Business Confidence stories

Employment Hero launches a quarterly SMB Insight Engine to track Canadian small firms’ confidence amid hiring strain and burnout fears.

NZ adds more jobs but works fewer hours as high-paid tech roles, casual shifts and young workers’ pay all slide, new data shows.

New Zealand firms plan bigger tech budgets as optimism grows, shifting AI from pilots to scaled deployments despite talent and cyber strains.

UK and Irish SME bosses fear a worsening economy yet still plan to ramp up investment, betting on AI, innovation and sales growth in 2026.

Global CEOs pin 2026 hopes on APAC growth and soaring AI spend, despite geopolitical risks and investor pressure for faster returns.

UK SMEs remain upbeat on growth but risk falling behind as economic jitters, rising customer demands and poor grasp of AI strain marketing.

UK founders warn unclear AI rules and weak digital trust threaten competitiveness, as many eye EU markets despite backing Britain to start up.

UK firms most confident on EU AI Act readiness yet report more fines and contract turmoil than German and French rivals, study finds.

Energy bills surge for Australian SMEs as federal rebates end, driving cost cuts, delayed investment and a pivot to digital and AI tools.

Australian SMEs show growing confidence into 2026, with rising revenue and increased digital adoption helping them tackle soaring energy costs and economic challenges.

Small businesses in the UK and Ireland face confusion and lack confidence in adopting AI, citing skills gaps and need for clearer guidance, research reveals.

UK Budget 2026 sparks concern in tech and construction over investment, tax changes, and public spending’s impact on growth and business confidence.

Multinational US firms outperform domestic companies by 16% amid dollar volatility, but domestic businesses eye growth as interest rates fall and investment rises.

CPiO appoints Duncan Boyne as Power BI Lead to enhance data strategy and analytics for UK SMEs amid economic uncertainty and operational challenges.

UK fintech founders embrace AI, with 83% adopting it, despite 81% losing confidence in the economy and nearly half considering relocating abroad due to tax concerns.

Despite rising costs and softening profits, 92% of New Zealand's SMEs remain confident in their business outlook over the next year and five years ahead.

Duality Technologies partners with Google Cloud to deliver confidential AI using NVIDIA GPUs, enabling secure, scalable large language model training for enterprises.

The Visual Media Association has launched its 2025 survey to benchmark Australia’s AUD $15bn print, sign, packaging and visual media sector amid key government reviews.

NZ small businesses saw 1.9% sales growth year-on-year, but jobs fell 1.2%, with sectors like construction and hospitality facing ongoing challenges.

UK electronics firms are boosting stock and purchase orders ahead of Q4, responding to longer lead times and aiming to meet demand during key retail periods.