Category: 3. Business

Nearly 1,000 British workers will adopt a permanently shorter working week, after the latest trial of a four-day week and similar changes to traditional working patterns.

All 17 British businesses in a six-month trial of the four-day week said they would continue with an arrangement consisting of either four days a week or nine days a fortnight. All the employees remained on their full salary.

The trial was organised by the 4 Day Week Foundation, a group campaigning for more businesses to take up shorter working weeks.

The latest test follows a larger six-month pilot in 2022, involving almost 3,000 employees, which ended in 56 of 61 companies cutting down their hours from a five-day working week.

The 4 Day Week Foundation is hoping to build on the shift around the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century, when campaigns led by trade unions gave birth to the two-day weekend. The previous norm for many people in Britain and other traditionally Christian countries had been a six-day working week, with time off only on Sundays.

Campaigners and some economists argue that the four-day week can offer benefits to workers such as less strain on their mental health, and to businesses, including more motivated staff and easier recruitment and retention.

Researchers at Boston College, a US university, said that the findings from the latest trial were “extremely positive” for workers. They found that 62% of workers reported that they experienced less burnout during the trial, according to a poll of 89 people. Forty-five percent of those polled said they felt “more satisfied with life”.

The 4 Day Week Foundation has run successive trials to gather data and demonstrate how companies can make the switch. In January, the foundation said more than 5,000 people from a previous wave had started the year permanently working a four-day week.

Companies involved in the latest trial, which started in November, included charities and professional services firms, with the number of employees at each employer ranging between five and 400. They included the British Society for Immunology and Crate Brewery in Hackney, east London,

Campaigners hope that they can build momentum for the change. The 4 Day Week Foundation said the government should create a working time council to coordinate policy between business and industry leaders as well as trade unions.

The concept of the four-day week faced strong opposition from the previous Conservative government. Labour ministers have previously expressed more support for the concept, although they have offered little in the way of formal recognition since coming to power in 2024.

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In 2023, Angela Rayner, who has since become deputy prime minister, said: “If you can deliver within a four-day working week, then why not. I think people will cotton on to the fact that it’s really good, if it works for their sector and boosts productivity.”

The small web software company BrandPipe said that the latest trial had been a success for the business, coinciding with increased sales. Geoff Slaughter, the BrandPipe chief executive, said: “The trial’s been an overwhelming success because it has been the launchpad for us to consider what constitutes efficiency, and financial performance is double what it was before.”

Slaughter added: “If we’re going to see it rolled out more substantially across different sectors, there should be incentives for early adopters, because we’re creating the blueprint for the future.”

With the rapid evolution of the mobile threat landscape, this partnership expands access to the most comprehensive mobile application security

LEUVEN, Belgium – July 3, 2025 – Verdane, the European specialist growth investment firm, is entering a partnership with Guardsquare, a leader in mobile application security. The partnership follows previous investment from Battery Ventures and addresses the growing mobile app security threats by expanding access to GuardSquare’s critical mobile application security for global businesses of all sizes. It also combines Guardsquare’s deep technical expertise with Verdane’s growth strategy through M&A and continued organic growth. 

Mobile applications are increasingly becoming the primary way users interact with businesses. Yet, mobile app security needs have historically remained underserved, especially as threat actors target mobile apps at an accelerated pace. Verdane’s investment enables Guardsquare to expand its reach in providing the most comprehensive approach to mobile application security on the market, delivering the highest level of protection with ease. ​​Earlier this year, Cyber Defense Magazine recognized Guardsquare as the market leader in Mobile App Security and honored the company with its prestigious Mobile App Security Award.

“I’m excited to embark on this new partnership with Verdane. It marks an inspiring and well-aligned progression toward our long-term vision. We will benefit from their expertise as, together, we take Guardsquare to the next level, significantly expand our market share, and increase our global reach through organic growth, ongoing product enhancements, and M&A,” said Roel Caers, CEO at Guardsquare. “We’re grateful for the support provided by Battery Ventures over the past several years as we became the market leader in mobile application protection. Their guidance enabled us to scale our business globally and attract top talent, particularly in the U.S.”

“Guardsquare’s industry-leading mobile application protection is a critical cybersecurity service, and we’re excited to partner with Roel and the entire Guardsquare team to make this available for even more businesses globally. The company’s growth from a European to a global leader has been very impressive to behold, and we’re looking forward to supporting the company in its future journey,” said Morten Weicher, Partner at Verdane.

“It has been a privilege to partner with the Guardsquare team and support the company’s growth journey. As it scaled its business, Guardsquare has consistently demonstrated its commitment to innovation and leadership in mobile application security,” said Dharmesh Thakker, Partner at Battery Ventures. “We are confident that this new partnership with Verdane will open up many new growth opportunities and allow Guardsquare to continue to help set the standard for mobile application security worldwide.”

Completion of the transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals.

About Verdane
Verdane is an independent specialist growth investment firm that partners with tech-enabled and sustainable European businesses. Verdane can invest as a minority or majority investor, either in single companies or through portfolios of companies, and looks to invest inside two core growth themes; digitalisation and decarbonisation. Verdane has more than €8 billion in assets under management and its funds have made over 200 investments in fast-growing businesses since 2003. Verdane’s team of over 150 investment professionals and operating experts, based out of Berlin, Munich, Copenhagen, Helsinki, London, Oslo and Stockholm, is dedicated to being the preferred growth partner to tech-enabled and sustainable businesses in Europe. Verdane is a UN PRI signatory and also a certified B Corporation, the most ambitious sustainability accreditation globally. The firm only backs businesses that pass its 2040 test, which indicates whether the company can thrive in a more sustainable future economy. Additionally, the Verdane Foundation, which is managed by the group, focuses on supporting sustainability globally and inclusion locally.

About Guardsquare
Guardsquare offers the most complete approach to mobile application security on the market, delivering the highest level of protection in the easiest possible way. Guardsquare’s software integrates seamlessly across the development cycle, from app security testing to code hardening to real-time visibility into the threat landscape. Guardsquare products provide enhanced mobile application security from early in the development process through publication. More than 900 organizations worldwide across all major industries rely on Guardsquare to help them identify security risks and protect their mobile applications and SDKs against reverse engineering and tampering in the ever-evolving threat landscape. Learn more at Guardsquare.com and on LinkedIn.

MANILA, Philippines — Asian shares mostly gained on Thursday after U.S. stocks hit another all-time high.

U.S. futures edged up while oil prices fell.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 inched up 0.1% to 39,794.16. In South Korea, the Kospi added 1% to 3,106.46, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.1% to 8,589.30.

The Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 1% to 23,976.41. The Shanghai Composite index edged up 0.1% to 3,57.36.

Taiwan’s TAIEX surged 1.4% while India’s Sensex rose 0.3%

Mizuho Bank, Ltd., in a commentary, said there is lopsided optimism about Vietnam’s deal with the US, with Vietnamese imports subject to 20% tariffs in return for 0% tariffs on U.S. goods.

“A higher 40% tariff on goods deemed to be transshipped via Vietnam could accentuate risks to and from China,” it said, adding that “other Asian economies will be particularly vulnerable to a two-sided geoeconomic squeeze given that their reliance on both China and U.S. are significant.” President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he reached a deal with Vietnam, where U.S. products sold in the country will face zero tariffs and Vietnamese-made goods will face a U.S. tariff of 20%. That helped companies that import lots of things from Vietnam, including Nike, whose stock rose 4.1%. Factories in Vietnam made half of all Nike brand footwear in its fiscal year of 2024. The S&P 500 rose 0.5% and set a record for the third time in four days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down by 10 points, or less than 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.9%.

Tesla helped drive the market higher and rose 5% after saying it delivered nearly 374,000 of its Model 3 and Model Y automobiles last quarter. That was better than analysts expected, though the electric-vehicle maker’s overall sales fell 13% from a year earlier.

Worries have been high that CEO Elon Musk’s involvement in politics is turning off potential Tesla buyers.

Constellation Brands climbed 4.5% despite reporting a weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It pointed to slowing growth for jobs in the construction industry and other “4000 calorie+” sectors, which tends to hurt demand for its beer.

But the company selling Modelo beer and Robert Mondavi wine nevertheless stuck with its financial forecasts for the full upcoming year.

They helped offset a 40.4% drop for Centene. The health care company withdrew its forecasts for profit this year after seeing data that suggests worse-than-expected sickness trends in many of the states where it does business. It was the worst day for the stock since its debut in 2001.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 29.41 points to 6,227.42. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 10.52 to 44,484.42, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 190.24 to 20,393.13.

In the bond market, Treasury yields were mixed ahead of a highly anticipated report on Thursday, which will show how many jobs U.S. employers created and destroyed last month. The widespread expectation is that they hired more people than they fired but that the pace of hiring slowed from May.

A stunningly weak report released Wednesday morning raised worries that Thursday’s report may fall short. The data from ADP suggested that U.S. employers outside the government cut 33,000 jobs from their payrolls last month, when economists were expecting to see growth of 115,000 jobs.

The ADP report does not have a perfect track record predicting what the U.S. government’s more comprehensive jobs report will say each month. That preserves hope that Thursday’s data could be more encouraging. But a fear has been that uncertainty around President Donald Trump’s tariffs could cause employers to freeze their hiring.

Many of Trump’s stiff proposed taxes on imports are currently on pause, and they’re scheduled to kick into effect in about a week. Unless Trump reaches deals with other countries to lower the tariffs, they could hurt the economy and worsen inflation.

Other factors could also be dragging on the job market, such as the U.S. government’s termination of protected status for 350,000 Venezuelans, potentially exposing them to deportation. That alone could create a drag on payrolls of 25,000 jobs, according to Goldman Sachs economist David Mericle, whose forecast for Thursday’s report is weaker than many of his peers.

In other dealings on Thursday, the benchmark U.S. crude lost 45 cents to $67, while Brent crude, the international standard, shed 47 cents to $68.64. The dollar was trading at 143.77 Japanese yen, up from 143.65 yen. The euro was unchanged at $1.1790.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) deployed in the sewer system has helped prevent West Sussex homes from flooding, Southern Water says.

AI learns the normal behaviour of sewers and can tell the difference between morning and evening rushes, rain in the system, and a blockage forming.

Digital sensors in a sewer at East Lavington near Petworth on 16 June spotted a blockage caused by a fatberg which was then tackled before gardens and homes flooded with wastewater.

“We’re spotting hundreds of potential blockages before it’s too late,” said Daniel McElhinney, proactive operations control manager at Southern Water.

According to Southern Water, blocked sewers are the single biggest cause of pollution incidents, but AI has now cut internal flooding by 40% and external flooding by 15%.

The water company says it has about 32,000 sewer lever monitors that can check on flows and spot anything out of the ordinary which might indicate a blockage or leak.

Mr McElhinney said: “Most customers do not realise the average suburban sewer is only the diameter of an orange or a tennis ball.

“It doesn’t take much cooking fat to combine with other ‘unflushables’ such as sanitary products, wet wipes or even ear cleaning sticks, to form a fatberg,” he added.