Jan Edvin Pedersen

And welcome to the presentation of KONGSBERG’s second quarter results. This presentation is done as a webcast only, and you will be able to send in questions through the chat function.

Please note that this presentation contains forward-looking statements that, by their nature, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause the actual results to differ.

Today’s presentation will be delivered to you by our CEO, Eirik Lie; and our CFO, Martin Wien Fjell.

With that, I will hand it over to our CEO, Eirik.

Eirik Lie
Executive VP of Kongsberg and President of Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace

Thank you, Jan Edvin. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to this second quarter results presentation. The second quarter of 2026 was characterized by high activity levels across the company, both in new orders and in our production facilities. We continued to sign significant new contracts, and we made key deliveries to our customers.

Last week, I was in Ankara for the NATO Summit and Industry Meeting. The messages from NATO were clear. Europe must continue to invest in its own defense capabilities and seek joint procurement with other countries.

The need for high industrial production is increasing and urgent. And the Ukraine war continues to show the importance for air defense, missiles and anti-drone capabilities. There is also a critical need for missiles that can be produced in high volumes as well as protection against tactical ballistic missiles.

In Ankara, NATO countries announced more than USD 50 billion in new

The charity said figures from the Baby Bank Alliance showed baby banks in the UK supported more than 400,000 children in 2025.

In the same year, Faces BabyBank handed out 36,400 items of children’s clothing, 54,080 nappies, 536 tubs of formula milk, 298 newborn starter packs and 3,768 books and toys.

It has also given cots, Moses baskets, prams, highchairs, bedding, baby baths and other essentials.

It said it relies on donations and always needs good quality goods or financial donations to purchase essential items when stock is unavailable.

The charity said more parents in work were “still unable to afford essential items because wages are not keeping pace with household costs”.

Shares of Cupid Limited witnessed mild profit booking in Monday’s trading session, and slipped around 1.5% to Rs 209. However, the recent weakness appears minor compared with the stock’s strong rally over the past few months. The stock has gained significant investor attention after delivering multibagger returns, surging nearly 131% in just three months due to strong business momentum and positive corporate developments.

In a recent regulatory filing, Cupid Limited announced a major milestone as its equity shares have been reclassified from BSE Group ‘B’ to BSE Group ‘A’ following the Bombay Stock Exchange’s periodic review of listed companies.

The upgrade reflects the company’s growing presence in the listed market and highlights its continued focus on corporate governance standards, regulatory compliance, and disciplined business execution. Inclusion in the BSE Group ‘A’ category is considered a significant achievement as it places the company among a more actively tracked segment of listed companies.

Strong Q1 FY27 Business Momentum, Revenue Guidance Raised

Cupid recently reported one of the strongest quarterly performances in its history. In its Q1 FY27 business update, the company indicated that it is on track to achieve quarterly revenue exceeding Rs 150 crore, marking a strong beginning to the financial year.

The company attributed the momentum to strong execution, improved market visibility, and expanding opportunities across domestic and international markets. With rising confidence in its growth trajectory, Cupid’s management has increased its FY27 revenue guidance by at least 10%.
The company now expects FY27 revenue to cross Rs 660 crore, compared with its earlier guidance of Rs 600 crore. The revised outlook reflects optimism around its diversified business model, expanding global opportunities, and increasing scale across healthcare, personal care, and wellness segments.
Stock Performance

Cupid shares have witnessed a sharp upward movement in recent months, gaining nearly 131% over the last three months. The company currently commands a market capitalisation of around Rs 28,540 crore.

Despite Monday’s decline, the stock continues to trade close to its 52-week high of Rs 226, indicating sustained investor interest.

From a valuation standpoint, Cupid shares are trading at premium levels, with the stock currently commanding a Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio of 260.91, Price-to-Sales (P/S) ratio of 31.26, and Price-to-Book (P/B) ratio of 62.69, indicating that investors are assigning a high valuation multiple to the company’s future growth prospects.

Technical Indicators Signal Strong Momentum, But Caution Remains

On the technical front, Cupid’s 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) stands at around 71. An RSI above 70 generally indicates an overbought zone, suggesting the possibility of short-term consolidation or a pullback after the sharp rally. However, the broader trend remains positive, with the stock trading above 7 out of 8 key Simple Moving Averages (SMAs), indicating continued bullish momentum.

While Cupid’s strong earnings outlook, improved guidance, and recent exchange upgrade have supported investor sentiment, the elevated valuations and overbought technical indicators suggest investors may closely track future earnings execution and price movements.

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

Shares of IT stocks, including heavyweights Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HCL Technologies, Infosys, and others, surged up to 7% on Monday, pushing the Nifty IT index around 4% higher despite the overall bearish sentiment on Dalal Street.

Nifty IT surged over 1,000 points to 29,038, as seen at 12.30 pm. Notably, this is the highest level seen by the sectoral index in more than a month. It has now surged around 6% in just two consecutive sessions of gains.

TCS share price

TCS shares were the top gainers on the Nifty IT index, rallying more than 6% after India’s largest IT company announced a multi-million, multi-year deal with ABB to transform global network operations with artificial intelligence.

The IT bellwether today announced that it has signed a multi-million, multi-year deal with ABB to scale its role from managing infrastructure and applications to delivering end-to-end global network operations, through an integrated network-as-a-service model.

As part of the deal, the company will help ABB improve user experience, enhance operational efficiency, strengthen security and compliance, scale service delivery, and prepare for next-generation digital operations. ABB’s Future Network Model programme, an enterprise-wide initiative to transform its global network into a standardized, centrally managed digital infrastructure, is at the centre of this partnership. As a strategic programme partner, TCS will design, integrate, and run ABB’s global network ecosystem as a secure, modern, and AI-driven service.
Also read: Should you buy, sell or hold TCS shares?HCL Tech share price

HCL Technologies shares followed, jumping nearly 6% to trade at Rs 1,231.40 apiece on NSE. The company is all set to announce its results for the April-June quarter of the financial year 2027 later today.

While the company is expected to report sequential weakness in revenue, its margins are likely to remain resilient, supported by favourable currency movements and cost efficiencies. HCL Tech is expected to report an 18% year-on-year rise in net profit, based in the average estimates of five brokerages.

LTM share price

LTM shares surged more than 4% to trade at Rs 4,215 apiece. This comes after India’s sixth-largest IT services company reported a 17% year-on-year (YoY) rise in consolidated net profit for the April-June quarter of FY27, while brokerages issued mixed views on the stock.

The company posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,466 crore for the first quarter, up from Rs 1,254 crore a year earlier. Revenue from operations rose 18% YoY to Rs 11,608 crore, compared with Rs 9,841 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Other IT stocks

Tech Mahindra and Infosys shares jumped around 4% each, while those of Mphasis were up over 3%. Wipro, Persistent Systems, OFSS and Coforge shares gained more than 2% each.

Geojit Investments’ Chief Market Strategist Anand James recently told ETMarkets that technical indicators, derivatives data and improving momentum suggest the risk-reward is gradually shifting in favour of bulls for IT stocks.

Also read: HCL Tech Q1 preview | Revenue may dip QoQ; net profit could rise on currency depreciation

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

The Lib Dem leader says it could potentially deepen rural deprivation

The Liberal Democrats ‘ leader has launched a stinging attack on plans by the Prime Minister-in-waiting to establish a ‘Number 10 North’ office in Manchester. Speaking during a visit to Torbay, Sir Ed Davey warned that Andy Burnham’s plans for a secondary branch of the Prime Minister’s Office – intended to serve as the “nerve centre of a rewired Britain” – risked leaving rural communities behind.

Sir Ed argued that Mr Burnham’s approach would see vast swathes of the UK, including the South West, the North East, Wales and Scotland, left out in the cold.

“Avanti Andy needs to realise Britain doesn’t start at Euston and terminate at Manchester Piccadilly,” he said, in a pointed reference to the rail line connecting London with the North West.

“Shifting the physical location of the Prime Minister’s office does nothing to fix the inequalities facing many coastal and rural areas, and instead may create a new bubble of power that actually pushes the government even further away from communities like those in the South West.”

Sir Ed joined Torbay’s Liberal Democrat MP Steve Darling at Goodrington Sands to discuss the implications of Andy Burnham’s anticipated rise to Prime Minister, expected to take place as early as next week (July 17).

The pair enjoyed ice cream and a paddle in the sea before turning their attention to the Burnham proposals.

“Shifting an outpost of Downing Street to Manchester isn’t true devolution,” Sir Ed declared. “For people in Torbay and across the South West, it simply shunts power even further down the line.

“From the Devon coast to Swansea’s streets and Shetland’s shores, people are utterly fed up with being overlooked.”

He warned that deprived communities in areas such as Torbay risked being sidelined as the government’s attention shifted northwards, despite some parts of the bay ranking among the most deprived in the entire UK.

“I think there’s a huge danger that those pockets of poverty you see in places not only in Torbay, but also in many, many places around the country are overlooked.

“If power goes up to mayoral candidates who are covering a much bigger area, they don’t really understand local communities.

“That’s why we’ve always been advocating empowering local communities who do know their areas, do know where the problems are, and do know where the poverty is.”

Mr Darling echoed his party leader’s concerns regarding the potential pitfalls of relocating the second ‘Number 10’ office to Manchester.

“I really encourage the idea of getting government from Whitehall into the regions, but moving it to Manchester is bonkers,” he said. “It is actually moving it by train two hours further away from Torbay.

“We need our region to be taken seriously. We’ve got issues in respect of connections to the rest of the country. It is not just a North-South divide, it is equally a South East-South West divide as well.”

More than five months after Nancy Guthrie vanished from her Tucson home, a theory suggesting internal disagreement within the FBI over how to handle the case has gained significant traction online, even as “Today” show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie faces renewed public criticism over a network decision to have her cover an unrelated missing-persons story.

The FBI discord theory originated with retired FBI agent Steve Moore, who said in a recent interview that the bureau’s conflicting public statements about ransom notes sent in the case point to a deeper disagreement among investigators. “The more I see this, the more I think that there is some significant disagreement within the FBI investigation on what they’re dealing with,” Moore said. “Right down to the validity of certain pieces of evidence.” Moore has suggested the discrepancy may stem from differing perspectives between the FBI’s Phoenix field office, which has jurisdiction over the case, and bureau headquarters, noting that such internal divergence is common in complex investigations. A number of social media users and true-crime followers have since embraced the theory as a plausible explanation for the shifting statements coming out of the investigation.

Separately, Savannah Guthrie has faced a wave of public criticism after “Today” assigned her to report on the rescue of a 70-year-old man who had gone missing for nearly a week in the California wilderness. The segment, which aired July 6 and was later posted to the show’s TikTok account before being deleted, showed Guthrie covering the story from the anchor desk even as her own mother’s disappearance remains unresolved. The clip drew a sharp backlash on social media, with critics questioning the network’s judgment in the assignment. “Bosses really out here assigning ‘missing elderly’ stories like it’s not your own mom missing. Heartless,” one user wrote, while another asked, “They had an entire anchor room of people who could report and she was the only one?” Other viewers came to the network’s defense, arguing that covering the news, including stories that echo a journalist’s personal circumstances, is simply part of the job. “It’s her job … should she also not report on any story that involves a mother?” one commenter wrote.

Guthrie has continued to speak publicly and emotionally about her family’s ongoing search throughout the broadcast schedule. She has previously described the experience as “months of agony and trauma that never ends,” and has repeatedly used her platform on “Today” to appeal directly to the public for information, saying in one on-air moment, “I want to just take the opportunity to ask people, to really to beg people to come forward.”

The renewed attention to the case comes amid a summary of the evidence investigators have gathered since Guthrie’s disappearance on the night of January 31 or early morning of February 1. That evidence includes bloodstains found on the porch and street outside her Catalina Foothills home, later confirmed to belong to Guthrie; surveillance footage gathered from cameras throughout the neighborhood; a single strand of hair recovered from inside the home and currently undergoing DNA analysis; signs of forced entry; and data from a mobile app connected to Guthrie’s pacemaker, which the FBI has said recorded activity until 2:28 a.m. before abruptly stopping. Doorbell camera footage released by the FBI in February also showed a masked individual, sometimes referred to by followers of the case as the “porch guy,” tampering with the camera outside Guthrie’s home using a gloved hand, with authorities describing the person as between 5-foot-9 and 5-foot-10 with a medium build.

Separately, a discovery of human remains near Guthrie’s home in early May generated significant public attention but has since been determined to be unrelated to her disappearance. Anthropologist James T. Watson of the University of Arizona, who responded to the scene, said the bones belonged to someone buried several hundred to as much as 1,000 years ago, likely an ancestral Native American individual, based on contextual evidence including nearby pottery fragments. The Pima County Sheriff’s Office characterized the discovery as a “prehistoric anthropological investigation” rather than part of the active criminal case, and the remains have since been transferred to the Tohono O’odham Nation for appropriate handling.

No suspects have been officially named in Guthrie’s disappearance. Local fugitive Coral Michelle Smith, whose name had circulated among some online commentators as a possible person of interest, has been formally ruled out of involvement in the case, according to investigators. The masked individual seen in the doorbell footage remains unidentified and continues to be sought by authorities.

The FBI’s Phoenix field office continues to seek videos and information from the public related to the case, and a combined reward exceeding $1 million is currently being offered for information leading to Guthrie’s safe return, drawing on contributions from the FBI, the crime-tip organization 88-CRIME and the Guthrie family itself. Despite the substantial reward, investigators have said the public has not yet come forward with information leading to a breakthrough. Former FBI agent Raymond Carr has expressed continued optimism that a witness or tipster will eventually emerge as circumstances shift over time. “I believe that time changes everything. Relationships change over time,” Carr said, adding that he expects someone with relevant knowledge will eventually decide to come forward.

The investigation remains active and is being jointly conducted by the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, which has said it continues to follow up on leads and pursue the facts surrounding Guthrie’s disappearance. As the case approaches its sixth month without a confirmed resolution, both the swirling theories about internal FBI disagreement and the public scrutiny surrounding Savannah Guthrie’s continued on-air work underscore how deeply the prolonged, high-profile investigation has intertwined with the personal and professional life of one of network television’s most recognizable anchors.

Petrol prices across Australia’s capital cities have climbed sharply in recent weeks, driven by a combination of the federal government halving its temporary fuel excise discount and ongoing volatility tied to the conflict in the Middle East, according to the latest figures from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and independent fuel price trackers.

The national average price for Unleaded 91 across Australia’s capital cities stood at 170.1 cents per litre as of Sunday, July 5, up 12.2 cents on the previous week, according to fuel price monitoring service PetrolPulse. Diesel prices averaged 191.9 cents per litre nationally over the same period, with the cheapest reported bowser price at 159.9 cents per litre.

City-level data shows significant variation across the country. According to figures compiled by GDP.com.au tracking 2026 average unleaded prices by capital city, Darwin currently holds the highest average price nationally at 215 cents per litre, while Adelaide sits at the lower end of the spectrum at 193 cents per litre, illustrating the substantial gap that can exist between Australia’s most and least expensive fuel markets depending on local supply chains, competition levels and state-based factors.

A significant driver behind the recent price increases has been a change to the federal government’s fuel excise relief program. The government extended fuel excise relief for petrol and diesel from July 1 through August 2, but reduced the temporary excise cut from 32 cents per litre to 16 cents per litre starting July 1, according to the Fuel Plan website maintained by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. That halving of the discount was expected to push pump prices up by roughly 16 cents per litre, according to PetrolPulse, though the increase has flowed through to bowsers gradually over the following days and weeks rather than arriving all at once.

Despite the recent increases, current prices remain below levels seen before the excise relief program began. Retail petrol prices for Australia’s five largest cities, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, were down 35% since the original excise cut took effect April 1, while diesel prices were down 42% over the same period, according to the ACCC’s weekly fuel price monitoring report published July 10. Compared with pre-conflict levels, measured against the week ending February 20, average retail petrol prices for those five largest cities were still 3 cents per litre lower as of July 8, while average retail diesel prices were 9 cents per litre higher over the same comparison period.

The ACCC has continued issuing weekly fuel price monitoring updates specifically addressing the ongoing Middle East conflict’s impact on the Australian fuel market, noting that average retail petrol and diesel prices in capital cities and most regional locations have continued to increase following the partial restoration of the fuel excise. The regulator has published a steady stream of weekly reports throughout the conflict period, tracking movements in crude oil prices, international refined fuel benchmarks, and domestic wholesale and retail fuel prices across capital cities and more than 190 regional locations nationwide.

Australia’s fuel security has remained stable despite the international disruption, according to government officials tracking the situation. Approximately 3.5 billion litres of crude oil, diesel, jet fuel and petrol are scheduled to arrive in Australia from overseas over a rolling four-week window, with some shipments already in transit and others awaiting departure, according to data from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. That figure does not include supply from Australia’s domestic refineries, which account for roughly 20% of the country’s national fuel supply, or existing stocks already held within Australia. Domestic refining has also continued largely uninterrupted, with production at the Geelong refinery returning to more than 90% of normal capacity as of the most recent reporting period. Industry stakeholders have indicated that demand for fuel has generally run lower than normal throughout the conflict period, helping ease pressure on supply even amid broader market uncertainty.

Wholesale cost inputs, which typically flow through to retail pump prices within one to two weeks, have shown some signs of moderating in recent weeks even as retail prices climbed. Wholesale import costs held roughly steady week over week at an estimated 136.5 cents per litre as of early July, according to PetrolPulse, while Brent crude oil held largely flat at approximately $72.13 per barrel over the same period. Because Brent crude and the Australian dollar exchange rate together determine the wholesale cost of imported fuel landed at Australian terminals, alongside refining and shipping margins, movements in either of those two inputs typically take several weeks to be reflected at the pump.

For consumers looking to minimize fuel costs amid the current volatility, fuel price trackers have continued to emphasize the well-documented weekly price cycle that governs petrol pricing in several major Australian cities. According to GDP.com.au’s analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics and ACCC data, prices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane typically bottom out midweek, with filling up on a Thursday rather than a Sunday potentially saving drivers around 15 cents per litre, or roughly $8 on a 55-litre tank. Western Australia operates under a different, government-regulated Tuesday pricing cycle through its FuelWatch scheme, while Adelaide, Hobart and Darwin tend to follow less predictable pricing patterns that do not align as neatly with a fixed weekly rhythm.

Beyond timing fill-ups strategically, consumer advocates have also pointed to other straightforward ways drivers can reduce fuel costs, including stacking supermarket loyalty program discounts, such as those offered through Woolworths and Coles fuel dockets, and adopting more fuel-efficient driving habits, including maintaining steady speeds, keeping tyres properly inflated and removing roof racks when not in use, changes that can collectively reduce fuel consumption by an estimated 10% to 20%.

With the fuel excise relief program set to expire August 2 and the Middle East conflict continuing to introduce periodic volatility into international crude oil markets, analysts tracking Australia’s fuel pricing environment say further fluctuations at the pump remain likely in the weeks ahead, even as underlying wholesale cost trends have shown some signs of easing pressure compared with the sharpest points of recent market disruption.

The shares of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) rallied around 7% on Monday, extending a two-session gaining streak that added more than Rs 56,225 crore to the market capitalisation of India’s largest IT company.

TCS shares rose to Rs 2,204.90 apiece on the NSE on Monday afternoon, the highest level seen by the stock in nearly a month. The stock has gained 7% in one week and 2% in one month, but is still down around 32% in 2026 so far.

Why are TCS shares rising?

The sharp surge in TCS share price today came after the company announced a multi-million, multi-year deal with ABB to transform global network operations with artificial intelligence. The IT major said it has signed a multi-million, multi-year deal with ABB to scale its role from managing infrastructure and applications to delivering end-to-end global network operations, through an integrated network-as-a-service model.

The gaining streak began last week after the IT bellwether reported last week 5% year-on-year (YoY) growth in consolidated net profit to Rs 13,349 crore for the first quarter of the ongoing financial year 2027. The company’s consolidated net profit stood at Rs 12,760 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. The firm’s revenue from operations, meanwhile, rose around 14% YoY to Rs 72,275 crore during the quarter under review, as against Rs 63,437 crore in the year-ago period. Its total contract value in Q1 FY27 stood at $9.5 billion.

Also read: TCS shares rally 6% after multi-million ABB AI deal, Q1 earnings. What’s next?

What lies ahead for TCS shares?

TCS shares are currently trading above their 20-day EMA, said Sudeep Shah, Head – Technical and Derivatives Research at SBI Securities. He highlighted that this is the first time the stock has moved above its 20-day EMA since June 2, indicating an improvement in near-term sentiment.

“On the daily chart, encouraging signs are beginning to emerge. The RSI has broken above a horizontal resistance trendline and is moving higher, while the MACD histogram bars have started to expand, signalling a build-up in bullish momentum,” he said.

Shah, however, cautioned that it is still premature to classify this as a confirmed trend reversal. The 2,190–2,200 zone is likely to act as immediate resistance. Unless the stock manages to decisively break and sustain above this zone, the probability of a meaningful short-term trend reversal remains low, according to the analyst.
However, some caution is warranted. Harshal Dasani, Business Head at INVasset PMS, said that the stance stays firmly bearish on TCS technically until either the Rs 2,300 resistance breaks with conviction and volume, or the Rs 1,976 support holds through multiple retests with visible volume drying up on each attempt. “Until one of those two conditions is confirmed, any bounce from current levels should be treated as a rebound within a downtrend rather than a trend reversal signal,” he added.Also read: TCS CEO on Q1 performance; B Capital on India’s IPO market

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

Britain’s businesses have shown the country’s regulatory regime a red card, with 96 per cent of respondents to an official government survey saying regulators are “creating unnecessary problems” in their industries.

Some 89 per cent said rules and regulations, often applied inconsistently and processed slowly, were imposing “unreasonable costs”. Even more of the 271 respondents to the Department for Business and Trade’s detailed Unlocking Business questionnaire said the way regulations were being imposed was limiting their ability to grow, develop new products and services, and become more efficient.

For SME owners, the department’s own summary will read like a diary of their working week. The feedback showed “the UK regulatory system is often complex, inconsistent, slow and burdensome, with disproportionate impacts on small and medium enterprises”, it said, adding that the responses provided “a rich evidence base” for its efforts to “reduce administrative burdens”.

A recurring complaint is duplication. Businesses are frequently “submitting the same information to multiple regulators” that seem unable to co-ordinate their activities, a problem compounded by “fragmented responsibilities, inconsistent guidance, and divergence between UK and international (especially EU) standards”.

The regulation most commonly cited as hindering growth is the extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme for packaging, which has operated since April last year and requires brands to cover more of the cost of managing household packaging waste. Its reporting requirements were cited “as among the most resource-intensive requirements” businesses face.

Firms also flagged environmental permitting, chemicals regulation, financial reporting and the administrative burden of complying with IR35 rules on contractor taxation.

Silence from regulators is another sore point. Businesses said they receive limited updates once applications are submitted, leaving them in the dark about completion dates, with delays ranging from “weeks to years” that “can incur substantial costs”.

Their prescription is clear enough: “simplification and streamlining of regulatory processes”, alongside “predictable, timely, and transparent decision-making; clear, consistent regulatory guidance; digitisation, including single portals, acceptance of digital records, and interoperability between bodies; proportionate and risk-based regulation, particularly for SMEs”.

The findings echo research published in March by the Federation of Small Businesses, which put the annual cost of regulatory compliance for SMEs at £36 billion and 379 million hours of their time.

The government has pledged to cut that burden by 25 per cent by the end of this parliament, a target that sits alongside the chancellor’s promised £6 billion blitz on business bureaucracy. The FSB welcomed the goal but warned that “previous governments have not matched their lofty promises about pruning back overly burdensome rules with concrete action”.

Tina McKenzie, the FSB’s policy chair and co-chair of the department’s small business taskforce, said: “It’s no surprise that the questionnaire found overwhelming dissatisfaction with how the regulatory regime works – or doesn’t – for businesses.

“An overhaul of regulation is badly needed, with the recent decision to force all companies regardless of size to file profit and loss accounts with Companies House just one example of an additional regulatory burden that will add extra stress and expense to many independent companies.”

She said progress against the 25 per cent target had been “slow”, but that it had to be achieved.

Kate Shoesmith, director of policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, which also sits on the taskforce, said the lack of joined-up thinking between government agencies was a particular problem, with the same information requested in different formats, multiple times.

“It can feel like box-ticking for box-ticking’s sake,” she said. “A new prime minister will undoubtedly have new ideas. But policy changes must be viewed through the prism of delivering growth. Will they reduce, rather than add, to the cumulative burden that has been placed on business through the actions of successive governments?”

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