London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

Business chief urges green growth to boost economy as forecast warns of deeper recession

Business chief urges green growth to boost economy as forecast warns of deeper recession

As a respected economic forecaster warns output this year could fall by more than expected, the CBI's chief executive calls on the chancellor to help firms invest in uncertain times.
Britain's biggest employers' group is urging the government to take "big decisions" on boosting growth as a prominent forecaster warns that the country may be facing a deeper recession than it had expected.

Chief executive of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) used a speech on Monday afternoon to demand the chancellor reverses "the UK's trajectory" of falling investment through a series of actions, with a focus on green growth.

Tony Danker argued that the country is lagging behind international rivals in the sphere - and that Jeremy Hunt's looming spring budget provides an opportunity for government to help business achieve it.

This could be done in areas including reform of the consent process for green infrastructure.

He is also seeking new regulation to stimulate domestic demand for green technologies.

Mr Danker complained about huge uncertainties for UK firms over the Retained EU Law Bill, which says that at the end of this year all retained EU law in the UK expires.

He demanded a permanent successor to the super deduction tax that ends in April, claiming the UK was on course to drop from fifth to 30th place among the 38 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) advanced economies for capital investment.

"The PM set out less than a year ago what is needed to transform our economy. The ideas are there. Let's stop second guessing ourselves and get on because there is money on the table to capture right now."

Mr Danker's remarks chime with warnings that the UK economy, which could yet be in recession, may see a deeper downturn than initially expected.

EY's Item Club predicted a 0.7% contraction during 2023 in its latest forecast.

It added that the following two years were also the subject of a downgrade due, partly, to less government support and higher taxes.

The predicted performance for 2023 was far worse than the 0.3% dip it had expected just three months ago.

The recession was not tipped to last longer than beyond the first half of this year.

Official figures are yet to show whether the UK fell into recession during the second half of 2022.

"The UK's economic outlook has become gloomier than forecast in the autumn, and the UK may already be in what has been one of the mostly widely anticipated recessions in living memory," said EY's UK chair Hywel Ball.

He added: "The economy is still expected to return to growth during the second half of 2023 and has been spared any significant new external shocks in the last three months from energy prices, COVID-19 or geopolitics.

"Meanwhile, the chief headwind to activity over the last year - high and rising inflation - may be starting to retreat, while energy prices are falling too."
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×