Accountancy Insights: What does the Iran conflict really mean for British Business?

We’ve already seen immediate spikes and fluctuations in the oil price and the wider financial and commodity markets.  But how will the UK economy be affected in the months to come and how heavy a price will British Business pay? RSM Chief Economist Tom Pugh shares his thoughts. 

Liz Barclay is Co-founder of Business 111, Special Adviser on Small Business & Entrepreneurship at the Institute of Directors and campaigner for tighter rules on late payments. She gives her views on the Government’s recently announced plans.

Finally, with demand growing for AI assurance, what does good actually look like?  Expert and Senior Programme Manager in Digital Ethics & AI at TechUK, Tess Buckley, fills us in.

Links
ICAEW: Iran conflict sends economic shockwave across the Gulf -https://www.icaew.com/insights/viewpoints-on-the-news/2026/mar-2026/iran-conflict-sends-economic-shockwave-through-the-gulf

Oil prices to stay elevated across Iran War scenarios - https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-prices-stay-elevated-across-iran-war-scenarios-2026-03-27/

Late payments consultation response - https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/late-payments-tackling-poor-payment-practices/outcome/late-payment-consultation-time-to-pay-up-government-response-web-version

Government AI assurance roadmap - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/trusted-third-party-ai-assurance-roadmap/trusted-third-party-ai-assurance-roadmap

Ensuring responsible AI development - https://www.techuk.org/resource/ensuring-responsible-ai-development-let-s-talk-about-ai-assurance.html

Host
Philippa Lamb

Guests

• Liz Barclay, Co-founder of Business 111, Special Adviser on Small Business & Entrepreneurship at the Institute of Directors
• Tess Buckley, Expert and Senior Programme Manager in Digital Ethics & AI at TechUK
• Tom Pugh, RSM Chief Economist

Producer
Natalie Chisholm

Series Lead
Mark Rowland

Episode first published: 1 April
Podcast recorded: 27 March