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Latest News:

  • Farnborough opens with $48.8bn in orders and £7.7bn for UK industry
  • Iceland boss quits No 10 job: ‘damn hard to get anything done’
  • Burnham scraps VAT on electricity bills but most firms miss out
  • Borrowing beats forecasts at last, handing Healey an early win
  • Reynolds returns to a beefed-up business brief as Burnham axes DSIT
  • Defence rebel Healey handed No 11 in Burnham’s shock first move
  • Burnham calls Trump as Labour’s North Sea drilling ban wobbles
  • Liz Kendall exits government as her tech department faces the axe
  • Peter Kyle sacked, leaving SME late payment law without its champion
  • £750m UKEF deal backs 2,000 GE Aerospace jobs in Wales and Scotland

Category: News

The latest news affecting small and medium sized (SME) businesses in the UK

A record 24.7 million "music tourists" travelled to UK concerts and festivals last year, spending an unprecedented £11.2 billion, and much of that money landed in the tills of small businesses far beyond the stadium gates.

Oasis reunion powers record £11.2bn music tourism boom

10 July 2026 News Amy Ingham 0 Comments

Record 24.7m music tourists spent £11.2bn at UK gigs in 2025, led by the Oasis reunion. What the live music boom means for SMEs and local economies.

Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company, is in advanced talks to pump $500 million (£400m) into Wayve, a UK-based self-driving car start-up.

Wayve staff cash in $85m in UK’s first private market share sale

10 July 2026 Get Funded, News Jamie Young 0 Comments

Wayve’s $85m employee share sale on the LSE Private Securities Market is a UK first and the biggest PISCES deal yet. What it means for staff equity.

French telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel is to become the largest shareholder in Vodafone, the group behind the UK's biggest mobile network, after agreeing a £4.4 billion deal to buy out Emirati giant e&'s entire stake.

Xavier Niel seizes top spot at Vodafone with £4.4bn stake swoop

10 July 2026 Entrepreneurs, Get Funded, News Paul Jones 0 Comments

Xavier Niel is set to become Vodafone’s largest shareholder after a £4.4bn deal with e&. What the French billionaire’s arrival means for UK firms.

More than half of the 3,280 company directors banned in Great Britain since 2023 were caught abusing Covid-19 financial support, new figures reveal, proof that the pandemic's emergency lending schemes are still claiming casualties five years on.

Covid support abuse behind more than half of 3,280 director bans

10 July 2026 News Amy Ingham 0 Comments

More than half of 3,280 UK director disqualifications since 2023 stem from Covid support abuse. See which sectors and regions face the greatest risk.

UK start-ups raised a record $17bn (£12.7bn) in the first half of 2026, double the amount raised in the same period last year and the strongest opening to any year since 2022, according to new figures from Dealroom and HSBC Innovation Banking.

Start-ups raise record $17bn but British money misses the party

9 July 2026 Get Funded, News Jamie Young 0 Comments

UK startup funding hit a record $17bn in H1 2026, but just 16% of large rounds involved British investors. What the boom means for firms raising now.

The FTSE 100 spent another session lurching between gains and losses after fresh US attacks on Iran, but for Britain's small business owners the more troubling number sits in the bond market, where gilt yields remain stuck above 4.9 per cent, their highest level since 10 June.

Iran strikes and Burnham jitters keep UK borrowing costs near highs

9 July 2026 News Amy Ingham 0 Comments

FTSE 100 swings and gilt yields hold above 4.9% as US strikes on Iran and Burnham uncertainty rattle markets. What it means for UK SME costs and borrowing.

issa brothers

Zuber Issa snaps up 85 Prax forecourts in dash to rebuild fuel empire

8 July 2026 News Jamie Young 0 Comments

Zuber Issa has bought 85 forecourts from the collapsed Prax Group, taking EG On The Move to 285 sites. What the deal means for forecourt operators.

British businesses are staring at another energy cost shock after wholesale gas prices jumped around 5 per cent, triggered by Donald Trump declaring the ceasefire with Iran "over" following a fresh wave of US strikes and renewed attacks on tankers in the strait of Hormuz.

Gas prices leap 5% as Trump declares Iran ceasefire ‘over’

8 July 2026 News Jamie Young 0 Comments

Wholesale gas prices jumped 5% after Donald Trump declared the Iran ceasefire over, reviving fears of another energy cost shock for UK businesses.

Around 200 jobs are at risk at John Lewis as the retailer prepares to close its in-store foreign exchange desks and dedicated gift wrapping areas, a signal of how quickly digital payments are hollowing out once-dependable high street services.

John Lewis calls time on currency desks, putting 200 jobs at risk

8 July 2026 News Amy Ingham 0 Comments

John Lewis job cuts put around 200 roles at risk as it plans to close in-store currency desks and gift wrapping, blaming the shift to digital payments.

Victims of the 2023 data breach at genetics testing firm 23andMe are to share a $46.75m (£35m) payout, after a California bankruptcy court ruled that the company's new owner must compensate as many as 6.9 million people whose personal information was exposed.

23andMe breach victims land $47m payout from firm’s new owner

8 July 2026 News Amy Ingham 0 Comments

Victims of the 23andMe data breach will share a $46.75m payout after a US court ruling. What the case means for UK firms holding sensitive customer data.

Businesses are taking on part-time staff at the fastest pace in three years, as owners look to meet rising demand for workers without shouldering the long-term costs of permanent hires.

Part-time hiring hits three-year high as wary employers keep permanent roles on ice

8 July 2026 News Amy Ingham 0 Comments

UK part-time hiring has hit a three-year high as cautious employers meet rising demand without permanent staff costs, new KPMG and REC figures show.

Nigel Farage has resigned as the MP for Clacton and will contest the resulting by-election, a dramatic gambit that pauses two parliamentary standards investigations into his financial affairs and asks the voters of Essex, rather than Westminster's watchdogs, to deliver the verdict.

Farage quits as MP and forces Clacton by-election amid deepening row over undeclared donations

7 July 2026 News Jamie Young 0 Comments

Nigel Farage has resigned as MP for Clacton and will stand in a by-election, as two standards investigations into undeclared payments are suspended by his exit.

The High Court has dismissed in full the £50m unlawful information gathering claim brought by Prince Harry, Sir Elton John and Baroness Lawrence against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers.

Prince Harry’s £50m hacking claim against Daily Mail publisher thrown out in full by High Court

7 July 2026 News Paul Jones 0 Comments

The High Court has dismissed in full the £50m unlawful information gathering claim brought by Prince Harry, Sir Elton John and Baroness Lawrence against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers.

A Northamptonshire couple who run a fairytale-style glamping retreat are taking soft drinks giant Britvic to court, claiming the J2O maker used a photograph of their cabin without permission to promote a national competition.

Glamping couple take Britvic to court over Magic Mushroom Cabin photo

7 July 2026 Legal, News Amy Ingham 0 Comments

A Northamptonshire glamping couple are suing J2O maker Britvic over the unauthorised use of a photo of their Magic Mushroom Cabin, in a case every SME should watch.

The American jobs machine slipped a gear in June. The world's largest economy added just 57,000 jobs last month, barely half the 110,000 that Wall Street had pencilled in and the first undershoot in employment growth since the US-Iran war began.

US jobs growth stalls in June as World Cup boost fails to materialise

6 July 2026 News Amy Ingham 0 Comments

US payrolls rose by just 57,000 in June, barely half of Wall Street forecasts, as the World Cup failed to lift hiring and the Fed weighs its next move on rates.

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Latest Content

Jamie Dimon has handed Andy Burnham's day-old government both a vote of confidence and a warning shot. The JP Morgan chief executive says he wants London to remain the US bank's home "for a long period of time", but whether Britain stays attractive as a place to do business rests on the new prime minister and his chancellor reviving growth.

‘I’m praying they get policy right’: Dimon puts Burnham on notice

Jamie Dimon says he is praying Andy Burnham’s new chancellor gets growth policy right as JP Morgan weighs its UK future. What it means for UK SMEs.

Farmers to Burnham: you said the family farm tax ‘needs looking at again’

Definitely maybe: what PM Andy Burnham means for British business

Searches for ‘VAT definition’ leap 23% as filing deadline looms

Visa turns to Rightcharge as 73% of fleet charging moves home

British Business Bank triples profit as SME finance hits record £9.4bn

Farnborough opens with $48.8bn in orders and £7.7bn for UK industry

Vertical’s flying taxis stay British as £10m seals 1,000 jobs

Utilities

Energy savings

Business Energy Claims recovers £25,000 for UK chocolatier

Energy saving

Manufacturing company recovers thousands from mis-sold energy contracts

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