These are challenging times. For business leaders, the ongoing cost of living crisis and concerns over geopolitics and political uncertainty are high on the radar. In our latest CEO Outlook, UK CEOs identified political uncertainty as the top threat to growth over the next three years. And in our new Consumer Pulse survey, over 50% of consumers say they have reduced non-essential spend.

At KPMG, we’re committed to helping you meet these challenges. Our new cost transformation campaign delivers key insights for businesses seeking to save costs to remain profitable and plan for future growth. Whatever your cost optimisation priorities, we have practical guidance to support those decisions.

Against the current challenging backdrop, greenwashing is becoming a major concern for consumers. In our recent study of 2,000 consumers, over half told us they would stop buying from a company if it was found to have been misleading in its sustainability claims. Read our new blog to find out how to ensure your sustainability claims stand up to scrutiny.

The green agenda is also the focus for the inaugural episode of our new Private Equity vodcast series, ‘A word in Private’. We explore how Private Equity firms can use climate to drive value creation and the importance of ESG to PE funds and their portfolio companies. Insights for Leaders’, our digital events series, has more insights to help you navigate the current terrain.

Finally, we have exciting news from our Global Tech Innovator competition, which recognises leading tech innovators worldwide. Our 2023 winner is PlasticFri, a sustainable green technology business from Sweden, converting agricultural waste into eco-friendly products that can replace plastics. Want to be in the running for next year? Find out more about this year’s UK winner and discover how to enter your business for the 2024 competition.

I trust you find this edition interesting. If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised in this newsletter or any other matters, please reach out to me or my colleagues. In the meantime, I wish you a peaceful and happy festive season and a prosperous new year.