UKAI, the UK’s trade association for the AI industry, has appointed global communications agency Centropy PR as its agency of record.

The group, which represents companies of all sizes with an interest in AI, from startups to industry leaders, supports firms by ensuring their voices are heard in policy matters. UKAI works closely with the UK Government and regulators, making sure that AI policies foster innovation and business growth particularly for British AI businesses.

Recent events include policy sessions with Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Peter Kyle MP and Darren Jones MP, the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister.

The trade association is designed to serve as a bridge between policymakers and the AI community, offering a platform for feedback on legislation, programmes, and initiatives. The group is committed to supporting the transformative role that AI can play in the UK’s social and economic development, creating jobs and growth across the country.

Centropy will provide a full suite of communications services to UKAI, including media strategy, journalist relations, event support, and policy guidance. The agency, founded in 2017 counts FTSE and Nasdaq listed global tech brands in its portfolio, with offices in London and San Diego and a global team of 20 PR staff.

Tim Flagg, CEO, UKAI said: “As the UK’s AI sector matures, our globally respected institutional and professional foundations give us a unique opportunity to build trusted, responsible AI and lead in the areas where the UK can genuinely compete, making a strategic communications partner essential to telling that story to media and policymakers. The Centropy team have demonstrated outstanding media connections, a deep understanding of the news cycle and policy expertise, landing us major media opportunities within the first few weeks of working together.”

Steven George-Hilley, CEO, Centropy PR said: “UKAI sets itself apart from other industry associations by genuinely championing the mission of British companies of all shapes and sizes. Britain has some of the finest AI talent in the world and we look forward to working with Tim and UKAI members across the UK to take this message to market.”

Amy Ingham

Amy is a newly qualified journalist specialising in business journalism at Business Matters with responsibility for news content for what is now the UK’s largest print and online source of current business news.

An Amazon delivery van ended up stuck in the mud near a military firing range after its driver followed GPS directions onto a hazardous tidal path, officials said.

HM Coastguard Southend said it was called out after the van drove via Wakering Stairs onto The Broomway – a roughly 6-mile, 600-year-old walking route that stretches into the Thames Estuary – while attempting to reach Foulness Island.

The Broomway is not intended for vehicles and should only be attempted on foot with a guide familiar with the surrounding mud flats, the coast guard said. The area is considered extremely dangerous and sits on property owned by the U.K.’s Ministry of Defence. Public access is permitted only when military firing ranges are inactive and a security barrier is open.

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An Amazon delivery van stuck in the mudflats.  (Facebook/ HM Coastguard Southend On Sea)

According to HM Coastguard Southend, officers contacted the Qinetiq security office, which confirmed the van’s occupants had driven onto the mud flats the previous evening. The vehicle had remained there through high tide.

A member of the public crosses “The Broomway” during a guided walk in Shoeburyness, England.  (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

The delivery driver exited the van and reported the incident to Amazon, the coast guard said. The company arranged for a local farmer to recover the vehicle later that day. In an afternoon update, officials confirmed the van had been removed.

The remains of an old “Oil Tank” stand at the end of “The Broomway” walk in Shoeburyness, England.  (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Coastguard officials said their primary concern was the safety of the occupants and the potential for environmental contamination. After confirming the individuals were safe and that the vehicle would be extracted, officers were stood down.

FOX Business reached out to Amazon for comment. 

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According to parish council records cited by the BBC, 100 people have died on The Broomway, though the last recorded death was in 1919.

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UK inflation slowed more sharply than many had feared in January, falling to 3 per cent and bolstering expectations that the Bank of England could resume cutting interest rates as early as next month.

Data from the Office for National Statistics showed consumer price index (CPI) inflation eased from 3.4 per cent in December to 3 per cent in January, the lowest annual rate since March 2025. The reading was in line with analysts’ forecasts.

The decline was driven by lower airfares, falling petrol prices and easing food costs. Food inflation slowed to 3.6 per cent year-on-year, down from 4.5 per cent in December and its lowest level since last April. Services inflation edged down to 4.4 per cent from 4.5 per cent, while core inflation, which strips out volatile elements such as energy and food, fell to 3.1 per cent.

However, higher prices for hotel stays and takeaway food partly offset the broader slowdown.

Grant Fitzner, chief economist at the ONS, said: “Inflation fell markedly in January, driven in part by a drop in petrol prices and airfares following December’s increases. Lower food prices also contributed, particularly for bread, cereals and meat.”

The easing in price pressures comes amid signs of weakness in the labour market. Earlier this week, figures showed unemployment had climbed to 5.2 per cent, its highest level in five years, while youth joblessness reached a decade high.

Taken together, softer inflation, rising unemployment and sluggish growth have increased market expectations of a rate cut when policymakers meet on 19 March. Financial markets are now pricing in a strong likelihood that rates will be reduced from 3.75 per cent to 3.5 per cent. The Bank lowered rates four times in 2025.

Rachel Reeves said cutting the cost of living remained her “number one priority”, pointing to measures in the November budget such as energy bill adjustments and the first rail fare freeze in 30 years as helping to ease pressure on households.

At its most recent meeting, the Bank’s monetary policy committee voted narrowly, by 5-4, to hold rates steady. Governor Andrew Bailey indicated there was scope for further easing this year if inflation continued to moderate.

Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG UK, said the latest figures “pave the path for a March rate cut” and suggested there could be up to three reductions over the course of 2026.

Markets reacted modestly. Sterling dipped 0.06 per cent against the dollar to $1.35, while the yield on the ten-year UK government bond fell to 4.38 per cent, its lowest level in around a month.

With inflation edging closer to the Bank’s 2 per cent target and economic momentum slowing, attention will now turn to whether policymakers judge the cooling trend sufficiently durable to justify renewed monetary easing.

Amy Ingham

Amy is a newly qualified journalist specialising in business journalism at Business Matters with responsibility for news content for what is now the UK’s largest print and online source of current business news.

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Berkshire bought 5.1 million shares of the New York Times during the December quarter, Warren Buffett’s last few months as chief executive.

It sold stock in Apple, marking the third-straight period it cut its stake in the iPhone maker.

Berkshire slashed its stake in Amazon by 77%.

It also unloaded shares of Bank of America.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is calling for the Empire State to hike taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals in order to address the Big Apple’s budget deficit, warning that the alternative would involve the city increasing property taxes and dipping into its reserves.

Mamdani has issued a preliminary fiscal year 2027 budget that involves a property tax hike, a prospect he has described as a “last resort.”

“Today, I’m releasing the City’s preliminary budget. After years of fiscal mismanagement, we’re staring at a $5.4 billion budget gap — and two paths. One: Albany can raise taxes on the ultra-wealthy and the most profitable corporations and address the fiscal imbalance between our city and state. The other, a last resort: balance the budget on the backs of working people using the only tools at the City’s disposal,” Mamdani noted in a Tuesday post on X.

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani during a Bloomberg Television interview at City Hall in New York, on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026.  (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The city council needs to green-light city budgets, according to the New York Times.

“As the mayor of New York City, I have a legal obligation to balance the budget. I will meet that obligation,” he said during remarks on Tuesday.

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The sun sets on the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building in New York City on July 28, 2025, as seen from Bayonne, N.J. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images / Getty Images)

“Faced with no other choice, the city would have to exercise the only revenue lever fully within our own control. We would have to raise property taxes. We would also be forced to raid our reserves,” he said. 

“This would effectively be a tax on working and middle class New Yorkers, who have a median income of $122,000,” said Mamdani, a self-described Democratic socialist who ran on a platform that promised to tackle rent costs.

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani during an announcement on junk fees in the Susan and John Hess Family Theater at The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

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Mamdani said the “preliminary budget takes the only path within our control,” but added that the city will only go that route if there is no other way to achieve a balanced budget.

Speaking after the company’s record results, Woodburn, who has run BAE since 2017, said: “In a new era of defence spending, driven by escalating security challenges, we’re well-positioned to provide both the advanced conventional systems and disruptive technologies needed to protect the nations we serve now and into the future.”