Smaller firms struggled to clinch new orders, with rising energy costs and economic uncertainty adding to the pressure, according to a survey

The manufacturing sector saw a slight deceleration in growth during August as smaller businesses found it harder to secure new orders.

S&P Global researchers indicated that manufacturing sector growth moderated in August, with the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) reading falling from 51.9 in July to 51.7.

The figure still sits above the neutral 50 threshold, signalling that activity has expanded. The sector’s PMI has now recorded positive growth for 10 consecutive months following a period in 2025 when output had contracted.

Rob Dobson, director at S&P Global, said there were “still signs for continued optimism” as business confidence climbed to a six-month peak.

Employment growth also reached its strongest level in two years, offering a positive signal amid a challenging jobs landscape nationwide, as reported by City AM.

“This suggests that the slowdown [in the PMI] was mainly driven by a reduced focus on maintaining precautionary stocks as economic uncertainty eases, especially as domestic and overseas clients continue to show a willingness to spend albeit with a relatively high degree of caution,” Robson said.

The uptick in staffing levels was attributed to increased order intakes and attempts to work through backlogs, according to researchers.

That said, larger manufacturers fared better, while smaller producers witnessed declines in both output and new order intakes.

Cara Haffey, who leads the industrials division at PwC UK, said businesses would be far more preoccupied with ensuring that a recent run of positive results can be sustained.

She said keeping energy costs low and capitalising on improved demand would be “critical” for the future of the sector.

“As the government considers its priorities, the focus for many businesses will be on how quickly policy commitments translate into lower costs, greater certainty and stronger incentives for investment,” Haffey said.

Matt Swannell, chief economic adviser to the ITEM Club, cautioned that rising energy prices would still filter through into higher business costs.

“We expect the rest of this year to be difficult for the manufacturing sector,” Swannell said. “The conflict in the Middle East is the main wildcard in this regard, and it remains a key source of uncertainty for business.”

PLYMOUTH, Mass. — The jury in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial told a Massachusetts judge Tuesday that it was unable to reach a unanimous verdict as deliberations entered a fourth day, prompting the judge to order the panel back into the jury room to continue weighing the case.

Jurors informed Judge William Sullivan of the impasse at the start of Tuesday’s session, according to multiple outlets covering the trial, including NBC News and the Boston Globe. Sullivan responded by instructing the 12-person jury to resume deliberating rather than declaring a mistrial. “I know that this was a long trial,” Sullivan told jurors, according to NBC News. “I know there were over 80 witnesses, over 300 exhibits. But because of that, I’m going to ask you to go back out, keeping in mind all the instructions that I gave you.” He added, “Maybe today’s the day; we’ll see. I don’t know.”

Clancy, 36, a former labor and delivery nurse, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months, who were killed at the family’s home in Duxbury on Jan. 24, 2023. Both the prosecution and the defense agree Clancy strangled her children with exercise resistance bands and then attempted suicide, and the central question for jurors is whether she was criminally responsible for her actions at the time, a legal standard requiring that she understood the wrongfulness of what she was doing and could control her behavior accordingly. Jurors are weighing four possible outcomes for each of the three victims: first-degree murder, second-degree murder, manslaughter, or not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility.

As of Tuesday, the jury had deliberated for roughly 17 to 18 hours across four days since receiving the case Thursday afternoon, according to ABC News. The panel has submitted only one formal question to the court so far, asking Friday to review physical evidence including prescription pill bottles found in Clancy’s bedroom and a kitchen knife she used during her suicide attempt.

Clancy’s lead defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, expressed continued confidence in the jury’s process despite the reported deadlock, according to comments captured by Boston 25 News. “Maybe today’s the day; we’ll see. I don’t know,” Reddington said, echoing the judge’s own uncertainty about when a resolution might come. Asked by a reporter what a hung jury would mean for the case, Reddington offered a blunt, two-word response: “Try it again.” When a second reporter asked whether he would want to try the case again if jurors remained deadlocked, Reddington similarly declined to speculate further on the outcome, telling reporters he could not predict how long deliberations might ultimately continue. “I have had them out for a week; I have had them out for an hour. I do not know,” he said.

Legal experts have said a jury announcing a deadlock does not necessarily mean deliberations are finished. Retired Massachusetts Superior Court Judge John T. Lu told the Boston Globe that a judge presiding over a case like Clancy’s must weigh the length and complexity of the trial against how much time jurors have spent deliberating before deciding whether to accept a hung jury declaration. “Sometimes the judge evaluates whether there has been due and careful deliberation comparing the length of the trial to the length of the deliberations,” Lu wrote in an email to the Globe. He added that hung juries, while not common, are “unusual but not rare” in cases of this complexity.

If jurors ultimately convict Clancy of murder, she faces a sentence of life in prison. If the jury finds her not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility, prosecutors have indicated they may seek to have her committed to a psychiatric facility rather than released outright. Clancy remains partially paralyzed as a result of her 2023 suicide attempt and has been held at a state hospital in Tewksbury since that time.

As deliberations resumed Tuesday afternoon, no timeline had been established for when jurors might reach a final decision, and both prosecutors and Clancy’s defense team continued to await word from the jury room as the trial’s outcome remained unresolved for a fourth consecutive day.

US borrowing costs hit a fresh high on Tuesday as renewed strikes in the Middle East pushed up oil prices and heightened concerns over inflation.

The effective interest rate on borrowing over 10 years rose to 4.79%, its highest level since January 2025, as oil prices surged above $92 a barrel.

Such movements on global bond markets affect rates at which the US government can borrow money at, but also influence rates people pay for mortgages, car loans and credit cards.

The spike in borrowing costs comes and fears over the pace of price rises in the US has led to increased speculation that the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates later this month.

Michael Barr, a governor at the US central bank, said in a speech on Tuesday that inflation had been too high for five years and warned if it did not cool “then I think we should act decisively to raise rates”.

His comments came after Kevin Warsh, chairman of the Fed, said last week that policymakers would “have work to do” if they were not confident cost-of-living pressures were easing for Americans.

Latest figures show prices rose 3.4% in the year to July, above the Fed’s 2% target, however, interest rates have been left unchanged for months between 3.5% and 3.75%.

Warsh has remained tight-lipped about the potential path of interest rates, but investors have been monitoring comments in recent days and expectations of a rate hike this month have grown.

Inflation is concerning both the Fed and global investors, which is driving the increased rates – or yields as they are known – on bond markets.

Governments sell bonds – essentially an IOU – to raise money for spending, and in return they pay interest.

Bond investors typically demand higher returns – or yields – if inflation is high or they expect it to be elevated in the future, and such rates tend to set the path for borrowing costs in economies around the world.

Besides inflation, investors also have concerns about the amount of borrowing from governments around the world as well spending by Big Tech firms, with uncertainty remaining over the return on investment of artificial intelligence.

In the US, national debt has passed the $40tn mark, doubling in just the space of a decade under both the Donald Trump and Joe Biden administrations.

After borrowing costs over 30 years hit levels not seen since 2007, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the the US government would buy back more debt in a bid to lower rates, but the market’s reaction to the announcement proved short lived.

In the US 30-year mortgage rates have risen to a one-year high of almost 6.7% following spikes in bond markets.

Rising rates can make borrowing and spending less attractive, which risks dampening economic growth if consumers cut back and businesses halt investment.

The deal will see around 90 staff joining the company

A Cheltenham technology business has snapped up a West Midlands-based AI firm as it ramps up its acquisition strategy. CloudClevr – a managed services provider backed by Rigby Technology Investments – said the deal for Flow AI would also support its wider investment in the artificial intelligence market.

Birmingham’s Flow AI works with private and public sector organisations across the UK and brings approximately £8m of additional revenue and around 90 staff into the wider CloudClevr business.

The details of the transaction were not disclosed but it is understood the West Midlands firm will “form the foundation” of a new digital transformation practice within CloudClevr’s operating model. The practice will develop around AI and automation services and data services.

Earlier this year, CloudClevr completed the integration of four specialist businesses into a single operating model and announced it was “actively” re-entering the M&A market as it looked to its next phase of growth.

CloudClevr chief executive Steve Harris said: “When we completed our integration programme earlier this year, we were clear that the next stage for CloudClevr was about scale, both organically and through targeted acquisitions that strengthen our proposition.

“Flow AI is exactly that kind of business. It brings established expertise in automation, document services and information management, but more importantly it gives us a strong foundation from which to build our wider digital transformation capability across automation, data and AI.

“Automation, data and AI will play an increasingly important role in how organisations operate, and this acquisition gives CloudClevr another important capability as we continue to build and scale the business.”

Flow AI will initially continue to operate as a separate legal entity, retaining its existing brand, leadership and customer relationships while the businesses begin a phased integration.

“For Flow AI’s existing customers, services, agreements and day-to-day relationships remain unchanged,” CloudClevr said.

“Over time, they will gain access to CloudClevr’s broader portfolio of managed technology services, while CloudClevr customers will be able to access Flow AI’s specialist digital transformation capabilities.”

Last year, CloudClever moved into new office space at Grange Park in Bishops Cleeve. The tech firm secured 5,500 sq ft on the first floor of the former Zurich Insurance HQ site.

NEW YORK — With HallPass, Michael Tierney is trying to build what he sees as a missing fourth player in confectionery: a low-calorie, low-sugar brand differentiated by product formulation and aimed at a category led by Mars, Inc., The Hershey Co. and the Ferrero Group.

“Our mission is to make candy that tastes just like the classics with a fraction of the calories at a price point that everyone can enjoy,” Tierney said.

HallPass, a sister business of Peter Rahal’s company David and under the Medici Brands umbrella, is formulated with the same EPG (esterified propoxylated glycerol) fat system that David uses in its bars and frozen desserts.

Prior to launching HallPass Tierney founded Stuffed Puffs in May 2019. Stuffed Puffs is a manufacturer of marshmallows that feature a chocolate filling. Two years ago, the company was acquired by Mount Franklin Foods.

Tierney said the sweetener system is another important part of the formulation that works alongside the fat system to mirror the taste of sugar in candy while removing calories.

“We use soluble corn fiber to replace the solids and bulking that sucrose traditionally provides,” he said. “We also use tagatose along with a little allulose as the foundation for building the sweetness profile of traditional sugar, with a small amount of erythritol and trace amounts of sucralose and Ace-K (acesulfame potassium) to deliver the iconic candy taste.”

HallPass is launching with five stock-keeping units nationwide at Walmart this month.

The lineup spans familiar confectionery formats — two peanut butter cups, two peanut creme wafers in 1.5 oz sizes and chocolatey candy pieces in a 1.53 oz size in single-serve packs.

The products contain 70 calories and 1 gram of sugar per package and are priced at $1.82.

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Photo: ©ERMAN GUNES – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

The focus for the launch is a front-end impulse, low-cost-of-entry business model to drive trial while keeping HallPass priced close to its competitors, Tierney said.

“One of the biggest hurdles of what we’re trying to accomplish, what so many (businesses) before us have promised, is delivering great taste with great nutrition,” he said. “Many have failed on taste. When we say a third of the calories of competitors, most people hear it’s not going to taste good. Trial for us is the most important thing because tasting is believing.”

Launching into a category that has few challenger players beyond the mainstays, HallPass is targeting frequent peanut butter cup buyers and health-conscious consumers.

“Can we get you to switch between what you’re buying today, what you’re buying in volume, and get you onto something different?” Tierney said. “Then, balancing that with the other end of the spectrum: You’ve left the category, but you love this product, so can we bring you back and then work ourselves toward the middle, which would be broader chocolate confection?”

As HallPass grows its footprint, Tierney said the company’s goal is to be available wherever confectionery products are sold.

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“We are focused on being a true competitor to the big three, which own the vast majority of the confectionery business,” he said. “There isn’t a fourth player.”

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