Two separate reports have revealed an appetite from businesses in the North to boost regional growth

A leading business group has urged the Government to put businesses “at the heart” of any power for more devolution, saying that private firms are vital to “deliver growth, investment and higher living standards” across the UK. Chancellor John Healey has followed the direction set by his predecessor Rachel Reeves in saying that he would set out a “road map to fiscal devolution” at the Budget.

Now the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has said in a new report that the Budget should outline plans to put businesses at the heart of the next stage of devolution and give more local leaders power over funding to accelerate growth in their areas.

A survey by the business organisation of 5,000 firms found in the second quarter of 2026 that only 17% were planning to increase investment in the coming months, a post-pandemic low. The BCC said in a new report that the Budget should outline plans to put businesses at the heart of the next stage of devolution to drive growth and investment.

It urged the Government to complete its devolution plan by the end of the 2027-28 financial year, giving more local leaders power over funding to accelerate growth to improve living standards in their areas. It added that ministers should look to give local areas a direct share in the rewards of growth before the end of this Parliament.

BCC director general Shevaun Haviland added: “Devolution can be a powerful driver of economic growth, but only if businesses are at the heart of the decisions.

“As more powers are pushed out from Whitehall to regions of England, the test of success is simple. Does it make it easier for companies to invest, recruit, trade and grow?

“If it does, then devolution can raise living standards and spread opportunity in every postcode.”

The Chambers’ intervention has come as a separate survey suggests that greater regional decision-making will have a positive impact on business growth. The survey by accountancy group BDO found support for more fiscal powers at regional and local level was strongly backed in the North East, the North West, and Yorkshire and Humber.

The survey also found that companies wanted the Government to prioritise increased business grants (43%) and taking equity stakes in strategic businesses.

Dan Brookes, interim regional managing partner at BDO in Yorkshire and the North East, said: “The Government is making all the right noises when it comes to creating the conditions for good growth in every part of the UK.

“Regional business leaders clearly agree that by giving regional mayors and local authorities greater control over locally raised tax revenues it will positively impact business growth over the next three years. The key now is making those pledges a reality in a way that flows meaningfully through the regional business community.”

FTSE 100 sportswear retailer has reached an agreement with Axo as it looks to diversify beyond its struggling North American market

JD Sports has unveiled plans to launch more than 140 stores in Mexico, as the ‘King of Trainers’ seeks to reverse declining sales and put a recent boardroom dispute behind it.

The FTSE 100 retailer revealed it has struck an agreement with Axo, a Mexico-based retail distributor, to run its outlets across the country.

JD Sports will be hoping the expansion can stem the sales decline it is experiencing in its vital North American market. The region currently represents 38 per cent of its worldwide revenue, but sales there dropped by 6.8 per cent in the three months to August.

Under the arrangement, Axo will manage JD’s physical stores and online operations using its brand and intellectual property, with the footwear and sportswear retailer set to deliver a “differentiated proposition” to Mexican consumers.

The FTSE 100 company sees significant opportunity in the Mexican market, informing shareholders that approximately 40 per cent of its 130 million population is under the age of 25, as reported by City AM.

“Mexico is a market with a large, highly engaged consumer base and a demographic profile which aligns strongly with JD’s unique position as a curator of footwear and apparel trends across sport, music and fashion,” the group stated.

The nation’s activewear sector is currently worth around $6.5 billion and is forecast to reach $10 billion by 2034, according to JD. Régis Schultz, JD’s chief executive, said: “JD’s product offering aligns closely with consumer demand in Mexico and we believe our position at the intersection of sport, music and fashion will deepen the connection we have with that consumer.”

Schultz added that Axo’s “deep market expertise, strong operational platform and proven experience with leading international brands make it uniquely placed to help deliver the JD proposition in Mexico and unlock the opportunity that exists there”.

The retailer is set to begin launching its more than 140 Mexican stores next year, with the group subsequently planning to upgrade its top-performing locations, in keeping with its “bigger and better” flagship store strategy.

JD’s partnership with Axo represents the latest step in the expansion of its global franchise platform. Across JD and Courir, the French trainer retailer it acquired in 2024, the group now operates 75 franchise stores spanning Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

The so-called ‘King of Trainers’ is entering the Mexican market during a turbulent period, following a profit warning and a boardroom succession dispute.

Last month, JD cut its upper profit forecast by £50m to £800m, cautioning that sluggish US sales and aggressive discounting from competitors are posing a significant threat to its growth trajectory. “The market stayed highly promotional, reflecting the consumer and footwear product cycle headwinds our industry has faced in recent quarters, whilst our core consumer was impacted by incremental cost-of-living pressures,” Schultz said.

The retailer’s chief executive only narrowly survived an attempt to remove him from his position earlier this year, when JD chairman Andy Higginson stepped down from the group’s board after failing to persuade it to remove Schultz.

In August, JD appointed former Ikea chief executive Peter Agnefjäll to take over from Higginson.

Nissan e-Power

Nissan turnaround

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Shares of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd gained 2% to their day’s low of Rs 4,889 on the BSE on Monday after the company handed over three indigenously developed platforms to the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Pawan Hans Limited. The platforms included the Dhruv-NG helicopter, LCA Tejas Trainer jets and the HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, speaking at the handover ceremony, said the event marked three significant achievements. The indigenously designed and developed Dhruv-Next Generation civil helicopter was handed over after receiving Type Certification from the DGCA. The final batch of LCA Final Operational Clearance (FOC) Trainer aircraft was handed over to the IAF, while the first aircraft from the HTT-40 Basic Trainer series production was also delivered to the IAF.

Praising HAL’s work on the HTT-40, Singh said the first series-production aircraft had been handed over to the IAF and described the development as a step towards ending India’s dependence on foreign countries in this area. He also said the aircraft’s capabilities could create opportunities for exports.

The HTT-40 is a tandem-seat, fully aerobatic basic trainer powered by a Honeywell turboprop engine. It features a glass cockpit and Martin-Baker zero-zero ejection seats. HAL is producing the aircraft under a contract for 70 aircraft with the IAF, which will replace the ageing HPT-32 Deepak fleet.

The LCA Trainer is the twin-seat version of the indigenous Tejas fighter and is used for advanced combat flight training. The Dhruv-NG, meanwhile, is the next-generation civil version of HAL’s Advanced Light Helicopter and has been developed for applications including offshore and passenger operations.

The handover ceremony saw two LCA FOC Trainer aircraft delivered to the IAF, completing the twin-seat deliveries under the FOC contract. Four Dhruv-NG helicopters were handed over to Pawan Hans Limited, while the first HTT-40 Basic Trainer aircraft was delivered to the IAF, marking the beginning of deliveries under the 70-aircraft contract.

What is Goldman Sachs saying?

Goldman Sachs has maintained a Buy rating on Hindustan Aeronautics with a target price of Rs 5,870. The brokerage noted that Tejas FOC twin-seater trainers are being handed over to the Indian Air Force, along with HTT-40 basic trainers to the IAF and Dhruv-NG helicopters to Pawan Hans.It said deliveries are picking up across fighter, trainer and helicopter platforms, while GE has delivered another three F404 engines for the LCA Mk1A. Goldman Sachs said supply constraints are gradually easing, with the focus now shifting towards converting HAL’s large order backlog into revenues. The latest handovers also align with the government’s push to expand indigenous defence manufacturing.

HAL FY27 outlook

The company said it is well positioned to benefit from opportunities across aircraft, helicopters, aero engines, avionics and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) projects. It added that execution of ongoing programmes, along with expected orders for fighter aircraft, rotary-wing platforms and upgrade projects, is likely to provide strong medium- to long-term revenue visibility.

HAL said these initiatives are expected to support its long-term growth while strengthening its role in India’s aerospace and defence ecosystem and improving its competitiveness in global markets.

Last month, the company announced that it signed a long-term agreement with Safran Aircraft Engines for the production and supply of turbine ring forgings in superalloys for the ‘CFM LEAP’ engine programme.

Disclaimer: This article has been written by Veer Sharma, who is not a SEBI-registered Research Analyst or an Investment Adviser. Veer Sharma and his/her ‘relative(s)’ (as defined under Section 2(77) of the Companies Act, 2013) do not hold any financial interest in the companies mentioned in this article as of the date of publication. The views/recommendations mentioned in this article, wherever applicable, are those of the respective SEBI-registered Research Analyst/brokerage and have been reproduced/reported with due attribution. They should not be construed as the views or recommendations of The Economic Times Digital or the journalist. Readers are advised to consider the original research report and make their investment decisions based on their own assessment. Brokerage disclaimers here.

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Rhys Hackling started Direct Connect Logistics with two 7.5-tonne lorries and no customers of his own. The Bicester haulier now runs 24 vehicles, including 18-tonne HGVs.

In January 2022 thieves stole pallets of batteries from one of its trucks, a case Rachel Taylor MP cited when she opened a Westminster Hall debate on freight crime in December 2024. He tells Business Matters what it takes to keep a fleet earning.

What do you currently do at Direct Connect Logistics?

I own and run the business. Most days come down to one question: where is each lorry going next, and what is on it?

An empty lorry is money going out of the door. We run 24 vehicles across Bicester, Northampton and Knutsford, including a growing number of larger 18-tonne lorries, moving thousands of loads a month. Every one of them needs to earn.

Around 95 per cent of our work comes through Haulage Exchange, the online freight exchange where hauliers and businesses post loads. People sometimes ask whether that is a risk. I do not see it that way. The work comes from hundreds of different businesses, so no single customer can make or break us.

Away from the yard, I campaign on freight crime. In January 2022, thieves attacked one of our trucks and took pallets of batteries. The lorry was off the road for three days and the load was gone. I have taken the issue to Westminster, because no operator is immune, and people who run haulage firms need to be part of that conversation.

What was the inspiration behind your business?

I started out in air conditioning, not haulage. Then I briefly took over a haulage company, and what struck me was how underused the lorries were. Vehicles would drop a load and come back empty, or sit in the yard waiting for work.

Around then I came across the exchange. Hauliers and businesses post loads there, so you can see what work is out there and where it is going. I realised the problem was not a lack of work. It was finding the right load for the right truck at the right time.

So I set up Direct Connect Logistics with two 7.5-tonne lorries, no work lined up and no customers of my own. The plan was to run everything through the platform and keep those two trucks full. It worked, and that gave me the confidence to grow.

Who do you admire?

I admire the drivers. From day one, looking after our drivers has mattered to me as much as looking after our customers. They are out on the road at all hours, often with nowhere safe to stop, and they carry the reputation of the business with every delivery. When a customer tells me a job was done well, that is down to them.

I also respect anyone who has built a haulage firm. The margins are thin, the hours are long, and nobody hands you anything.

Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently?

I would have spoken up about freight crime sooner. Like a lot of operators, I saw theft as something that happened to other people, or just a cost of doing business. Then we lost a full load of batteries and had a lorry off the road for three days. For a smaller firm, one hit like that can wipe out a month’s profit.

It is not a small problem. The National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service recorded 3,424 cargo crimes against lorries in 2025, nine a day, with an estimated £65.1m of goods taken at cost price, and the police officers who track it think the real figure is several times higher.

I realised that if people running haulage businesses do not make the case, nobody else will. That is what took me to Westminster. I wish I had started that conversation before it happened to us.

What defines your way of doing business?

Growing carefully. I only expanded when the business could handle it. Two trucks became four, four became six, six became 12, and now we run 24. Each step was based on what we could see in the work coming through, not guesswork. Before we added any 18-tonne lorries, we had already found customers looking for that capacity.

Cash flow is part of growing carefully. In haulage, getting paid matters as much as winning the work, so we keep invoicing and payments in one system and spend less time chasing money.

This year we were named Company of the Year by Haulage Exchange. For a business built one truck at a time, that meant a lot to everyone, from the drivers to the office.

Reputation matters as much as growth. I will not hand work to a subcontractor I cannot check. Before anyone gets near a load of ours, I want to see their licence, insurance and trading status. Freight crime is organised and deliberate, and some of it happens without anyone breaking into anything. Being careful about who you work with is part of running a responsible business.

Customers notice that. They want to know the job will be done properly, first time. Over the years that has earned us more than 6,100 positive reviews, and plenty of customers now come straight to us before looking anywhere else.

What advice would you give to someone starting out?

Do not wait to win your own customers before you start moving freight. I ran our first two trucks entirely on work posted by other hauliers and businesses, planning each return journey so the lorry did not come home empty. The direct relationships came later, from doing those jobs well.

Then set up the back office properly while you are still small. Paperwork that feels manageable with two trucks will swallow your week by the time you have 10.

Grow at the pace the work allows. Only add a vehicle when you can already see the demand for it. Borrowing ahead of the work is how good operators get into trouble.

Above all, protect your reputation. In this industry, like most, word travels fast, and a good name brings the work back.