Business

German employees will be required to visit a doctor in person and obtain a sick note on the first day of illness, under tough new rules unveiled by Chancellor Friedrich Merz as part of a sweeping package to revive the country’s stagnant economy.

The measure scraps the current system, under which workers could secure a certificate over the phone and did not need one at all until their third day off. It is a marked contrast with Britain, where employees can self-certify for a full seven days before a fit note is required.

“The number of sick days is too high,” Merz told journalists. “We are creating a set of tools that will enable those involved, both employees and companies, to correct this. We know this is a tough decision. But we can no longer afford the competitive disadvantage caused by prolonged absences from work.”

Germans take an average of roughly 15 working days of sick leave a year, according to figures from the Federal Statistical Office, lower than France and most Nordic countries but well above Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland and Italy. By comparison, the latest Office for National Statistics data shows around 149 million working days were lost to sickness or injury in the UK last year, some 2 per cent of all working hours, or just over four days per worker. British absence rates have nonetheless been climbing, with UK sick days recently hitting a 15-year high, driven in large part by mental health conditions.

While employers’ groups welcomed the German move, it has infuriated the country’s powerful trade unions. Frank Werneke, head of the services union Verdi, accused Merz of fostering “a culture of distrust of employees”.

Doctors are equally unimpressed, warning the requirement will overwhelm general practice with appointments that serve no clinical purpose. “Our practices would be flooded with patients who don’t need in-person care and would be better off in bed,” said the German Association of Family Physicians, which branded the measure “an absolute catastrophe”.

The sick note crackdown forms part of a broader reform programme negotiated between Merz’s centre-right Christian Democratic Union and its coalition partner, the centre-left Social Democrats. Alongside a promised bonfire of red tape, the retirement age could rise gradually from 67 to as high as 70 in the coming decades, while tax cuts for lower and middle earners will be funded by higher rates on incomes above €250,000 (£215,000).

For UK business owners watching from across the Channel, the episode is a reminder that absence management remains a live policy battleground, and that handling staff sickness fairly and lawfully is as much about trust and process as it is about cost. It also underlines how seriously Germany’s slowdown is being taken in Berlin: sluggish growth in Europe’s largest economy is one of the factors expected to shape the continent’s economic pecking order through 2040.

Carsten Brzeski, an economist at Dutch bank ING, said the reforms were overdue but should not be oversold. “It may have taken longer than many hoped, but Germany’s long-awaited summer of reforms has finally arrived,” he said. “It is not a package that will morph a stagnating economy into a booming economy overnight. But it is a package that could create the preconditions, the framework, for future growth.”

Union leaders are calling on employers to let staff work from home on Monday, after England’s World Cup last-16 tie against Mexico kicks off at 1am BST.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has appealed to businesses to show “common sense” and allow football fans to work flexibly following the match, whether by working from home, starting later or swapping shifts.

Paul Nowak, the TUC general secretary and a self-confessed England and Everton fan, admitted the scheduling was far from ideal for supporters. “That’s why we are appealing to employers to show some common sense and understanding by allowing their staff to work flexibly where possible,” he said.

The plea comes as separate research suggests more than half of bosses have no plans to make any special arrangements for the fixture. Just one in five employers intend to offer flexible working during the tournament, according to a poll of more than 1,100 managers by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), a striking gap given the £3.8bn windfall the World Cup is expected to deliver for British business.

Petra Wilton of the CMI said: “We’re not saying every England win deserves a bank holiday, but if millions of people have stayed up until 3am supporting their team, asking employers to let them start a little later the next morning is simply common sense. We’re saying to employers across the country, ‘Let them start late.’”

Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed that British pubs can stay open through the night for the tie, which takes place at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. Should the match go to extra time, it could run as late as 4am.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), which represents HR professionals, has encouraged employers to allow workers to take annual leave, swap shifts or make up time later in the week, echoing its broader guidance on handling major sporting events in the workplace.

“Employers are under no obligation to make special arrangements around World Cup matches; however, some may choose to offer flexibility where this works for the business and does not impact performance,” said David D’Souza of the CIPD.

For smaller firms, the calculation may be more nuanced. With research showing that rigid office mandates are already driving workers to seek more flexible roles elsewhere, a well-handled World Cup could prove a cheap win for morale and retention. Acas has urged employers to get their team line-up sorted before kick-off, advising that agreements covering time off, sickness absence and flexible hours are put in place ahead of matches rather than argued over the morning after.

Employment lawyers, meanwhile, have warned fans against pulling a sickie. Samir Moftah, head of employment law at Manak Solicitors, said: “Intentionally deceiving your employer about your health can constitute misconduct and, in certain situations, gross misconduct.” Employees found to have falsely claimed sickness absence could face disciplinary action, and dismissal in the most serious cases.

The debate over Monday morning extends beyond the workplace. After England’s last-32 victory over the Democratic Republic of the Congo, head coach Thomas Tuchel asked parents to let their children skip school to cheer the side on. Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, responded that while the decision rested with parents, “children can be in school the next day.”

For SMEs weighing up how to respond, the tournament is as much an opportunity as a headache, and those thinking strategically about the World Cup event economy may find that a little flexibility on Monday pays dividends long after the final whistle.

The NHS is to offer rewards to people who walk for half an hour a day, in the first scheme of its kind to pay Britons back for getting active.

NHS England will launch its “marathon a month” challenge early next year, asking participants to walk for around 30 minutes daily. Those who manage it every day will cover roughly 26 miles over the month, the distance of a marathon, logging their progress online or via a phone or smartwatch.

Complete the challenge and rewards follow, potentially including incentives and discounts, although the organising team has yet to confirm precisely what is on offer. Vouchers are one option under consideration, and the presence on the team of Sir Keith Mills, the founder of Air Miles and Nectar, suggests the architecture of Britain’s best-known loyalty schemes will be brought to bear on the nation’s step count.

Crucially for taxpayers, the NHS will not be footing the bill for the rewards. NHS England is covering the initial set-up, but the wider plan is to draw in philanthropic backing from major corporates as the scheme rolls out, with public and private sector partners running the programme. GPs and other health staff will be encouraged to promote it to patients.

The scheme is being developed with Sir Brendan Foster, the Olympic medallist and founder of the Great North Run, who was asked by NHS England to build a campaign to get people walking as part of the government’s 10-year health plan for England.

“I’m known for running, but the ambition here is far simpler. We just want people to walk. Simple,” he says.

The aim is to sign up more than 100,000 people, with daily stats recorded digitally. If the target is hit, Sir Brendan says it would count as the biggest marathon in history. He is banking on “streak” culture, the habit-forming mechanic behind Snapchat and Duolingo, to keep participants going.

The under-25s Business Matters spoke to were broadly upbeat. One said the gamified challenge would push her to be more active, admitting that not wanting to break a streak is a powerful motivator for her and her friends. Another, who already clocks up roughly a marathon’s worth of walking each month, said he would happily take a free reward for something he is already doing.

The numbers behind the initiative are stark. Physical inactivity is associated with one in six deaths, according to official public health guidance, and a person is classified as inactive if they do less than 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week. Sport England’s Active Lives survey showed that in the year to November 2025 nearly a quarter of adults, around 12 million people, fell into that category.

“If someone walks 30 minutes five times a week, they could gain up to four extra years of healthy life,” Sir Brendan says.

For employers, the scheme lands at a moment when workforce health has become a boardroom issue. Business groups have already backed the Keep Britain Working review amid mounting fiscal pressure from economic inactivity, and there has been a marked rise in UK employers using wellbeing strategies to lift engagement and cut absenteeism. A state-backed incentive scheme that nudges staff out of the door at lunchtime may prove a useful, and free, addition to the corporate wellbeing toolkit.

The potential savings for the health service are significant too, at a time when technology is already being deployed to claw back hundreds of millions in NHS costs.

Not everyone believes incentives alone will shift the dial. Sonia Pombo, head of research and impact at Action on Salt & Sugar, says: “Encouraging people to build regular movement into their daily lives can support better health, and making it simple, achievable and rewarding may help more people get started. But we cannot rely on individual behaviour change alone. If the government is serious about improving the nation’s health, particularly for children, it must pair initiatives like this with stronger prevention measures.”

Full details of the scheme, including how to sign up, will be released in the coming months.

Business owners could face fines even when they pay their PAYE and VAT in full and on time, simply for using the wrong payment channel, under new rules being consulted on by HMRC.

The government is seeking views on plans to require businesses to pay their PAYE and VAT return liabilities by Direct Debit, with the aim of reducing late payment, limiting the flow of debt and simplifying the payment process to cut errors. The consultation runs until 16 August 2026.

Responses from the business community and tax agents will, HMRC says, help determine the scope of any changes, whether safeguards are needed, and which taxpayers should be excepted from the requirement. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales notes that exceptions are proposed for those without UK bank accounts, the digitally excluded and payments above £20 million.

The sting, however, is in the enforcement. If Direct Debit becomes mandatory, a penalty could apply where a payment is made through another channel, even if the tax is paid in full and on time. That has raised eyebrows among accountants and business owners, not least because late payment already carries interest and penalties under the existing regime.

Harvey Dhillon, founder and chief executive of small business accountants Zmartly, said the underlying move was, “for once, a sensible fix”.

“The late-payment penalties I see are rarely from firms that cannot pay, but from a wrong reference or the right money hitting the wrong period, and Direct Debit quietly ends that. That part is genuinely good,” he said.

But he questioned the prospect of fines for those who pay on time by other means: “When did paying your tax in full and on time become something HMRC could fine you for? That is the oddity in this consultation. A charge that can land even when the tax is paid in full and on time, purely because it went by bank transfer, is a fine for using the wrong envelope.

“The one caught is the careful business that always pays, not the debtor this is meant to chase. So before 16 August, set up the Direct Debit, but tell the consultation that method is not the same as payment.”

Tony Redondo, founder of Newquay-based Cosmos Currency Exchange, warned the switch could cause cash flow problems for firms that time their payments deliberately, a discipline that matters given the consequences of missing a tax or VAT deadline.

“HMRC frames it as efficiency, and cutting the tax gap caused by manual errors. But businesses use Faster Payments and CHAPS deliberately for cash flow control. A mandatory Direct Debit hands HMRC a preferred creditor’s schedule, not yours,” he said.

“Worse, HMRC is consulting on penalising businesses that pay in full and on time, simply for using the ‘wrong’ channel. That flips compliance on its head. You’re punished not for failing to pay, but for failing to use their preferred technology. It treats SMEs like errant children.”

There is a further wrinkle for the many owners who pay their tax by card. Rob Burgess, founder of London-based Head for Points, said the changes would be “very handy for HMRC and very inconvenient for those of us who don’t want the trouble of ensuring the right sum is in the right bank account on a specific day”.

“Another tranche of people it will affect are those who choose to earn rewards points and other benefits on card payments, plus those using certain credit cards also enjoy a period of interest-free credit,” he added.

“If you are currently earning points from paying VAT or PAYE via a card, you should complete the consultation questionnaire with good reasons why Direct Debit is not suitable for you and similar businesses.”

The government says it recognises that some businesses may face challenges in paying by Direct Debit, such as managing cash flow and adapting to new processes, and stresses that consultation feedback will directly inform its approach. Given that more than a million taxpayers already fall foul of HMRC deadlines each January, business owners may conclude it is a consultation worth responding to.

Boohoo staff have been told to swap the grey tracksuit bottoms for the office wardrobe, as chief executive Dan Finley defends his decision to bring the online fashion group’s entire corporate workforce back in five days a week.

Finley, who has led a turnaround at the Manchester-based retailer since 2024, said its 1,500 head office employees should not be “sat in bed with grey tracksuit bottoms on” but in the workplace, wearing and testing the clothes the business produces and collaborating face to face with colleagues.

For a fashion company, he argued, physical presence carries a particular weight: products need to be tried on, trends need to be observed, and that simply cannot happen from the sofa. Finley, who claims to wear only clothing made or sold by the group, added that working in Manchester should be “celebrated”, with staff out and about “living and breathing” the city, attending events, meeting people and socialising after work.

The chief executive believes younger employees, who make up a significant share of both Boohoo’s workforce and its customer base, stand to gain most from being physically present, learning from senior colleagues and building the professional relationships that are difficult to replicate over a video call.

Founded in Manchester in 2006 by Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane, Boohoo built its name on trend-led fast fashion, accessories and beauty, and now counts Karen Millen and Debenhams among its brands. The group, which has moved to rebrand as Debenhams Group as part of a wider marketplace push, is in the middle of a major restructuring to cut debt and recover from falling sales, driven by fierce competition from ultra-fast fashion rivals Shein and Temu.

Boohoo’s move places it firmly on one side of a debate that continues to divide British business. Before 2020, working from home was often treated as a rare perk or a “Friday luxury”, but the pandemic turned hybrid arrangements into the norm for millions. According to the Office for National Statistics, more than a quarter of working adults in Great Britain now split their week between home and the workplace.

Many employers have since rowed back, arguing that physical presence is essential for collaboration, mentoring junior staff and overseeing output, while others are keen to justify expensive, long-term real estate leases. Amazon demanded a full five-day return for its corporate workforce, and major UK employers including Boots, Morrisons and the engineering firm Laing O’Rourke have followed suit for head office staff. Others, such as Santander, have tightened hybrid rules without abandoning flexibility altogether, wary of resignations and keen to bank the savings from smaller offices.

The tide, though, appears to be turning slowly in the employers’ favour. Average office attendance in the UK has been above 40 per cent every week since early January, reaching 44.2 per cent in the week to 12 February, according to Remit Consulting’s ReTurn report.

For Finley, the calculation is simpler still: a fashion business that cannot see its own clothes on its own people is flying blind. The tracksuit bottoms, it seems, will have to wait for the weekend.

Sony is to stop producing physical copies of PlayStation games from January 2028, becoming the first of the major console makers to abandon the disc entirely and drawing the curtain on more than half a century of boxed video games.

The Japanese entertainment giant confirmed that all new titles for its PlayStation consoles, whether published by Sony itself or by third-party studios, will be released exclusively in digital format from that date, downloaded directly to consoles over the internet. Games already on shelves, or scheduled for release before the cut-off, are unaffected.

The decision puts clear water between Sony and its two great rivals, Microsoft and Nintendo, whose Xbox Series X and Switch 2 consoles continue to support physical media. Neither has yet signalled a similar move, though few in the industry expect the disc to survive the decade.

In truth, the announcement formalises a shift consumers made some time ago. Around 80 per cent of Sony’s PlayStation game sales are already digital, purchased through the online PlayStation Store or as boxed download codes sold on the high street. In the UK, the picture is starker still: Ukie’s latest market valuation put consumer spending at a record £8.76 billion in 2025, with physical boxed games accounting for barely five per cent of the total.

“This is a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs,” the company said in a statement on its PlayStation Blog. “This transition will enable us to align more closely with how most of our community prefers to access and play games today.”

Sony was at pains to stress that bricks-and-mortar retailers will not be cut out altogether. “We’ll continue to prioritise our resources to drive innovation in how players can access games and provide choices as to where players prefer to purchase new games, whether that’s at retailers or PlayStation Store,” it added. Quite what form those retail sales will take, boxed codes, redemption cards or something else, remains to be seen, and it is a question that matters enormously to specialist chains whose margins already run thin.

For an industry that has migrated from cartridges to cassette tapes, floppy disks, CDs and Blu-ray over five decades, the moment carries genuine symbolic weight. The first commercial games cartridge, a four-game bundle including tic-tac-toe and a shooting gallery, arrived in 1976 for the Fairchild Channel F. Fifty-two years later, the physical format will be gone from the market leader’s shelves entirely, a trajectory that mirrors the rise of cloud gaming and streaming across the wider entertainment sector.

The timing is also notable for Sony’s hardware roadmap. As Business Matters reported recently, the company has raised PlayStation 5 prices on both sides of the Atlantic amid soaring memory costs, and its next-generation console may not arrive until 2028 or beyond, meaning the digital-only era could dawn alongside entirely new hardware.

Separately, Sony confirmed it will begin closing the PlayStation Store on its legacy PS3 and PS Vita devices, starting with Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua in August before expanding through Latin America and the Middle East later this year. All remaining markets, including the UK, will follow in July 2027. The 20-year-old consoles can no longer support the secure payment systems used by the modern PlayStation Network, the company said, though previously purchased games will remain available to download for the foreseeable future.

For British retailers, publishers and the country’s more than 2,000 games businesses, a sector that has consistently defied wider market gloom, the direction of travel is now beyond dispute. The disc had a remarkable run. Its final level has a release date.

Andy Burnham, the man expected to walk into Downing Street later this month, has told business owners there is “some room” for movement on tax, signalling a rebalancing of the business rates system away from the high street and towards the vast warehouses of the online giants.

In his first broadcast interview since launching his bid to become prime minister, the newly elected Makerfield MP told LBC’s Andrew Marr that pubs, clubs and music venues would receive a 20 per cent cut in business rates under his plans, while smaller independent hospitality, leisure and retail firms would see the threshold for paying rates raised for the first time since 2017.

The cost, he said, would be met by higher levies on the giant distribution sheds operated by online retailers such as Amazon, alongside measures targeting the owners of empty high street properties, a formula that will be welcomed by the three pubs and restaurants closing every day under the weight of rising costs and tax increases.

Crucially for firms planning ahead of the autumn Budget, Burnham insisted he would honour Labour’s 2024 manifesto pledges not to raise VAT, income tax or national insurance. “I stick by the manifesto and the promises that it made,” he said. “So, let me be absolutely clear about that, but there is some room within that manifesto for movement on tax.”

The intervention comes at a delicate moment for the sector. From April 2026, the government replaced retail, hospitality and leisure relief with permanently lower business rates multipliers for qualifying properties, yet UKHospitality has warned that the 2026 revaluation still leaves many operators facing sharply higher bills. Any further relief funded by warehouse levies would mark a significant redistribution of the tax burden.

Burnham was also at pains to shore up his economic credibility, an issue that matters to the eight in ten SME owners who say they fear what a Burnham premiership would mean for their business. He has previously drawn criticism for suggesting the UK had “got to get beyond this thing of being in hock to the bond markets”, and some on the left of the Labour Party want borrowing rules relaxed to fund higher public spending.

Pressed on the point, Burnham insisted he would not be “indisciplined” with the public finances, pointing to Greater Manchester’s “rock solid” books during his time as mayor and his earlier stint as a Treasury minister in the last Labour government.

The bigger fiscal headache awaiting him is defence. Sir Keir Starmer this week announced a £15bn increase in defence spending without fully explaining where the money would come from, leaving whoever Burnham appoints as chancellor to find at least £4.7bn in savings from other departments at their first Budget this autumn.

“I wasn’t in all of the discussions, but to be fair, the government had had an internal process ongoing,” Burnham said. “What I can say to you tonight is I will take my responsibilities fully to fund the defence investment plan, if I am in the position to do so.”

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has accused Sir Keir of “leaving this mess to his successor” and argued the shortfall should be bridged by cutting the welfare bill rather than new taxes. Burnham, for his part, ruled out “crude cuts to benefit levels that just put people who are struggling in even worse poverty”, saying he would instead reduce the benefits bill through better technical education, work placements for 16 year olds and mental health support for those in work.

Burnham remains the only candidate to replace Sir Keir as Labour leader and is expected to become prime minister on 20 July. He has yet to name his chancellor, amid speculation the role could go to Ed Miliband, and his backing among parts of the sector is already building, with the night time industries body throwing its weight behind his push for a hospitality VAT cut.

For SME owners, the message from the presumptive prime minister is a familiar political balancing act: no movement on the big three taxes, but a clear signal that the way business property is taxed is about to change, with the high street the intended winner and the warehouse the intended payer.

More than 250 of Britain’s biggest employers, including British Airways, Tesco and Royal Mail, have signed up to a new taskforce led by Sir Charlie Mayfield aimed at stemming the flow of workers dropping out of the labour market through ill-health, a problem officially costed at £212bn a year.

The former John Lewis chairman, whose Keep Britain Working review laid bare the scale of Britain’s sickness problem last year, said tackling unemployment linked to long-term illness would unlock economic growth that is “hiding in plain sight”.

His Get Britain Working taskforce, which also counts Sainsbury’s, EDF Energy, Currys and several government departments among its members, has two aims: preventing people falling out of work because of ill-health in the first place, and encouraging those already signed off to return.

Each of the companies involved will track sickness absence, return-to-work outcomes and disability participation, data the government says will make workplace health performance visible for the first time. Ten mayoral authorities, including London and Manchester, have also agreed to take part.

The intervention comes with the human cost of the problem all too apparent. According to the Office for National Statistics, an estimated 148.8 million working days were lost to sickness or injury last year, while UK sick days have hit a 15-year high, with mental ill-health now the leading cause of long-term absence.

Sir Charlie told the BBC the breakdown in communication between employers and absent staff was at the heart of the problem.

“I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met who said: ‘I was signed off work for three months, or six months, and I never had any contact with my employer at all,’” he said. “That’s not because the employer is a bad person. It’s because we’ve got a situation at the minute where people don’t talk to each other when they really need to.”

Not everyone is convinced. Some employers have warned that recent tax rises leave many firms without the headroom to invest in workplace health, while wellbeing experts have cautioned that smaller businesses in particular lack the tools and resources to manage employee health strategically. Others have raised concerns about pressure being placed on genuinely ill people to return to work.

Sir Charlie’s comments also land at a politically charged moment, with pressure mounting on Andy Burnham, widely expected to become prime minister later this month, to rein in a welfare bill forecast to account for 23.6 per cent of total government spending in the 2025 to 2026 financial year.

Sir Charlie said his plans, which build on the recommendations of the government-commissioned review he published last year, could help cut that bill.

“Fixing these problems at the fundamental level could make a really big contribution to getting this economy working better, for employers, for employees, for the taxpayer, for all of us,” he said. “This is not a zero-sum game. It’s not a question of employers win and employees lose and vice versa. Everybody can win.”

He suggested Burnham would back the initiative. “I can’t see any reason why he wouldn’t because of what Andy has said about good growth. If this isn’t good growth, I’m not sure what is, quite frankly.”

For Sir Charlie, the arithmetic is simple. Returning those currently out of work through ill-health to the labour market would boost the workforce without any of the usual trade-offs.

“You wouldn’t have had to build a single house, open a new channel of immigration, you wouldn’t have to wait for a cohort of young people to join the workplace,” he said. “This is basically growth hiding in plain sight.”

Formula 1 is worth £12bn a year to the UK economy, according to new figures released ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix, with the four-day event at Silverstone alone injecting more than £100m into the local economy.

The scale of the sport’s contribution reflects Britain’s near-total grip on elite motor racing. Ten of the 11 teams on the 2026 grid are either headquartered in the UK or maintain operational bases here, clustered in the so-called Motorsport Valley corridor that has become the global centre of high-performance engineering. with motorsport and engineering services contributing an estimated £16bn to the wider UK economy and supporting more than 50,000 jobs.

That cluster continues to expand. Cadillac established its new Formula 1 facility at Silverstone in 2025, while Aston Martin, which has committed to the sport until at least 2030, and Mercedes are both pressing ahead with major expansion projects at their UK campuses.

“The British Grand Prix is Formula 1’s biggest event and is expected to welcome the largest crowd in the sport’s history,” the Formula 1 dataset states. “It generates more than £100m annually for the local economy and is expected to contribute well over £1bn over the life of its current contract through to 2034.”

Roughly 500,000 fans attended the 2025 British Grand Prix, and some estimates suggest as many as 560,000 could pass through the gates of the Northamptonshire circuit this year, a record for the sport.

The bumper numbers arrive just months after the sport publicly criticised the Home Office and wider government over the visa regime underpinning the race weekend. Written evidence submitted by F1 chiefs to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport Committee states that “strict rules, especially post-Brexit, can lead to significant delays in getting hundreds of personnel into the country, increasing costs and putting the successful delivery of the Grand Prix in jeopardy each and every year”.

Formula 1 says it supports thousands of highly skilled jobs and attracts global investment to the UK. “Britain has built a world-leading motorsport cluster that combines advanced manufacturing, cutting-edge research and development, engineering excellence and elite sporting performance,” it notes, pointing to heavy team investment in apprenticeships, graduate programmes and STEM outreach.

Stefano Domenicali, president and chief executive of Formula 1, says he wants the UK government and the sport to work in partnership. “As a sport, we want to keep building here, and to do that we must maintain, and enhance, the conditions that make it all possible,” he said.

His first ask is a competitive business and regulatory environment that makes the UK the best place in the world to design and build high-performance technology, from the right incentives for R&D-intensive businesses, a system currently under review by HMRC amid concerns over fraud and error, to a planning system that supports the expansion of high-tech engineering campuses.

Second, he wants a visa system that lets the world’s best engineers come to Britain quickly and without friction. “At times the process for obtaining visas for roles is too bureaucratic and uncertain. This creates unpredictability in the hiring process for what are unique and challenging roles,” he said. “Our competitive edge is built on talent and, alongside investment in the domestic talent of the future through education programmes with our universities, technical colleges and apprenticeships, our teams must be able to recruit the brightest minds, wherever they are from.”

Third, he is urging the government to back Britain’s lead in sustainable fuel. From this year, all F1 cars run on advanced sustainable fuel, and Domenicali argues the UK has an opportunity to adopt the technology alongside electrification to cut emissions from road cars and transport. “Britain can lead as an innovator, with technology delivered in the fastest sport in the world by the best minds, and be a place where these technologies can attract investment,” he said.

Hopes are high of a home win on Sunday, with Mercedes’ George Russell battling teammate Kimi Antonelli for the drivers’ championship and Lewis Hamilton fresh from his first victory in Ferrari colours.

F1 has called Britain home for 75 years, ever since King George VI watched the first world championship grand prix at Silverstone in 1950, and the circuit holds the British Grand Prix until at least 2034.

“This weekend, as the grandstands roar and a British champion leads the field, I hope politicians of every party will look at what this country has built and resolve to protect it, champion it and help it grow,” Domenicali said.

For more than 25 years, Juan Sebastian Palomo Murga has built companies that solve real-world challenges across infrastructure, logistics, technology, and financial services.

Today, much of that focus is centered on creating smarter transportation solutions through iPakket and Ride by iPakket.

Rather than viewing mobility as a single service, the companies are building an ecosystem that combines logistics, technology, and shared transportation to make moving people and goods more efficient. As Ride by iPakket continues expanding its carsharing services, the goal remains simple: provide practical, technology-driven solutions that improve accessibility and convenience for individuals and businesses alike.

In this interview, Juan Sebastian discusses the thinking behind the companies’ evolution, the future of shared mobility, and why innovation should always begin with solving everyday problems.

What inspired the expansion from logistics into shared mobility?

As we continued growing iPakket, we saw transportation becoming more connected. Logistics, deliveries, and personal mobility are all part of the same ecosystem. Technology gives us the opportunity to connect those services in ways that make transportation simpler and more efficient.

That is what led to Ride by iPakket. We wanted to create a platform that gives people more flexible transportation options while using technology to improve the overall experience.

What makes carsharing an important part of the future of transportation?

Many people are rethinking traditional car ownership, especially in urban areas. They want access to reliable transportation without the long-term costs and responsibilities that come with owning a vehicle.

Carsharing offers flexibility while making better use of existing resources. When supported by the right technology, it becomes a practical solution for both consumers and cities looking to improve mobility.

We believe transportation should be available when people need it, without unnecessary complexity.

How does technology support the Ride by iPakket experience?

Technology is the foundation of everything we build.

Customers expect transportation to be simple. They want to locate vehicles quickly, complete reservations easily, and have confidence that the service will be reliable. Behind that experience is a significant amount of technology working to improve efficiency, security, and convenience.

For us, technology is not about adding features. It is about removing friction from the customer experience.

How does your experience in infrastructure influence your approach to building technology companies?

Infrastructure taught me that every successful project begins with strong planning and disciplined execution.

Whether you are building roads, managing large construction projects, or developing mobility platforms, success depends on creating systems that people can trust. That mindset continues to guide how we grow iPakket and Ride by iPakket.

The industries may be different, but the importance of reliability never changes.

What role does innovation play across your companies?

Innovation only matters if it improves people’s lives.

Our goal is not to introduce technology simply because it is new. We focus on solutions that help customers save time, simplify transportation, and improve access to services.

As we continue expanding, we are also exploring additional technologies and strategic acquisitions that strengthen the broader ecosystem connecting logistics, mobility, and digital services.

How do you see urban mobility evolving over the next decade?

Cities will continue looking for smarter ways to move people efficiently.

I believe we will see greater adoption of shared transportation, connected mobility platforms, and digital services that allow users to manage multiple transportation options through a single experience.

Companies that can integrate technology with convenience will be well-positioned to meet those changing expectations.

How do sustainability and social responsibility fit into your business strategy?

A responsible business should always consider long-term impact.

Shared mobility has the potential to improve how transportation resources are used while giving more people access to flexible travel options. Beyond our commercial activities, we continue supporting initiatives that expand access to clean energy in underserved communities throughout Central America because infrastructure and energy both create opportunities for economic growth.

We also continue supporting organizations that promote human rights because strong communities are essential to sustainable development.

What do you hope people associate with iPakket and Ride by iPakket in the years ahead?

I hope they see companies that consistently solve real problems.

Our focus has always been on building practical solutions that people can depend on. Whether that means improving logistics, expanding shared mobility, or developing new technology, success comes from creating value that lasts.

If customers think of iPakket and Ride by iPakket as companies that deliver reliable innovation while keeping people at the center of every decision, then we will have accomplished what we set out to do.