Since our last edition of Prospects we’ve had a change of Prime Minister – and as the Autumn Budget approaches, an immediate and pressing question on many people’s minds is what Andy Burnham’s government will deliver in it.
There is also the possibility that he may call an early general election. As an unelected Prime Minister, this could be far from straightforward – as some of his recent predecessors have discovered to their detriment. Public affairs expert and former government special adviser Fraser Raleigh opines on the implications of an early election in our guest editorial.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere – but few may have ever considered the intricacies involved in its supply chain, or the string of bottlenecks that are causing holdups in the quest to meet the world’s demand for AI. From power supply to semiconductor manufacturing, Senior Research Analyst Henry Birt sheds light on the complex level of planning involved in AI production.
When it comes to retirement planning, managing the trade-off between wanting to keep funds to cover unexpected costs, while also retaining sufficient assets to live on can be tricky – and drives a lot of people to be (sometimes overly) cautious with their spending in retirement. This can mean that many pass away with a far greater accumulation of wealth than they might have foreseen. Wealth Planner Charles Barrow explains why reframing retirement to think beyond capital accumulation can often help to retain a sense of perspective.
The Supreme Court judgment in the 2025 case of Standish v Standish has had a lasting impact in the way family courts have subsequently divided matrimonial assets – particularly where one party has brought significantly higher assets to the relationship. In the independent view, Xanthy Papageorgiou of private client law firm Sinclair Gibson LLP examines how the principles Standish v Standish established have been further influenced by UK family court cases over the past year.
A subversive entrant in the world of UK investment companies by the name of Saba has forced a rethink in the way boards in the sector conventionally operate. Its modus operandi over the past year has been to buy shares that are trading on heavy discounts, try to force the boards to make changes that will result in share value increases, and then aim to sell its holdings at a profit. While regulators move to tackle this, it has brought about some learning points and positive changes in investment company management – including better communication with shareholders. Senior Research Analyst Samir Shah covers the latest in the Saba chapter in the collectives commentary.
Moving from top-down changes to the topic of building a business up from scratch, Founder Robert Morris shares some of the lessons from his 30-year experience as an eyewear industry entrepreneur; from the value of using British heritage as a selling point when marketing abroad to driving growth through exports and the perennial challenge of finding engaged distributors.
Lastly, as JM Finn turns 80 this year, CEO Hugo Bedford shares his thoughts on the somewhat surprising revival of vinyl record sales, drawing parallels between the rising popularity of non-digital media formats and the value of keeping human relationships at the heart of the firm’s ethos.
