More than 400 UK businesses have been officially recognised by the government for paying their suppliers promptly and fairly, as part of the Fair Payment Code, a scheme run by the Office of the Small Business Commissioner. The code, launched in December 2024, is part of a national drive to combat Britain’s late-payment culture, which costs the economy £11 billion each year and leads to the closure of an estimated 14,000 small firms annually —...
Agricultural technology startup Wild Bioscience has secured £45 million in Series A funding led by the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), the research organisation founded by Larry Ellison, chairman and chief technology officer of Oracle. The investment — joined by existing backers Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE), Braavos Capital, and the University of Oxford — will fuel the company’s mission to revolutionise global agriculture through AI-driven genetic discovery and precision breeding. Ellison, one of the world’s...
Tottenham’s entrepreneurial scene is thriving. New data reveals that the concentration of small businesses in the North London district has doubled in just four years, coinciding with the transformation of the area into a hub for major international events. According to the research by GoDaddy’ sSmall Business Research Lab, Tottenham’s “microbusiness density” — the number of small businesses per 100 residents — has surged from 1.4 in 2021 to 2.8 in 2025, marking one of...
Capita has been fined £14 million by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for serious data protection failures following a major cyber-attack in March 2023 that compromised the personal details of 6.6 million people across the UK. The attack, which saw hackers infiltrate Capita’s systems and extract nearly one terabyte of sensitive data, affected customers, pension scheme members, and staff of one of Britain’s largest outsourcing firms. In its report, the ICO described the incident as...
London-based healthtech startup Nila has raised an oversubscribed $2.4 million (£1.8 million) pre-seed round led by LocalGlobe, to expand its care management platform that helps immigrants manage healthcare for their elderly relatives back home. The funding will accelerate Nila’s rollout across India, the world’s largest remittance destination, and support its plans to enter other Asian markets, including the Philippines, within the next 18 months. The round also includes participation from Redbus Ventures and a network...
The United States has accused China of betraying a fragile trade truce reached earlier this year, in a sharp escalation of rhetoric between the world’s two largest economies. In a rare joint appearance in Washington, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent condemned Beijing’s decision to tighten export controls on rare earth materials, describing the move as an act of “economic coercion” and a “power grab” aimed at dominating global supply chains....
India’s exports to the United States — its largest trading partner — have plunged following the introduction of steep US tariffs on Indian goods, marking one of the sharpest trade shocks in recent years. According to government data, India’s goods exports to the US dropped 20% in September alone and nearly 40% over the past four months, as Washington’s 50% import duties came fully into effect. The tariffs, introduced on 27 August, include an additional...
The UK has announced sweeping new sanctions aimed at crippling Russia’s energy revenues, targeting the country’s largest oil producers, state-linked tankers, and overseas partners helping to keep Russian crude flowing to global markets. Unveiled by Chancellor Rachel Reeves ahead of meetings with global finance leaders in Washington, D.C., the sanctions package includes 90 new measures and represents one of Britain’s most aggressive efforts yet to squeeze Vladimir Putin’s wartime economy. “We are sending a clear...
Six months after launching, London-based AI recruitment startup Jack & Jill has raised $20 million in seed funding to reinvent how people find jobs and companies hire talent. The round was led by Creandum, the European venture firm behind Spotify and Klarna, with participation from Dig Ventures, Entrepreneur First, Ada Ventures, Firedrop, Repeat.vc, Episode1, Playfair, and more than 75 angel investors — including former F1 world champion Nico Rosberg and backers from Lovable, Anthropic, and...
The UK’s mid-market firms continued to drive private sector expansion in the third quarter of 2025, showing resilience despite a softening in overall activity across the wider economy, according to new data from NatWest’s UK Business Growth Tracker. The index, which surveys mid-market businesses across manufacturing and services, dipped from August’s 13-month high of 56.4 to 51.6 in September, signalling slower but still positive growth. By contrast, the broader UK private sector stagnated, with output...
