Business activity in the UK just fell off a cliff. A survey from a major business group shows a huge drop, with way more companies reporting declines than growth. They think this weak mess will last until spring. Economists point to scared consumers who stopped spending before the recent Budget, and who still aren't buying anything now.
The guy doing the survey said it wraps up a terrible year, blaming the lame demand and high costs. All that pre-Budget nervousness made businesses delay projects, and even with that over, nothing has improved. Other data backs this up, showing the whole economy actually shrank recently. Even Black Friday sales were bad.
Nobody is hiring either. Service sector hiring plans are at pandemic lows...
Another day, another 90s relic getting a hype train. This time it's the jacket potato, because apparently Gen Z discovered carbs. A TikTok-famous operation called SpudBros, started by two brothers named Jacob and Harley Nelson from Preston, is going national. They just teamed up with a roadside retail group, EG On The Move, which runs a bunch of gas stations. Trial spots opened at their locations in Blackburn and Wakefield.
The whole thing blew up because the brothers posted videos of their massive loaded potatoes online during the pandemic. Celebrity attention from people like Will Smith and MrBeast didn't hurt. Now they're trying to turn that internet clout into a real chain, with help from a company called Taster on franchising...
Of course, a 22-year-old is fixing a hundred billion-dollar problem for the global shipping industry. A startup called ScrubMarine, run by founder Rohith Devanathan, just got over seven hundred and fifty thousand pounds from investors. The backers include SFC Capital and PXN Ventures, plus some cash from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund. The company is based in Edinburgh but also has engineers in Whitehaven. They are building robots to clean slime off ship hulls, an issue called biofouling.
The whole point is to stop using divers for this nasty underwater work, which is apparently dangerous and expensive. Their main robot is called the Turtle. It is supposed to be light and use bubble technology to scrape off gunk without...
Yeah, okay, so the Italian defense giant Leonardo is basically holding a gun to its own UK factory’s head. They told the British government that their last helicopter plant, in Yeovil, will probably shut down if they don’t win a billion-pound contract to replace the old Puma helicopters. The CEO, Roberto Cingolani, wrote a letter to Defence Secretary John Healey laying it out. Their AW149 model is the only one still in the running.
The whole thing is a pretty blunt ultimatum. No new contract means they will rethink everything in Britain, not just building choppers but also their electronics and cybersecurity work. The plant employs over three thousand people and builds stuff like the Merlin helicopter. Company bosses say they cannot...
The Unplugged festival came back under new management at the First Capital Bank Sports Club, banking hard on nostalgia with a headlining set from the South African duo Liquideep. The event's organization was tight, with a well-designed stage, big screens, and a clear view for VIP and general admission. DJ Joe and ROPA started things off, followed by R&B acts SAIIREN and Melyssa before Sane Wav and Delroy Shewe ramped up the energy. MC Tatts and DJ Fujee kept the transitions smooth all night.
As it got dark, Sylent Nqo performed with a full band, playing tracks like "Huya" and "Denga." Saintfloew then delivered a powerhouse set with his band, showcasing hits like "Gundamwenda" and bringing Delroy Shewe back for "Superstar," solidifying...
Zimbabwe's comedy scene somehow keeps leveling up. Main names like King Kandoro, Nigel Tha Slick Pastor, and Learnmore Jonasi are pushing it past just local bars. Kandoro launched a thing called the New School Comedy Club this year, then later packed the Celebration Centre again for his State Of The Nation Tour. He brought along new comics from his club and two international acts: Uganda's Dr. Hillary Okello and satirist Vafa Naraghi from the south.
The whole tour ended at that Celebration Centre show. People waited in hilariously long lines to get in. Ignatius Mbongeni and Mike Chipere opened, joking about everything from gospel music to local news. Okello killed with a bit of comparing football commentary across continents. Naraghi...
ZIMRA, the tax authority in Zimbabwe, is walking back its plan for monthly tax certificates after businesses complained. The original rule would have made those tax clearance documents, called ITF263 forms, expire every single month for everyone. Commissioner for Domestic Taxes Misheck Govha wrote a letter to the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries about it. They are now talking about a slower, staged rollout instead.
The new idea is not one size fits all. Big companies might get a certificate good for half a year. Smaller businesses and people bidding for government tenders would get one lasting three months. This is a shift from saying every taxpayer needed a new form each month. They are calling it a transitional framework. The tax...
Right, so in the middle of nowhere, Zimbabwe, there is this hospital that somehow works. Mount Darwin, a farming area way up north near Mozambique, has the Karanda Mission Hospital. It is run by the Evangelical Church of Zimbabwe. The place is basically holding the line while the country's entire public health system falls apart. A patient named Tendai Chambati, from Harare, said she had no other options that she could afford before going there. The medical director is a Canadian doctor named Paul Thistle. They also run a cervical cancer screening program called the Madiro initiative.
The whole situation is bleak everywhere else. Government hospitals have no staff, and health workers flee the country for better pay. This has created a...
Another security guard got killed in a fight with illegal miners, this time at the Tebekwe gold mine in Shurugwi. The guard, Tirivanhu Muradzikwa, died after an attack by trespassers who crawled into the claim through a tunnel. Police have two suspects in custody, Munyaradzi Gonye and Clever Magura, but others are still hiding somewhere in the underground maze after mine security sealed their exit and fired warning shots.
The mine's chief security officer, Derick Dube, said they are playing a cat and mouse game trying to find about three more guys still down there. He mentioned the operation is working with police, using resources to tackle gold theft, and even namedropped a previously arrested notorious miner called Jamba. They have...
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