportunities that enable young people and communities to thrive. She has a strong track record of leading large-scale transformation programmes, securing and managing multi-million-pound contracts, and building strategic partnerships across government, education, and the voluntary sector. Her expertise spans workforce development, social mobility, and systems change, with a consistent focus on improving outcomes for young people.

Prior to joining City Year UK, Victoria was Strategic Director for Learning, Skills and Employability at Catch22, where she led a broad portfolio of programmes spanning education, employability, and social inclusion. She has also held senior leadership roles in national employability and skills organisations, driving innovation, sustainable growth, and high-quality frontline delivery.

Alongside her executive career, Victoria is a Trustee of Changing Lives and a Council Member of UK Year of Service, reflecting her long-standing commitment to strengthening the social impact sector.

As CEO of City Year UK, she is focused on expanding the organisation’s reach and deepening its impact, ensuring more young people are supported to succeed in education, employment, and life.

For more information on how to be involved, please contact Victoria on

vhead@cityyear.org.uk

The Strait of Hormuz remains at the center of an escalating standoff between the United States and Iran, with American officials asserting the critical waterway is open and patrolled by U.S. naval forces even as attacks on commercial shipping and continued military strikes underscore how fragile the current situation remains.

President Donald Trump said Monday that he would reinstate a naval blockade of Iranian vessels in the strait, and the United States carried out additional strikes on Iranian targets overnight, according to CNN’s live coverage of the conflict. A statement attributed to U.S. officials characterized the current posture in stark terms: “The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated.” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has separately denied that any back-channel negotiations with the United States are currently underway, despite Trump’s earlier claims of a direct line of communication with the paramilitary force.

According to a CNN Business analysis published Tuesday, the balance of control over the strait appears to be shifting in the United States’ favor after months of contested rhetoric from both sides. “The battle for control of the Strait of Hormuz has become the focal point of the Iran war,” the analysis noted, adding that despite competing claims of advantage from both Washington and Tehran over recent months, “the evidence is clear: The United States, patrolling the strait with its navy, is gaining ground — and Iran is losing much of its control of the critical waterway.” As part of that shift, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have begun chartering Very Large Crude Carriers, the largest class of oil tankers, to transit out of the Persian Gulf via the strait before transferring cargo to customer vessels, a workaround that has allowed regional oil producers to continue moving crude despite the ongoing instability.

Even as U.S. officials describe the strait as functionally open, attacks on commercial and state-linked vessels have continued. A vessel affiliated with the United Arab Emirates’ state oil company, ADNOC, was attacked Friday, Aug. 15, in the strait, according to the UAE’s Foreign Ministry, which blamed Iran for the strike and described it as a “flagrant violation” of international law. That attack extended a pattern of assaults on ADNOC-linked shipping dating back to the earliest weeks of the conflict; according to CNN’s reporting from earlier this month, 15 ADNOC vessels had come under attack since the war began, resulting in one crew member killed and 20 others injured.

The dispute over the strait has taken an increasingly rhetorical and, at times, surreal turn in recent days. Trump has repeatedly suggested he intends to declare the Strait of Hormuz U.S. territory once the broader conflict with Iran concludes. Tehran has rejected that claim outright, responding that the strait “cannot be seized with a tweet.” Iranian diplomatic officials in India offered their own pointed rebuttal to the territorial claim; the Iranian consulate in Hyderabad posted a map of the United States with California highlighted, captioned “NEW TERRITORY OF ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN,” a clearly satirical jab referencing California’s large Iranian diaspora population, particularly in the Los Angeles area, often referred to within that community as “Tehrangeles.”

Legal and foreign policy analysts have separately dismissed the practical seriousness of some of Trump’s more expansive threats regarding the region. Jasmine el-Gamal, a former Middle East adviser at the U.S. Department of Defense, said Trump’s earlier suggestion that he would bomb Oman if the country interfered with U.S. efforts in the strait was “not a credible threat in any sense,” according to CNN’s reporting.

Instability has extended beyond the strait itself into the broader Middle East maritime and security picture. Yemen’s Mokha port, a strategic Red Sea facility, was forced to suspend operations after sustained attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi movement. According to the port’s director, cited by Reuters, Mokha was struck by more than 25 missiles in recent days, killing seven people and causing an estimated $16 million in damage. Separately, deadly Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed at least 11 people, including women and children, according to the country’s Health Ministry, reflecting how the broader regional conflict has continued to expand well beyond the immediate U.S.-Iran standoff over the strait.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has indicated the country has not yet made a final decision on whether to resume negotiations with the United States, according to CNN’s coverage from earlier in the week, leaving the broader diplomatic path forward uncertain even as military and economic pressure on the waterway continues to mount.

The economic stakes tied to the strait remain enormous. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, roughly 20 million barrels of oil, or about one-fifth of daily global oil production, historically flow through the Strait of Hormuz each day, with the agency describing the channel as a “critical oil chokepoint” for which “very few alternative options exist” if the passage is closed. The strait also carries approximately one-fifth of global liquefied natural gas trade, according to the same data. Energy analysts have cautioned that oil and natural gas prices are likely to remain elevated for as long as safe passage through the strait remains in question, even as Gulf oil producers work to expand alternative shipping routes to reduce their dependence on the waterway.

The current crisis traces back to late February, when tensions in the strait first escalated into open conflict, according to a timeline compiled by Wikipedia’s tracking of the situation. The confrontation has since resulted in significant maritime casualties, including one sunk tugboat, at least 17 damaged merchant ships, seven of which were abandoned, two merchant ships captured, 12 seafarers killed or missing, and one port worker killed with two others wounded in a separate incident in Bahrain.

As the standoff continues, the coming days are likely to hinge on whether Iran signals any willingness to resume formal talks with Washington, whether further attacks on shipping in the strait or the broader region continue to test the durability of the U.S. naval blockade, and whether oil-producing Gulf states are able to sustain their current workaround shipping arrangements if instability in the waterway persists.

Muthoot Finance shares jumped more than 4% to trade at Rs 2,985 apiece, while those of Manappuram Finance and IIFL Finance gained more than 3% each. This comes as gold futures for October delivery on the MCX rose Rs 447 per 10 grams to Rs 1,58,443 per 10 grams on Thursday morning. December contracts jumped above Rs 1.6 lakh per 10 grams, while February contracts traded above Rs 1.62 lakh per 10 grams.

In the international market, gold prices hovered near their highest level in more than two months on Thursday after a surprise liquidity support announcement by the US Treasury pushed yields and the dollar lower. Spot gold jumped to $4,526 per ounce, the highest level since June 2.

This came as US Treasury yields fell, with the increased demand following an announcement that the Treasury Department would double the size of liquidity support buyback operations for longer-dated notes and bonds. The US dollar meanwhile remained muted, making the American greenback-priced metals cheaper for buyers ⁠holding other ‌currencies.

Also read | Gold rebounds above Rs 1.58 lakh/10 grams as US bond yields decline. What lies ahead?

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Why are gold financier stocks rising today?

Manappuram Finance, Muthoot Finance and IIFL Finance provide loans with gold as collateral. Rising gold prices will increase the value of the pledged collateral. Since gold loans are sanctioned based on the per-gram valuation of gold, higher prices will require borrowers to pledge less jewellery to access the same loan amount, which in turn can make such loans more attractive.
Muthoot Finance shares have gained over 3% in a week but declined more than 22% in 2026 so far amid a sharp correction in gold prices. In the longer term, the shares of the company have delivered over 10% returns in one year, 139% in three years and 103% in five years.Manappuram Finance shares are meanwhile up 11% in 2026 so far, delivering 136% returns over three years. IIFL Finance shares gained 15% in three years.

What lies ahead?

Higher crude prices and continued uncertainty after the US-Iran MOU ended without fresh talks kept sentiment cautious for gold in the previous session, said Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst of Commodity and Currency at LKP Securities. He noted that the Strait of Hormuz remains a key geopolitical trigger, while markets will also track the FOMC meeting minutes, US jobs data and crude movements for further direction. “Gold is likely to remain volatile as geopolitical developments continue to drive safe-haven demand,” according to the analyst.

The recent pullback in gold prices may have created an opportunity for investors to gradually accumulate the yellow metal, according to Jefferies’ Global Head of Equity Strategy Christopher Wood and billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson. Both believe the precious metal could be at the beginning of a long-term bull run.

Also read | Why is market rising today? Sensex rallies 500 points, Nifty tops 24,200. 5 key factors behind market rebound

(With inputs from agencies)

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times.)

Max Verstappen has signed a contract extension with Oracle Red Bull Racing that will keep the four-time Formula One world champion at the Milton Keynes team until the end of the 2030 season.

The announcement was made on Thursday, ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, and replaces a deal that had been due to run until the end of 2028. It follows months of speculation about the Dutch driver’s future, including reports that Aston Martin was preparing a £1bn offer to lure him away.

Verstappen joined the Red Bull Junior Programme in 2014 and made his debut for the senior team in 2016, winning his first Grand Prix for the outfit. Since then, driver and team have secured four Drivers’ World Championships, two Constructors’ World Championships and 71 Grand Prix victories, according to the team’s statement.

Laurent Mekies, chief executive and team principal of Oracle Red Bull Racing, said: “Having Max continue with us and retaining the best driver on the grid is fantastic news for everyone at Red Bull, Oracle Red Bull Racing, as well as F1 and motorsport as a whole.”

He added: “The decision to continue our journey together is rooted in the trust Max and the Team have built over many years, as well as Max’s confidence in our people, our culture and our vision for the future. Forged through championship-winning success, intense battles and challenging moments alike, this relationship has only grown stronger, making it one of Formula One’s greatest success stories.”

“But we are not done yet. There are more races to win, more milestones to achieve and more history to write,” Mekies said. “Much will evolve as we move forward, but our ambition remains unchanged, united by one direction, one vision, one Team.”

Verstappen’s comments made clear that the team is no longer where it wants to be on the track. Formula One’s official report of the deal notes that McLaren took both titles in 2025, with Lando Norris beating Verstappen to the drivers’ championship by two points.

“I am really pleased with the contract extension,” Verstappen said. “We have the best people and I’m excited to keep working together with everyone to get back to the top again. This remains the ultimate goal that all of us have been working towards and will continue to pursue. I want to thank Red Bull, Laurent and everyone at Oracle Red Bull Racing for the trust they put in me.”

He said the team was “like a second family” and that staying with the same outfit for his whole career was “something I have always wanted to do”.

“Getting to work with Laurent now for over a year has also been great, I see a clear vision he has for the Team,” he said. “Everyone in Milton Keynes believes in what we are building and I am looking forward to the next chapter, fighting for more victories and competing for championships as we continue to shape the future of this Team.”

Verstappen added that making the announcement “during the last Grand Prix at Zandvoort is a great moment for me as well. Hopefully we can give the fans a special send-off for the final race.”

The team said the extension comes at “a defining moment” in its development, with Red Bull Ford Powertrains having entered its first season as an F1 power unit manufacturer and continued investment going into the team’s technical infrastructure and facilities. Neither side disclosed the financial terms of the new deal.

Paul Jones

Harvard alumni and former New York Times journalist. Editor of Business Matters for over 15 years, the UKs largest business magazine. I am also head of Capital Business Media’s automotive division working for clients such as Red Bull Racing, Honda, Aston Martin and Infiniti.

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