2025 - Review of the Year

2025 was a year of contrasts - marked by ambitious local regeneration here in Sheffield and Chesterfield, major political and economic shifts across the UK, and turbulent yet transformative events globally. Read our summary of the issues that focused your writer in the past year and the opinions they shaped.

🌆 Local Perspective: Sheffield & Chesterfield

• Sheffield:

  • Major property developments reshaped the city, including the £140m Sheffield Hallam University City Campus and luxury student flats.

  • Investment into public spaces and cycling routes improved urban life, though concerns about affordability and gentrification persisted.

• Chesterfield:

  • The Revitalising the Heart of Chesterfield project brought upgrades to Market Place and Stephenson Memorial Hall.

  • The PEAK Gateway Resort and Staveley regeneration promised tourism and jobs.

  • On the downside, local government reorganisation created uncertainty, with Derbyshire councils facing pressure to submit restructuring proposals.

    
    

Good: Visible regeneration, cultural investment.

Bad: Rising living costs and political uncertainty around council reforms. Plans to build homes on Green Belt land. Of particularly note was the rise of extreme right-wing tendencies - using the pretext of patriotism, fueled by the opinions and activism of local businessmen with a large media presence, using their cohorts in the local press and on tv to promote divisive rhetoric.

National Perspective: United Kingdom

• Politics & Government:

  • The Labour Government oversaw the 2025 Spending Review, pledging increased funding for health, education, and defence.

  • Severe floods in January highlighted climate vulnerabilities, with over 100 warnings issued and major incidents declared.

• Society & Culture:

  • The Big Issue published its Top 100 Changemakers of 2025, celebrating activists from an 11-year-old who founded a food bank to campaigners who fought for Awaab’s Law, improving housing safety.

  • The UK government invited communities to nominate traditions like Notting Hill Carnival, Hogmanay, and Highland dancing for a new official inventory of intangible cultural heritage, following UNESCO ratification.

  • A King’s College London study found that 84% of the public felt the UK was divided, with 67% saying “culture wars” were a major source of tension - an increase from 46% in 2020.

  • ONS surveys showed mixed feelings - loneliness remained a concern, but many expressed hopefulness for the future, reflecting resilience despite challenges.

    
    

Good: Increased public spending, cultural vibrancy, and sporting pride.

Bad: Climate disasters, strained infrastructure, and ongoing debates about monarchy and governance.

🌍 Global Perspective

• Politics & Geopolitics:

  • Ongoing conflict in Ukraine following Russian invasion

  • War in Gaza proliferated by Israeli belligerence

  • Donald Trump’s return as U.S. President and capricious approach to trade and diplomacy.

• Economy & Technology:

  • Record-breaking stock markets and millions of new tech-driven jobs boosted optimism.

  • AI adoption accelerated, reshaping industries and sparking debates about regulation.

• Challenges:

  • Climate disasters - wildfires, floods, and cyclones

  • Election-related violence, tariffs and trade wars disrupted stability.

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Good: Economic growth, technological breakthroughs, and attempts at peace deals.

Bad: Escalating conflicts, climate emergencies, and trade tensions.

📈 Fraxbiz.com - Our Contribution to 2025

Our blogs have always tried to balance the informative with the thought-provoking. We dipped into the topical as well as controversial. But, the primary focus has always been on business resilience, compliance, and strategic growth in uncertain times. They resonated with the broader theme that organisations and individuals need to be strategised, organised, uncompromised to withstand social, political, economic, and environmental turbulence.

✅ In summary:

We should always start with a positive.

My opinion is that 2025 will be recorded as a better year than what 2026 will be. Why? (and here comes the downer...) I fear the ongoing rise of nationalistic tendencies will spill over, geopolitical unrest will escalate and climate change will further cause misery and devastation on this precious blue planet in our solar system. I pray that I am wrong in at least some of those aspects.

If you can, have a Happy and Peaceful Christmas. I wish you all the best for 2026.