Every week we share the top economic, innovation and UK business news to keep you up to date.

Here are some of the best stories from July.

Automotive

It’s been a really news-heavy month for the automotive sector this July, with a lot of stories in the media about the phase-out of diesel and investment required to support electric vehicles.

• Regulator raises concern over electric car charging
• New diesel lorries to be banned from 2040
• Hopes for more gigafactories ‘face dead end without more investment’

Science

Covid-19 and vaccinations continue to dominate the headlines across life sciences.

• New scientific database ‘could revolutionise the way diseases are treated’
• ‘Training camps’ for T cells ‘behind strong immune response in adenovirus jabs’
• GSK plans to create up to 5,000 jobs in new Stevenage biotech hub

Digital

A high priority for many of our clients at the moment is the growing skills gap. Digital transformation has been expedited by the pandemic but there is still work to do to ensure that our infrastructure and people are ready to take full advantage of digital – across all sectors.

• Pandemic has turbo-charged digital transformation, report finds
• Peers ‘disappointed’ with Government response to digital recommendations
• AI does not represent a threat to jobs, Taoisearch says

Business, economy and entrepreneurialism

• British entrepreneur ‘sells everything’ to make motorways electric-friendly
• UK post-Brexit trade deal with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein finalised and a deal with New Zealand is close to being finalised
• Asian investment in UK tech start-ups soars, new data shows

Tax and accounting

• Global tax deal ‘will end the race to the bottom’, says Yellen
• Sharp fall in voluntary disclosures from landlords about tax owned 

Best of the rest

• The impact of self-isolation rules has been devastating for many sectors, with car manufacturers seeing up to 30% of workers being absent, for example. Although the number of payroll workers has risen for the seventh month straight
• Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and a Dutch teenager who is the youngest person ever to do so all went into Space this month
• In renewables, the UK has been ranked sixth in the world for share of power generated by wind and solar