Britain’s night time economy has greeted Andy Burnham’s expected arrival in Downing Street with something it has not felt in years: optimism. But its trade body has attached a condition, warning the incoming Prime Minister that “optimism must now be matched with action”.

The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), which represents nightclubs, bars, live music venues, festivals and event businesses, said Burnham’s elevation marks a new chapter for business and the night time economy, one that could finally give operators the confidence to invest.

“As the country prepares for Andy Burnham’s expected appointment as Prime Minister, we welcome the clear commitment to engagement with business and the recognition that economic growth will be built through partnership,” said Michael Kill, the association’s chief executive.

“For too long, businesses across the night time economy have faced uncertainty, inconsistent policy and a lack of clear direction.”

Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor turned Makerfield MP, remains the only declared candidate to succeed Sir Keir Starmer as Labour leader and is expected to enter No 10 later this month.

The sector has reason to believe it has the incoming leader’s ear. Burnham has already pledged a 20 per cent business rates cut for pubs, clubs and music venues, funded by higher levies on online retailers’ warehouses, and last month the NTIA threw its weight behind his call for a hospitality VAT cut, arguing the sector could not withstand three more years of rising taxation.

Kill said devolution should be part of the answer. “We hope this marks the beginning of a more collaborative approach that gives local leaders the confidence to make decisions that reflect the needs of local businesses and communities.

“A renewed focus on our high streets, hospitality and the night time economy will be essential if we are to unlock investment, create jobs and support thriving towns and cities.”

The stakes for operators are hard to overstate. More than three licensed venues a day went dark in the first quarter of this year under the combined weight of wage costs, energy bills and tax rises. And while the government replaced retail, hospitality and leisure relief with permanently lower business rates multipliers from April, many operators say their bills are still heading in the wrong direction.

Kill was clear that goodwill alone will not keep the lights on. “For our sector, optimism must now be matched with action. Clarity, certainty and meaningful collaboration will be essential if businesses are to invest with confidence and plan for the future.

“We are encouraged to see a leader who appears fully engaged with the opportunities and challenges facing British business, particularly our sector, which has borne some of the greatest pressures over the past six years through rising taxation, escalating costs and an increasingly difficult trading environment.”

For SME owners across hospitality, nightlife and the high street, the significance is less the warmth of the welcome than the specificity of the demands now piling up in the new Prime Minister’s in-tray: business rates, VAT, energy costs and a devolution settlement that lets local leaders act.

Burnham arrives in office with the sector’s goodwill banked. Spending it wisely will be the harder part.

“The work starts now,” Kill said, “and we stand ready to work constructively with the new government to ensure the night time economy is recognised as a vital part of the UK’s economic growth, cultural identity and community life.”

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.

Volunteers have clocked up more than 1,000 hours of service to save 34 tonnes of uneaten food from the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, going into the bin.

Since Sunday, about 50 helpers from Roade and Towcester’s Community Larders have driven back and forth from the Northamptonshire racetrack to offer up items like eggs, milk, fruit, vegetables, and even a carpet, at pop-up shops.

Katie Steele, from the Towcester group, said it had seen “record attendances” and believed the groups had helped about 3,000 people.

She said the collections ended on Friday and were only made possible by “absolutely amazing teamwork”.

£100m CyanLines routes planned for city’s waterways

Punters eating out in Manchester city centre could one day head home on a floating walkway along the River Irwell.

It might sound like a vision of the distant future, but bosses leading a project to build a 100-mile network of brightly-coloured walking and cycling routes across the city say the plan is making real progress.

The proposal, known as CyanLines, could completely change how residents and commuters trek around Manchester.

“We are well underway with agreeing and co-designing the first phase of CyanLines routes with our partners, including building our investment case for them,” said Tom Bloxham, chair of property developer Urban Splash and a co-founder of CyanLines.

The next step, Bloxham explained, is to ‘lobby for national and international funding’ to get things really moving.

A vision for the scheme was first announced in September. It aims to spend £100m building a network of floating walking routes based around the city’s waterways.

Concept images published last year showed cyan-coloured wooden paths floating above both the Manchester and Salford sides of the river, complete with jetties for rowing boats and cycle lanes which snake around existing road bridges.

Dubbed an ‘idea’ at the time, the project is moving forward quickly. A partnership board for the scheme was appointed in June, tasked with moving the work ahead.

Several partner organisations have signed up to support the plans, including the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Manchester City Council, the National Trust, and Manchester property developers such as Urban Splash and Renaker.

If completed, it would create new connections to Greater Manchester’s parks, squares, rivers, canals and viaducts, alongside new signage and routes listed on the Komoot app.

One figure in the city who has got behind the plan is Bev Craig, the leader of Manchester council who is running to be the region’s next mayor.

She said the plans are making ‘significant’ steps forward and would bring massive benefits to Manchester and beyond.

Councillor Craig added: “With representatives from a range of organisations and sectors, the knowledge and expertise of the board will help us drive forward our plans to bring more nature into the city for the benefit of everyone who lives, works and visits here.”

Around 15 miles of CyanLines have already been plotted across four different trips, based around Victoria station, Ancoats, St Peter’s Square, and Castlefield.

The routes, a mixture of point-to-point and circular trails, are said to be the starting point for CyanLines, with more on the way.

These four routes have been ‘proof-tested’ with public walks and getting people out to the areas, as well as accessibility checks.

Two further lines have been approved by the CyanLines board, out to the Etihad Campus and Old Trafford football stadiums.

CyanLines could also extend the Castlefield Viaduct park after years of behind-the-scenes work by the National Trust, which transformed the former railway viaduct into a city centre park in the sky in 2022.

Bosses are aiming to ‘start on the immediate priority of accessibility improvements in the next financial year’, and have started to assess the costs required to be able to apply for improvement funding.

The population of Greater Manchester is growing, and parts of the region are already struggling with major traffic congestion, or huge demand for public transport.

Stretches of floating walkways across the city could be the ideal way to ease some of that pressure.

And while once merely an idea, the hard yards to bring the vision to life are being put in.

Over the five trading sessions ending July 10, the Sensex slipped 195 points, or 0.25%, to settle at 77,569. While the benchmark advanced in three of the five sessions, a sharp 1,650-point plunge on July 8 erased those gains and pushed the index into negative territory for the week.

Despite the choppy market and marginal decline, a select group of around 10 stocks from the BSE 1000 index bucked the trend, rising in each of the five consecutive sessions between July 6 and July 10. These consistent outperformers delivered cumulative returns of up to 20% during the period. (Data Source: ACE Equity)

Athena, the poster retailer that decorated a generation of British bedrooms and gave the world the Tennis Girl, is up for sale, offering entrepreneurs and investors a rare chance to buy one of the high street’s most recognisable names outright.

BPI Asset Advisory, a RICS regulated team of surveyors and business advisors specialising in valuation and asset disposal, has been instructed to market the trademarks owned by Athena Licensing Ltd. The package comprises two recently renewed UK trademarks, covering the name and stylised logo, together with a recently renewed EU trademark.

For anyone who grew up in the 1980s or 1990s, Athena needs little introduction. Founded in 1964, the chain grew to more than 160 stores nationwide at its peak, selling the posters, prints and gifts that shaped the visual identity of teenage bedrooms, student houses and first flats across the country.

Monochrome New York skylines, jazz photography, fantasy artwork and surreal imagery all passed through its tills. Its most famous image, the Tennis Girl poster of 1976, remains globally recognised half a century on, alongside landmark pieces including L’Enfant, Beyond City Limits and Jimmy Cauty’s 1976 Lord of the Rings artwork.

Andrew Cromack, director at BPI Asset Advisory, said: “Athena is a name that immediately resonates with generations of people across the UK. Brands with this level of recognition and cultural connection rarely come to market, making this a unique opportunity to acquire a genuine piece of British retail history.”

For SME owners, the sale is a useful reminder that a brand can outlive the business that built it. Athena joins a long list of high street names that have disappeared from Britain’s town centres, yet its trademarks, kept renewed and in good order, remain a marketable asset decades after the last store closed its doors.

That is no accident. A registered trademark can be licensed, sold or even used as loan collateral, which is why advisers urge founders to think carefully about whether to trade mark a business name, logo or both early on. Athena’s owners renewed both UK marks and the EU registration before bringing them to market, keeping the asset clean for a buyer. Anyone curious about what is protected can check the UK trade mark register held by the Intellectual Property Office.

The commercial logic for a buyer is equally clear. Heritage names carry ready-made recognition that would cost millions to build from scratch, and nostalgia marketing has proven pulling power, with research suggesting consumers loosen their purse strings when reminded of happier times. Athena’s continued presence in popular culture, most recently referenced in Alan Carr’s television series Changing Ends, suggests the affection has not faded.

The obvious route for a new owner is licensing the intellectual property rather than reopening shops: putting the Athena name on prints, homeware or publishing through partners who carry the manufacturing risk while the brand owner collects royalties.

BPI says the sale will suit investors, brand owners, licensing businesses and media groups seeking an established intellectual property asset with strong historic recognition and ongoing cultural relevance.

Whoever buys it will acquire more than two logos and a word mark. They will own a shorthand for an entire era of British youth, and in a crowded market, that kind of instant recognition rarely comes up for sale.

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.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Spain will look to keep alive its bid for a second World Cup title when it faces Belgium on Friday in a World Cup quarterfinal at SoFi Stadium, a matchup that pits the tournament’s stingiest defense against a Belgian side that has turned into one of the competition’s most dangerous attacking forces.

Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. ET, with the winner advancing to a semifinal against France, which meets Morocco in the tournament’s other quarterfinal on the same day.

Spain enters the match unbeaten and still searching for its first goal conceded of the tournament. Manager Luis de la Fuente’s team has won all of its knockout matches so far, following up a group stage in which it topped Group H with a straight-sets run through the round of 32 and round of 16. Spain eliminated Austria before grinding out a 1-0 win over rival Portugal in the round of 16, a result settled by a stoppage-time goal from substitute Mikel Merino.

That victory extended Spain’s shutout streak to six straight matches, a run that has now stretched beyond 600 minutes without conceding, according to tournament statistics. Goalkeeper Unai Simón has anchored that effort, and the defensive record has been paired with a midfield built around Ballon d’Or winner Rodri and Pedri, who have combined to control possession and limit opposing chances throughout the tournament.

Spain’s attack has leaned heavily on wide players Lamine Yamal and Alex Baena, along with forward Mikel Oyarzabal, who leads the team with four tournament goals. Yamal, the 19-year-old Barcelona winger, has dealt with minor fitness issues during the tournament but remains one of Spain’s most productive players internationally, with 18 goal involvements in 30 caps for the national team.

Belgium’s path to the quarterfinals has been far less tidy. Rudi Garcia’s team opened the tournament with draws against Egypt and Iran before a 5-1 rout of New Zealand carried it out of the group stage atop Group G. In the round of 32, Belgium needed a dramatic turnaround to beat Senegal 3-2, a match in which captain Youri Tielemans scored in stoppage time.

The Red Devils then delivered their most complete performance of the tournament in the round of 16, defeating co-host United States 4-1 in Seattle. Charles De Ketelaere scored twice, Hans Vanaken added a third, and Romelu Lukaku came off the bench to score for a third straight match. Garcia made the decision to start that match without Kevin De Bruyne, Jeremy Doku and Lukaku, and Belgium’s performance without its most experienced attacking players has raised questions about the team’s best lineup heading into the quarterfinal.

Belgium will be without midfielder Amadou Onana for the remainder of the tournament after he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury, a significant loss for a team that will likely need to defend for long stretches against Spain’s possession-based approach. Defender Zeno Debast is also a doubt for Friday’s match.

De Bruyne’s status looms over Belgium’s preparations. The 34-year-old playmaker has struggled with fitness following an injury-plagued club season and has not been on the field for either of Belgium’s past two wins. Whether Garcia starts him against Spain, and which version of Belgium shows up as a result, is one of the central questions of the match.

Statistically, the gap between the two sides is stark. Spain has allowed just 1.5 expected goals across five matches, the lowest total in the tournament, while Belgium has conceded five goals and 6.2 expected goals over the same stretch. Spain has also allowed only five shots on target from 29 total attempts faced. Belgium, despite a similarly low shot volume allowed, has managed only one clean sheet.

The two nations have met 22 times across all competitions, with Spain winning 12, Belgium five and five ending in draws, dating back to 1921. History also favors Spain in the tournament’s biggest stage: they have won nine of their last 11 meetings with Belgium, though the sides have split their two prior World Cup encounters. Belgium advanced on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the 1986 quarterfinal, while Spain won 2-1 when the teams met in the 1990 group stage. Their most recent meeting came in a September 2016 friendly, won by Spain 2-0.

Spain is projected to name an unchanged starting lineup from its win over Portugal, with Simón in goal behind a back line of Pedro Porro, Pau Cubarsí, Aymeric Laporte and Marc Cucurella. Rodri and Pedri are expected to start in midfield, with Yamal, Dani Olmo and Baena supporting Oyarzabal up front.

Belgium is expected to line up with Thibaut Courtois in goal, protected by a back four of Timothy Castagne, Zeno Mechele, Christian Ngoy and Maxim De Cuyper. Vanaken and Tielemans are projected to start centrally, with Leandro Trossard, De Bruyne and Doku behind De Ketelaere up top, assuming De Bruyne is deemed fit enough to start.

Betting markets have installed Spain as a clear favorite to advance, reflecting both the team’s defensive record and the questions still surrounding Belgium’s best available lineup. Still, Belgium’s attacking output over its last three matches, in which it has scored 12 goals, suggests the Red Devils are capable of testing even the tournament’s most disciplined defense if they can find the same rhythm that carried them past Senegal and the United States.

The match will be played indoors at SoFi Stadium, meaning weather is not expected to be a factor. The winner will await the result of the France-Morocco quarterfinal to learn its semifinal opponent later in the tournament.

If you read the press releases from the United States Central Command, you would know that Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. Let me quote: “since early May, U.S. forces have helped facilitate the successful transit of more than 800 commercial vessels and 380 million barrels of crude oil through the vital international trade corridor.”

Let me repeat those numbers. Actually it’s 825 commercial vessels and 380 million barrels of crude oil just since early May. That’s why oil prices have fallen nearly 40 percent. West Texas crude is priced at $71. About the same as it was one year ago, way before the Iran conflict. Stock markets are no longer dancing to the Iranian-Hormuz oil threat tune. Of course profits are breaking records. And profits are the mothers’ milk of stocks.

Yet there’s more to the story. There may be an oil production war developing with the weakening of OPEC. The United Arab Emirates wants to move from around 2 million barrels a day to as much as 5 million. 

How about Iraq? Remember Iraq? Well they’re going to move from just over a million barrels per day to somewhere around 4 million to 5 million barrels per day. The Saudis are diverting oil exports through their East-West pipeline to the Red Sea. The UAE and other countries have shifted their tankers to the Southern Hormuz channel adjacent to Oman’s coastline. This is killing the Iranian strategy of bottling up the world economy.  

The United States, meanwhile, is moving toward 14 million barrels per day. And the Energy Information Administration is now forecasting that worldwide crude production and other trade flows will rebound to near pre-conflict levels by the end of the year.

Hundreds of oil tankers are still sitting in the upper part of the Arabian Gulf. And they are filled to the brim with oil that will soon hit world markets. And meanwhile, while oil supplies are rapidly recovering, Chinese oil demand has plunged as a result of their continued economic slump. All of this shows how Iran’s supposed Hormuz oil weapon has been neutered.