The UK economy is too reliant on the financial services sector and the government must seek to rebalance it, according to the Trades Union Congress (TUC).
With the Eurozone in crisis and economists putting the chances of a double-dip recession at 50-50, entrepreneurs and experts give their outlook for 2012.
Stephen Chandler, managing partner at venture fund Notion Capital, explains his view on balancing austerity and investment in the face of slower growth.
It is difficult to be optimistic in the face of the government's austerity measures, plummeting consumer confidence and the ongoing debt woes surrounding the EU and the US. But there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2011, recovering from the 0.5 per cent contraction in the last three months of 2010.
Britain's gross domestic product dropped by 0.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year in a shock fall that some analysts predict could result in a 'double dip' recession.
Tony Blair felt the hand of history on his shoulder. Following the spending review, there is a growing sense that the hand of the coalition is closing in on our wallets.
