The government has announced a major shake-up in how UK regulators operate, aiming to make them more accountable and more focused on supporting business growth.
Beginning last week, regulators have a stronger growth duty, meaning they’ll be expected to balance their oversight role with helping businesses invest, innovate and expand. The change is designed to ensure regulation remains proportionate and doesn’t hold back economic activity.
A new public dashboard of regulator performance will also be launched. The new GOV.UK site, which will be updated quarterly, will bring together performance data into one place and allow for direct feedback to the government.
Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle explained that the aim is to strip back unnecessary rules and pointless paperwork while keeping essential protections in place. He described the stronger growth duty and new transparency measures as part of the government’s wider “Plan for Change” to boost investment and job creation.
For business owners, will these changes mean a more responsive and balanced regulatory environment that’s clearer about helping your business grow? Let’s see.
Unregulated Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) agreements will fall under full FCA regulation from 15 July 2026. For the first time, BNPL lenders will need to meet the same expectations as other consumer-credit providers. With almost 11 million UK adults using BNPL in 2024, according to an FCA survey, this is a significant change.
The government has published the draft secondary legislation for the UK’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which is due to go live on 1 January 2027. This is an important development for UK businesses importing affected materials.