The latest Business Barometer from Lloyds has been published alongside Barclays’ Business Prosperity Index

North East businesses are continuing to show future confidence and investing for growth, two leading business surveys have revealed.

The latest Business Barometer from Lloyds has been published, highlighting how confidence in the North East saw a strong increase this month, rising 23 points to 69%.

Firms who took part in the May survey reported higher confidence in their own trading outlook month-on-month, up seven points at 65%. When taken alongside their optimism in the economy, up 39 points to 74%, this gives a headline confidence reading of 69% – a big jump on the 46% recorded in April.

It marks the strongest confidence level and biggest monthly jump across England, as well as being the second highest confidence reading for North East businesses in the last five years, up four points compared to May 2025. Looking ahead, regional businesses said their top target areas for growth were investing in their team, introducing new technology such as AI or automation, and investing in sustainability.

Martyn Kendrick, regional director for the North East at Lloyds said: “This marks a rebound from last month, with business confidence increasing in terms of trading prospects, the wider economy and businesses’ plans for growth.

“What’s encouraging is that firms are matching optimism with decisive action. Half plan to invest in new technology and automation, highlighting the North East’s ambition, resilience and confidence in its future. We’re committed to supporting that momentum – whether through finance, specialist expertise or helping businesses embrace change and unlock new opportunities for growth.”

Amanda Murphy, CEO for Lloyds Business and Commercial Banking said: “Across the UK, each region and nation presents unique opportunities and drivers of growth – whether that’s clean energy in the North East, advanced manufacturing in the West Midlands or tourism and hospitality in Scotland. We’ve seen first-hand what the right financial support and advice can do for ambitious businesses and are keen to continue supporting our customers as they grow – helping Britain prosper.”

Meanwhile, the Barclays’ Q1 2026 Business Prosperity Index has been published, showing how companies across the region are continuing to invest for growth and resilience, against a backdrop of continuing cost pressures and workforce challenges.

Authors for the Index – which combine anonymised Barclays client data with business leader research – say the results highlight a region that remains focused on long-term capability and expansion, as firms navigate a complex operating environment.

The research by Barclays suggests that business confidence remains strong, with 79% of firms saying they are confident in their prospects over the next 12 months. Workforce challenges, however, are becoming more pronounced, with 65% reporting difficulties hiring skilled labour.

The appetite for investment also remains strong, with 46% saying they are planning to expand or upgrade facilities.

Jag Singh, head of corporate banking, North East at Barclays, said: “While there is still uncertainty in the wider environment, the continued commitment to investment reflects both resilience and confidence across North East businesses.”

Millions of women suffering the long shadow of endometriosis or complications from childbirth stand to gain from a sweeping new science and technology partnership between Britain and France, unveiled today as Technology Secretary Liz Kendall touched down in Paris for G7 talks.The agreement, light on diplomatic gloss and heavy on practical intent, places artificial intelligence and shared clinical data at the heart of a joint push into two areas that have long been the Cinderellas of medical research: women’s health and infectious disease. For an SME-rich life sciences sector on both sides of the Channel, it also reopens a more reliable pipeline of cross-border funding, talent and commercial opportunity at a moment when post-Brexit research ties have been quietly knitting back together.

A long-overdue focus on women’s health

Officials say the partnership will accelerate work on conditions that have been systematically under-researched and under-diagnosed, with patients on both sides of the Channel waiting years for answers. By pooling datasets and clinical expertise, British and French researchers expect to deliver earlier diagnoses, safer pregnancies and more personalised care. As the Women’s Organisation has previously warned in Business Matters, more than a third of women feel unsupported on issues such as endometriosis, fertility and menopause, with measurable knock-on effects on productivity, promotion and pay across the SME workforce.Kendall, who took on the science and technology brief last September, said the deal would “tackle some of the biggest challenges in women’s health, deliver safer and healthier pregnancies, and accelerate the fight against infectious diseases worldwide”. She added that the spirit of cross-Channel co-operation would carry into wider G7 discussions on AI adoption and online child safety.

Superbugs and supercomputers

The agreement also turns the firepower of cutting-edge imaging and AI on infectious diseases, with researchers set to share global data on drug-resistant E. coli, tuberculosis, malaria and emerging viruses. The intention is blunt: faster detection of microbes that shrug off existing treatments, quicker identification of outbreaks, and a sharper clinical edge for the doctors on the front line.Underpinning the science is a meaningful injection of cash for compute. Nearly £900,000 of UK government funding will deepen ties between the Bristol Centre for Supercomputing, home to the Isambard-AI machine, and France’s national high-performance computing centre, GENCI. Isambard-AI is already crunching workloads from drug discovery to climate modelling, and as Business Matters has reported, Britain’s broader AI compute ambitions are moving fast, with the Stargate UK project set to scale capacity many times over by next year.A further £300,000 from the UK Treasury, matched by €330,000 from Paris, will fund early-career researcher exchanges via UKRI’s International Science Partnerships Fund, helping junior scientists work in both countries and unlocking joint bids into Horizon Europe.

A more strategic UK–EU axis

Philippe Baptiste, France’s minister for higher education, research and space, framed the agreement as “a decisive step” in the two nations’ scientific partnership, anchored in trust and aimed at “tangible results in artificial intelligence, health, and beyond”. Read alongside the recent UK–EU partnership announced to boost AI adoption and economic growth, it suggests a more strategic, less transactional approach to European research and innovation than has been evident for some years.For British SMEs in life sciences, diagnostics, femtech and AI tooling, the practical implications are worth watching. A simpler route to joint French projects, cleaner access to Horizon Europe and a fully wired-up supercomputing pipeline lowers the cost of cross-border collaboration and, crucially, the cost of getting product to clinical trial. The UK government’s continued push for closer industrial and research ties with Europe is broadly consistent with the record £55bn long-term R&D commitment Kendall set out earlier this year, a signal that ministers see science partnerships not as nice-to-have diplomacy but as core economic infrastructure.

A separate prize for Imperial

In a parallel piece of choreography, Imperial College London and France’s National Centre for Scientific Research will today sign a separate landmark agreement on metabolism research, targeting heart disease, cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. According to the UK Science and Innovation Network’s France country snapshot, health and emerging technologies are now the two anchor pillars of UK–France scientific co-operation.The headline numbers, taken alone, are modest by Whitehall standards. The strategic message is not. Britain and France are quietly rebuilding the rails for the kind of cross-Channel science the rest of Europe will find increasingly difficult to ignore, and for the SMEs that ride on them, the rails are getting straighter.

Jamie Young

Jamie is Senior Reporter at Business Matters, bringing over a decade of experience in UK SME business reporting.
Jamie holds a degree in Business Administration and regularly participates in industry conferences and workshops.

When not reporting on the latest business developments, Jamie is passionate about mentoring up-and-coming journalists and entrepreneurs to inspire the next generation of business leaders.

Royal London UK Real Estate Fund plans to bring ‘overgrown’ site back into use

A three-storey office building near Salford’s MediaCityUK – constructed but left unoccupied for almost two decades – could soon be demolished.

Broadway House on Columbus Way was ‘never fully completed’ after its construction. Now the Royal London UK Real Estate Fund have taken over the site and intend to bulldoze the structure to make way for warehouses.

Plans submitted to Salford’s town planners will bring the ‘overgrown’ site back into use after years of ‘neglect and disuse’, and will create jobs, according to the developers.

The office was first built by Orbit Investments (Salford) Ltd at the Metroplex Business Park on Broadway around 2008. But according to planning consultants Turley, ‘the internal fit was never completed and the office building has therefore never been occupied’.

Plans were submitted in 2022 to transform the disused site into two huge data centres. Atlas Edge also planned to flatten the existing building to make way fort heir expansion – but despite receiving permission from the council, the plans were never carried out.

Royal London now intends to build two new warehouses. A larger structure with 2,403sqm floor space would be erected on the site of the former office, and a smaller 1,534sqm one on an adjacent plot of land that was supposed to be developed into further office space but was abandoned. The warehouses will have a ‘neutral palette’ and be made of steel, with extensive planting and a wildflower meadow to protect surrounding utilities, and shield the view from the historic Weaste Cemetery.

In a Design and Access statement prepared by The Harris Partnership Ltd, the architects wrote: “The new development will bring back into use a site that has long been left vacant and half of which has been partly developed and left to become overgrown due to neglect and disuse. The proposals will optimise the existing land use with efficient spatial planning and site access.

“The proposed re-development will provide a modern, high quality development which will create new job opportunities and provide further facilities for the local area.”

Town planners are due to make a decision on the proposal by the end of August.

To find all the planning applications, traffic diversions, road layout changes, alcohol licence applications and more in your community, visit the Public Notices Portal.

Americans who are retired or are approaching retirement and are evaluating their investment portfolios can turn to exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that may offer built-in diversification for core holdings or exposure to specific sectors.

ETFs are securities that typically track indexes and allow investors to get exposure to a number of companies included in the index. For example, an ETF that tracks the S&P 500 allows an investor to purchase a single share of the ETF that holds shares in all 500 companies in the index, making it easy to get exposure to a broad swath of companies. 

Other types of ETFs may focus on providing investors with yield from dividends or bonds, classifications of companies like growth or value-oriented firms, specific sectors of the economy. Some may be actively managed to maximize returns, which typically entails higher expense ratios, while many ETFs are passively managed, which can involve lower expenses.

Retirees considering investing in ETFs will want to consider their risk tolerance, along with the diversification of a given ETF, its expense ratios, trading volumes and liquidity, as well as other factors like tax efficiency as they weigh an investment.

WHAT ARE ACTIVE ETFS AND HOW ARE THEY RESHAPING HOW AMERICANS INVEST?

Investors should take their retirement needs and risk tolerance into consideration when evaluating ETF investment options. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

“In retirement, simplicity and discipline often matter more than complexity and ETFs can help deliver both when used thoughtfully,” Carole Okigbo, global head of ETF capital markets and broker and index relations at Vanguard, told FOX Business. 

“Retirees should start with their goals, including how much income they need, their time horizon, and their comfort level with market swings. ETFs can be very effective building blocks, but it’s important to focus on total return, not just yield, and ensure each investment plays a clear role in supporting long-term retirement income needs,” Okigbo added.

US ETF ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT TO MORE THAN DOUBLE TO $25T BY 2030, CITIGROUP SAYS

Inga Rachwald, senior investment strategist at Schwab Asset Management, told FOX Business that “the selection of highly liquid ETFs would be of high importance to a retiree so that they have the ease of accessing their money when needed.” 

“Many ETFs track broad asset classes or indices so you get the benefit of diversification. Potential tax efficiency is another likely important component for retirees,” Rachwald added.

ETFs can track broad indexes or be focused on specific sectors or asset classes. (Reuters/Jeenah Moon)

IS BUYING A SINGLE INDEX ETF SMARTER THAN PICKING INDIVIDUAL STOCKS?

Examples of ETFs

Schwab’s Rachwald cited several examples of ETFs offered by her firm, such as SCHD provides dividend income and focuses on companies that grow their dividends.

“SCHZ could serve as the core of a fixed income portfolio, providing high quality income with intermediate duration exposure. SCCR is an alternative to SCHZ if investors would like to source an active strategy in the high-quality, intermediate duration core bond space,” Rachwald said. 

“SCHI would similarly provide some incremental yield coming from investment grade corporates who have bolstered balance sheets through the economic cycle,” she added.

Vanguard’s Okigbo noted similarly that her firm’s ETF offerings include broad market ETFs as well as bond ETFs that can serve as core components of a retirement portfolio.

“Many retirees benefit from starting with low-cost, broadly-diversified ETFs like Vanguard Total Stock Market (VTI) and Vanguard Core Bond (VCRB) and building from there,” Okigbo said.

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Vedanta shares hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 360.70 apiece on BSE on Friday. This comes after ratings agency ICRA on Wednesday removed the company from watch with developing implications after greater clarity on the allocation of assets and liabilities under the ongoing demerger scheme.

ICRA upgrades Vedanta’s rating

ICRA upgraded Vedanta’s long-term rating to AA+ (Stable), assigned a stable outlook and reaffirmed the short-term rating. “The rating action factors in ICRA’s expectation of a further strengthening in the credit profile of the Vedanta Group in FY2027, building on the considerable improvement witnessed in FY2026. This has been supported by a sharp increase in base metal prices, which has contributed to a strong financial risk profile for the Group, which reported an OPBDITA of $6.7 billion in FY2026,” the ratings agency said.

Post-demerger, ICRA expects the relatively stronger cash-generating entities within the Vedanta group to support the dividend requirements, with the flexibility to fund the same from other group entities as well. ICRA also expects that the intra-group support among entities in the conglomerate will continue if required.

“The Stable outlook on the long-term rating reflects ICRA’s expectations of a continued healthy operating performance, backed by a favourable outlook on base metal prices in the near to medium term, leading to strong profits and cash accruals. The Group’s credit profile will be supported by the healthy cash flow generation from diversified businesses, strong financial flexibility and execution capabilities. In addition, the Group’s commitment to undertake any large debt-funded capex in a calibrated manner while maintaining its debt metrics at prudent levels also supports the Stable outlook,” it further said.

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Also read: How the mega Vedanta demerger will impact payout for 21 lakh shareholders?
Vedanta took to X to share the ratings upgrade, adding that this is the highest domestic credit rating in over a decade. “The upgrade marks the Group’s highest domestic credit rating since 2014, reflecting stronger profitability driven by robust operational performance, along with sustained progress in deleveraging and refinancing. Together, these milestones further strengthen Vedanta’s position among India’s leading diversified natural resources companies,” it wrote.

In April, Vedanta announced that each of its eligible shareholders would receive one share each of Vedanta Aluminium Metal (VAML), Talwandi Sabo Power (to be renamed Vedanta Power), Malco Energy (to be renamed Vedanta Oil and Gas) and Vedanta Iron and Steel for every share held in the parent company, marking one of the biggest corporate restructurings in India’s metals and mining sector.

Vedanta shares at the end of the month adjusted to the mega demerger, appearing to have crashed more than 63% in a single day. The stock then recorded sharp gains. While the eligible shareholders can continue trading Vedanta stock, the value attributable to these new entities is currently in price-discovery limbo from the record date until their listings. Since investors cannot trade them yet, even as Vedanta’s share price has already adjusted lower post-demerger.

Also read:What recent large demergers of Tata Motors, ITC and others tell us about possible listing timeline?

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