For now, productivity growth is likely stuck in the slow lane at around 0.5%, not the desired 1 or 1.5%.

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Overall, given external and self-imposed political constraints, this Budget won’t be remembered as a game changer. Bolder moves on income tax or the triple lock could have created fiscal space for a step-change in productivity.

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Additional training spend is positive, yet Industrial Strategy support is less clear. And while transport upgrades for the Midlands and North continue, delivery timelines remain uncertain.

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The real test is how well this Budget supports the government’s growth strategies. The £13 billion flexible funding for mayoral combined authorities and extra allocations for devolved nation are welcome, but their true flexibility in how these can be spent will matter.

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The OBR’s revised 1% productivity trend remains far above current performance. With moderate business tax rises and spending largely within the earlier Spending Review envelope, most gains must come from efficiency improvements in existing resources.

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Two critical questions from the Budget shape the UK’s productivity outlook: Can tax and spending measures realistically deliver the newly downgraded productivity forecast? And are the measures coherent enough to ensure implementation?

The answer to both: there’s a steep climb ahead.

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📄 Read the study: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
🧩 Explore the models: fintext.ai and huggingface.co/FinText

This is a strong example of how humanities-led, interdisciplinary research continues to advance understanding in rapidly evolving technological fields.

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💻 This work was made possible by significant computational resources and the support of the Bristol Centre for Supercomputing (BriCS), @ukri.org, @n8research.bsky.social, @ucl.ac.uk, @uomresearchit.bsky.social, @manchester.ac.uk, @alliancembs.bsky.social, and @digitaluom.bsky.social. 👏

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🚀 Built from billions of observations across 94 global markets, these models support an extensive evaluation of forecasting methods. The accompanying study shows how finance-specific pre-training can outperform generic AI models and offer clearer insights into real-world market behaviour.

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🎧 If you want an in-depth discussion on how the Budget could impact productivity, listen to the latest episode of Productivity Puzzles.
👉 www.productivity.ac.uk/podcast/will...

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@alliancembs.bsky.social #Budget2025

🔗 Read more: www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/u...

A proud moment for our city. A proud moment for our University. 💜💛

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Students from across fashion, music and drama joined the event, which featured an inspiring Q&A with Williamson, led by Heather Cole from the John Rylands Research Institute and Library (@thejohnrylands.bsky.social), home to the renowned British Pop Archive.

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💬 “…With the British Pop Archive based here at the University, it feels fitting to celebrate the next chapter of the BRITs in a city shaped by its creativity and the people who study, work and create here.” - Professor Duncan Ivison, President and Vice-Chancellor

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💬 “Music is central to our city’s identity, and Manchester has long nurtured artists of global influence. It’s wonderful that the BRITs will be hosted outside London for the first time, and that Manchester has been chosen…
- @duncanivison.bsky.social, President and Vice-Chancellor

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Designed by internationally acclaimed, Manchester-born creative Matthew Williamson, the trophy was revealed during a special celebration of the city’s creative heritage.

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What a fascinating lecture @hcrinstitute.bsky.social - for more info on simmilar events check out the HCRI blog 👉 blogs.manchester.ac.uk/hcri/2024/10...

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🗣️"Intersectionality is so many things... the Idea of multiple intersecting systems of power and structures of oppression. No one group experiences power and oppression in one way"

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