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Every year, tens of thousands of young Nigerians move to the UK in search of a better life. Edidiong* (25) came for a master’s degree after his family scraped together every naira they could find. A year after graduation, he’s still hustling for a job that will sponsor his work Visa. The pressure is real, and failure could mean losing everything. As told to Aisha Bello I arrived in the UK in August 2023 with a suitcase full of big dreams and a heart full of hope. I was ready to take on the world, or at least, that was the plan.  My family and our extended network back home had scraped together every naira they could spare to send me here for a master’s degree in International Business Management and Entrepreneurship. Everyone believed in me and expected me to succeed. I believed it, too. My first year in the new country passed in a blur of routine and cautious optimism. I worked as...

Brown Brothers Harriman’s (BBH) Elias Haddad describes United Kingdom (UK) June labor data as soft, with unemployment stuck at 4.9% and private sector regular pay growth slowing to 2.8% year-on-year. Haddad judges current market pricing of 60 bps of Bank of England (BoE) hikes over 12 months as too aggressive, yet believes the UK’s favorable growth-inflation mix still offers British Pound (GBP) support for now.Labor slack tempers BoE expectations"UK June jobs data was soft and indicative of ongoing labor market slack. The unemployment rate was unexpectedly unchanged at 4.9% for a third straight month in June. Consensus and the BoE had 4.8% penciled-in.""Moreover, the policy-relevant private sector regular pay growth slowed to 2.8% y/y in June (lowest since October 2020) vs. 2.9% in May. That matched consensus and the BoE’s projection.""The swaps curve continues to price-in 60bps of BoE rate hikes in the next twelve months. That’s too aggressive in our view given the UK’s negative output gap, and leaves...

(Aug 18): UK employers shed more workers in July and job vacancies hit a fresh five-year low as demand for staff remained tepid in the face of heightened uncertainty from events at home and abroad.The number of employees on company payrolls dropped 13,000 in July after a similar fall the previous month, data from the Office for National Statistics showed on Tuesday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected no change.Job vacancies dropped further to 707,000 in the May to July period, the lowest since 2021. Private sector wage growth, excluding bonuses, the gauge watched closely by the Bank of England for signs of inflationary pressures, eased to 2.8% in the second quarter, the lowest in almost six years.While some recent data have pointed to stabilisation in the jobs market, employers seem reluctant to hire amid heightened uncertainty over the Iran war and the first budget under new UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham later this year.The pound and market bets on...

Robert Jenrick says Britain has a welfare problem. He wants millions of people receiving sickness and disability benefits to move into work. But there is a fundamental problem with that argument: where are the jobs? UK unemployment is already around five per cent, youth unemployment is higher, vacancies have been falling, and there are substantially more unemployed people than available jobs. You cannot solve an employment shortage simply by increasing the number of people required to look for work. There is an even bigger contradiction. The Bank of England has been using high interest rates to suppress demand in the economy. Weaker demand means less investment, lower consumption and, ultimately, reduced demand for workers, as a result of deliberate government policy. At the same time, just when Reform UK wants to push more people into the labour market while cutting the incomes of those who cannot find work, those benefit cuts would themselves reduce spending and demand, potentially destroying still more jobs. None of this makes...

AI is helping East of England firms create new jobs and build the skills needed to stay competitive, according to research from the Lloyds Business Barometer.Businesses step up investment in AI skills62% of East of England businesses already using AI say it has created new jobs in their firm, while 51% of all firms in the region plan to increase investment in AI to upskill their workforce in the coming year.Of those increasing investment, 47% expect to spend between £25,000 and £100,000, while 40% expect to spend between £100,000 and £250,000.While 52% of East of England businesses say their workforce has the AI skills needed, 40% say it does not.Overall, 71% of the region’s firms say they currently use AI.AI becoming essential for competitiveness54% of East of England firms say that businesses which fail to adopt AI in the next three years will be at a competitive disadvantage, suggesting AI is increasingly viewed as a competitive necessity.Barriers to AI adoptionBusinesses...

Ferguson Marine has opened a voluntary redundancy programme expected to see up to 70 employees leave the Port Glasgow yard, as work on the ferry Glen Rosa winds down and before contracts for four new vessels are finalised, the company stated. The yard is moving into the final outfitting and commissioning phases of Glen Rosa ahead of delivery in the fourth quarter of 2026, and says the workload is naturally reducing as a result. Formal consultation has begun. Graeme Thomson, chief executive of Ferguson Marine, said: “Our immediate focus remains the safe, high-quality handover of Glen Rosa in Q4 2026. However, as the vessel nears completion, we face an inevitable gap in workload while we work with the Scottish Government to make the relevant preparations to enable us to proceed with contract negotiations. “Shipbuilding capability relies on continuity and while changes of this nature are difficult, taking proactive action now ensures we protect the long-term viability of the yard and remain lean, modern,...

The UK job market remains subdued as rising costs weigh on recruitment, with vacancies falling to their lowest level outside of the pandemic in nearly 12 years, official figures have revealed.Vacancies fell by 6,000 to 707,000 in the three months to July, their lowest level outside the pandemic since September to November 2014, when they stood at 703,000, according to Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) latest labour market data.The employment rate rose slightly by 0.1 percentage points to 75.1 per cent for the three months to June, while the number of payrolled employees fell by 78,000 in the year to June.UK hiring stuck in 'low-hire, low-fire' cycle, CIPD research warnsUK employers taking cautious approach to growth, CIPD’s labour outlook reveals2026 labour market trends: hiring slowdown and AI disruptionJames Cockett, senior labour market economist at the CIPD, said the figures outlined “the stark reality of the challenges currently facing employers,” with the labour market showing “very little sign of change, with...

Drive Motor Retail has officially unveiled its newly redeveloped Darlington dealership, following an investment of over £3 million that has transformed the site into one of the region's largest multi-brand automotive centres.The redevelopment brings together seven vehicle brands under one roof, including Citroën, Peugeot, Fiat, Abarth, Vauxhall, Leapmotor and MG, alongside Fiat Professional aftersales services, creating a unique destination for motorists across the North East.The modernised dealership now features five manufacturer showrooms, significantly expanded workshop facilities and space to display more than 130 used vehicles, allowing customers to compare a wide range of vehicles in a single visit.The project represents the first full refurbishment of the site in over 20 years, bringing the dealership in line with the latest manufacturer design standards and improving the overall experience for customers.Extensive changes have also been made, including relocating the MOT bay and installing additional ramps to expand workshop capacity and allow the team to service more vehicles.The redevelopment has also created over...

Modified: Tuesday, 18 August 2026 12:16 BST - Written by James Fuller ...

Nikki Taylor, 47, relocated to Puglia after corporate burnout from London’s hectic banking world put her into hospital and on medication. She now works as a property consultant for foreign buyers. Relocating to Puglia healed me in so many ways. I feel reborn here; I found inner peace and contentment. Back in London it was always the same drill: waking up to know I’d be constantly battling the weather, the rat race, the morning commute on the Tube in rush hour. It was like running a marathon; every day was just so stressful. Shorts Scroll to previous short Scroll to next short REFORM UK The flaws in Reform’s plan to scrap PIP and slash £50bn from benefits bill Will Hazell Whitehall Correspondent Reform Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick said it would stop some claimants “taking everyone else for mugs” by slashing personal independence payments, banning foreign nationals from receiving benefits and forcing long-term claimants to do community work. What is in the plan? Under the plans, foreign nationals...