Issue #122 - It's a Wrap šÆ
And so another year comes to an end. Letās take a quick tour of 2025 as seen by The Backbone. Hereās your 2025 Wrapped š
2025 Wrapped š
As if weāve reached the final issue of 2025! How was business over the last 12 months? And are you looking forward to 2026?
Letās take a quick tour of 2025 as seen by The Backbone. Hereās your 2025 Wrapped š
āļø JANUARY
2025 saw The Backbone hit its 100-issue milestone. Issue #1 of The Backbone was launched almost a year into the COVID-19 restrictions, during one of the many lockdowns.
The idea behind the newsletter was to bring business owners the latest news (which almost exclusively turned out to be Covid updates for the first 12 months), along with some tips and advice from our business essentials experts. We added the playlist, podcasts, and words because newsletters should be entertaining too.
We hope we manage to bring you all that and more every two weeks. If thereās anything else youād like to see in The Backbone, let us know by emailing thebackbone@bionic.co.uk
ā¤ļø FEBRUARY
China shook the AI world back in February with the release of DeepSeek, an AI platform capable of doing everything ChatGPT can, but at a fraction of the cost and energy usage. The amount of energy used by AI is rarely reported on, but it could become a significant issue, considering the substantial energy and water requirements of AI technology, as we discussed in Issue #81.
DeepSeek is also open source, which means anyone can take it and build a version to suit their needs.
Things appear to have settled down a bit after the initial shock, as each AI platform finds its lane. For instance, DeepSeek is now more often considered for coding, data analysis, and cost efficiency, while ChatGPT excels in creative writing, polished general conversation, and multimodal (image/voice) tasks.
š± MARCH
Thereās a fascinating story behind every startup. And we canāt get enough of hearing all about them. Back in March, we spoke to Dan Lindasy, a Nottingham-based restaurateur and winner of our insurance prize draw.
You can read more about Danās business in Issue #104 - The Retail and Hospitality Issue š½ļø, or check out the full small business story at Bionic or on our YouTube channel.
š§ļø APRIL
April saw the release of The Bionic Business Report š¦¾, where we surveyed 500 small business owners across the UK to understand some of their biggest struggles in 2024 and find out what challenges they expect to face in 2025.
Some key findings include:
29% of the business owners said the rising cost of energy was their biggest financial challenge in 2024
20% of small business owners think they might have to shut down and cease trading in the next year
Over half of small business owners have struggled with late invoices or overdue payments in the past year
81% of business owners felt some level of exhaustion in the past year, and half are burnt out.
More than half of business owners (54%) say theyāve slightly deprioritised green practices
82% of business owners struggled with hiring and retention in 2024
74% of business owners are planning to introduce AI-driven processes in 2025
More than half of businesses (53%) have increased their cybersecurity spending in 2024
š· MAY
May was one to make you think if youāre keen on wearing a tie for work, at the weekend, or whenever.
š JUNE
We dipped back into the impact of AI for Issue #111, as ChatGPT began to establish itself as a go-to for research and information.
Itās only been a couple of years since ChatGPT went public, but AIāgenerated content has flooded social media, search, email, and everyday apps. And this boom comes with serious costs. Environmentally, AIās energyāhungry data centres are driving up electricity and water use; a single AI image can use as much energy as fully charging a smartphone, according to MIT Technology Review, while big tech firms are placing data centres in some of the worldās driest regions.
Itās also making us more stupid. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology study found that people who relied on ChatGPT to write essays displayed signs of weaker brain connectivity, poorer memory, and less original thinking than those using search or their own knowledge ā a result explored further in Time magazineās coverage.
šļø JULY
July saw the Bionic business insurance team shortlisted as a finalist for awards across six categories. Although we never won, we reckon our website experience and friendly brokers make a big difference to our customers, so itās good to get the recognition for it.
š¦ AUGUST
Issue #114 saw us launch our second report of the year - The Future of Employment, examining when employees can expect to return to the office full-time.
The workplace has changed a lot since the pandemic. Although Britainās backbone businesses (shops, salons, takeaways, pubs, etc.) havenāt really been able to offer remote working, most office-based roles have pivoted to some form of hybrid working (part-home, part-office).
A growing number of employers are keen for colleagues to spend more time in the workplace. But will this come with increased costs for both staff and employers? Will an increased volume of office staff benefit the surrounding small businesses? And which generation is most keen to get back to the office full-time?
š SEPTEMBER
Issue #116 saw us take stock of the year so far to check on the confidence levels of business owners. And it was a bit of a mixed bag.
The IoD Directorsā Economic Confidence Index showed sentiment improving from -72 in July to -61 in August 2025, while SumUpās study found 43% of 750 small business owners reporting stronger performance than in 2024 despite slightly lower optimism overall.
In contrast, a candid Reddit thread portrayed 2025 as the toughest year in recent memory for many, with challenges shared across construction, retail, home furnishings, hospitality and professional services.
š OCTOBER
Issue #119 gave us one of our favourite words of the year.
š NOVEMBER
Issue #121 saw us examine intellectual property (IP) following the story that hundreds of independent designers had their work copied and sold as cheap imitations by online retailer, Temu.
Many small UK businesses playfully echo big brands in their names or designs, but cases like Hugo Boss challenging Merseyside artist John Charles over his āBe boss, be kindā trademark request, and the Temu issue, highlight how easily intellectual property (IP) disputes can arise, often with serious financial and emotional consequences for smaller firms.
IP covers creations of the mind such as logos, designs, inventions and brand names, and can be protected through copyright, trademarks, patents and design rights, supported by good recordākeeping, NDAs, monitoring for infringement, legal advice and even IP insurance to cover the cost of defending or enforcing those rights.
It also gave us one of our favourite jokes of the yearā¦
š DECEMBER
And so to December. Have a new customer story, playlist, and podcast on usā¦
We headed to Swallownest near Sheffield to speak to Adam Sheldon, owner of The Spud Surgery and the latest winner of Bionicās business insurance prize draw.
You can check out the full small business story at Bionic or on our YouTube channel. In the meantime, hereās Adamās Small Business Snapshot - stay tuned for more of these in 2026ā¦
Playlist š¶
As itās the last issue before Christmas, hereās Lesās bumper festive playlist - imaginatively titled Christmas Stuff - with three-and-a-half hours or so of classic and alternative seasonal tunes.
Podcast š
Regular readers will know we love a history podcast, here at The Backbone, and we reckon weāve found one of the best around in Empire. William Dalrymple and Anita Anand explore the intricate stories of revolutions, imperial wars, and the people who built and lost empires. The eight-parter on Gaza is epic, and the Rudyard Kipling and George Orwell biographies are intriguing.
If youāve not already, join The Backbone Small Business Community on Facebook. And check Bionic out on YouTube, Soundcloud, and Giphy š
š Thanks to everyone who has supported The Backbone over the last 12 months - we hope itās kept you informed and entertained. Hereās to a wonderful holiday season and a great start to 2026. Weāll see you with Issue #123 in Jan!
šØ S U B S C R I B E
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