Teams ship more when work feels simple, steady, and easy to start. Days move faster when the path from “request” to “done” is short, screens load quickly, and handoffs do not require guesswork. The core idea is focus – fewer tools doing more of the right things. Clear calls that speed decisions, one hub for calendars and docs, small bursts of automation, and a calm rhythm that protects deep work. With that mix, new hires...
The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has secured a £170 million investment from 11 of the world’s largest banks, strengthening its post-trade operations and deepening ties with key industry partners. The investment, announced alongside the group’s Q3 2025 results, values LSEG’s Post Trade Solutions arm at £850 million and marks another milestone in the company’s strategy to expand its data and risk management technology footprint. Participating banks include Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citi,...
Sir Tony Blair has urged Energy Secretary Ed Miliband to ditch his 2030 clean power target and cut green levies as his think tank warns that current climate policies are driving up costs for homes and businesses. A new report from the Tony Blair Institute (TBI), personally approved by the former prime minister, claims the government’s commitment to fully decarbonise the electricity grid by 2030 is “destroying industry” and “damaging households.” The intervention, which has...
Nikhil Rathi, Chief Executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has warned that the UK’s financial system is “not prepared” to withstand the growing wave of geopolitical and cyber threats facing the global economy. Speaking at the City Dinner at Mansion House in London, Rathi said the impact of modern conflict now reaches “balance sheets, funding, markets and consumers as much as any battlefield.” “Whether it’s a cyber-attack or a production shock – they move...
Financial advisers across the UK are warning of a growing trend in private medical insurance (PMI) cancellations as businesses and households tighten their belts in the face of rising taxes, inflation and economic uncertainty. During the Covid pandemic, PMI uptake more than doubled. According to comparison site ActiveQuote.com, sales between November 2020 and January 2021 surged by 100% compared with March to May 2020, as fears over NHS waiting times drove record numbers towards private...
The government has approved the long-awaited reopening of the Oxford Cowley rail branch line, marking a major milestone in plans to transform the Oxford-Cambridge corridor into what ministers call “Europe’s Silicon Valley.” The £155 million scheme — part of a wider £500 million investment package announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves — will be jointly funded by the Treasury (£120 million) and private stakeholders led by the Ellison Institute of Technology Oxford, which will contribute a...
Astut, an Oxford University spinout developing AI for unprecedented decision-making, has raised £1.6 million in seed funding to help businesses and institutions navigate crises and high-stakes challenges where no historical data exists. The round was co-led by East X Ventures and Sure Valley Ventures (SVV), with participation from the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund (UKI2S), managed by Future Planet Capital. Founded in April this year by Professor Pete Grindrod CBE, a mathematician at the...
Barclays has revealed a £110 million loss tied to the collapse of Tricolor, a US subprime auto lender accused of fraud — an event now seen as a major warning sign for the $3 trillion private credit market. The bank confirmed the impairment in its third-quarter results, which otherwise met expectations, showing pre-tax profits of £2.1 billion — down 7% year-on-year but broadly in line with analyst forecasts. Chief executive C.S. Venkatakrishnan, known as Venkat,...
Paygentic, a London-based startup building payments infrastructure for AI-native and agent-driven businesses, has raised $2 million (£1.6m) in pre-seed funding to expand its team and accelerate product development. The funding round was led by MiddleGame Ventures, with participation from Anamcara Capital, Aperture, Angel Invest, and Alan Morgan, chairman at Adfisco. Founded by Susan O’Neill and Samuel Alarco Cantos (pictured), Paygentic is tackling a fast-emerging issue in the AI software sector — the mismatch between variable...
The fact that Welzo is the pioneer in the UK with a data-driven product marketplace in the vitamin and supplement sector is a new milestone in the health and wellness industry. Welzo is a UK based healthcare marketplace that sells supplements, vitamins, and health tests, founded in 2022. Adonis Hakkim, a British entrepreneur and the CEO and founder of Welzo, stated the following: “We aim to eliminate the guesswork in health optimisation. We are assisting...
