FTSE 100 gender balance is 117 years away and UK businesses set to go bust | VERY Brief Headlines

1. The UK economy is facing a potentially significant wave of collapsed businesses, an accountancy firm has warned. Nearly 50,000 UK businesses are in “critical” financial distress, according to new data, as high borrowing costs and inflationary pressures continue to squeeze firms. 2. The UK is more than a century away from achieving parity between male and female FTSE 100 chiefs, according to new research, as Britain lags behind its international peers. Using current appointment trends across 12 stock indexes, advisory firm Russell Reynolds Associates projected it would take 81 years to reach global gender parity among top bosses, with 87 per cent of CEO appointments going to men in 2023. 3. HR leaders across the UK are planning to implement AI in their organisation to help streamline people management, including over 40 per cent who will use it mainly to help with workforce mental health. Research, from the workplace and wellbeing platform Unmind, reveals the trends that will shape mental wellbeing at work between now and 2030. Feedback from 2,000 HR leaders across the UK shows that 86 per cent think AI will be important to the success of workplace mental health strategies by 2030.