HM Revenue & Customs figures indicate that thousands of small firms may be deliberately limiting expansion to avoid crossing the UK’s £90,000 VAT registration threshold, fuelling renewed calls for reform of what critics describe as a “cliff-edge” tax system. The data shows that 683,700 businesses reported turnover below the VAT threshold in the year to December 2025, up from 671,000 the previous year. Over the same period, the number of firms reporting turnover between £90,000...
The UK government has secured what it describes as a “seat at the table” in the fast-moving global race to commercialise driverless cars, after the British Business Bank backed a landmark $1.5 billion fundraising round for British autonomous driving firm Wayve. The investment round, completed last week, valued the Cambridge-founded artificial intelligence company at $8.6 billion, the highest valuation yet achieved by a UK AI start-up. The round was led by SoftBank and supported by...
Music has changed dramatically over the past two decades. What once required shelves of CDs or a stack of downloaded files now fits easily in a pocket. At the center of this shift is the MP3 format, which made it possible to store, share, and listen to music in a compact digital form. Alongside the format itself, online platforms have emerged to help people search, access, and download audio files quickly. One name that often...
The phrase “side hustle” once suggested something temporary, squeezed in after work for a little extra cash. In 2026, that picture has changed. Across the UK and beyond, Gen Z women are turning unconventional online platforms into structured micro-businesses, thinking in terms of audience, margins, repeat customers, and brand positioning rather than quick wins. What looks casual from the outside is often run with the mindset of a founder. From quick cash to business strategy...
In the world of automated and quantitative trading, a trading strategy is only as good as its testing. A brilliant algorithm can fail spectacularly if it’s validated against flawed data or an unstable environment. For serious traders, particularly in the fast-paced forex market, relying on a standard desktop computer for backtesting is like preparing for a Formula 1 race in a go-kart. It simply lacks the power, stability, and precision required for meaningful results. This...
Not long ago, online casinos sat on the edges of the UK’s digital economy, treated more like a side channel than a core business. That has changed. As entertainment has moved onto phones and platforms, gambling businesses have followed the same path as streaming and gaming. The result is an industry that now looks less like a collection of websites and more like a set of competing digital platforms. The scale of that shift is...
Hornby has agreed to sell the iconic slot car racing brand Scalextric for £20 million in a move designed to strengthen its balance sheet and refocus the business on its core brands. The Margate-based toy maker has struck a deal with family-owned investment vehicle Purbeck Capital Partners, which will acquire Scalextric and its associated intellectual property through a newly formed holding company, Scalextric Motorsports. The transaction, which includes a mix of upfront and deferred payments,...
Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) has called for Sir Keir Starmer to resign as Labour leader following the party’s defeat to the Green Party in the Gorton and Denton by-election. The transport and travel union, which is affiliated to the Labour Party, said the result reflected growing dissatisfaction among voters and warned that Labour’s recent political direction was costing it support. Maryam Eslamdoust, general secretary of TSSA, said the party’s positioning under Keir Starmer had...
Circular tech start-up Kibu has secured an investment offer from entrepreneurs Peter Jones and Jenna Meek following a televised pitch on Dragons’ Den, putting repairable children’s electronics firmly in the national spotlight. The award-winning brand, which produces modular, repairable headphones for children, appeared on the long-running BBC programme represented by co-founder and chief executive Sam Beaney. Kibu’s pitch focused on its mission to redesign children’s consumer electronics around circular principles, prioritising disassembly, repair and customisation...
Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has reported a sharp contraction in UK vehicle output at the start of the year, with total production down 13.6 per cent in January as weaker export demand weighed heavily on the sector. A combined 67,415 vehicles left British factories during the month, comprising 65,249 cars and 2,166 commercial vehicles. Car production declined by 8.2 per cent compared with January 2025, while commercial vehicle output slumped by 68.6...
