In Business Archives

Rubrik, the security and AI operations company, is to invest more than £375 million ($500 million) in the UK over the next five years and has named London as its headquarters for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, in a move ministers are hailing as a vote of confidence in British tech.

Cyber giant Rubrik picks London for EMEA HQ with £375m pledge

10 July 2026 Get Funded, In Business Amy Ingham 0 Comments

Rubrik’s £375m UK investment makes London its EMEA HQ. What the cyber resilience giant’s move means for British business owners, jobs and SME security.

Athena, the poster retailer that decorated a generation of British bedrooms and gave the world the Tennis Girl, is up for sale, offering entrepreneurs and investors a rare chance to buy one of the high street's most recognisable names outright.

Athena, the brand behind Tennis Girl, goes up for sale

10 July 2026 Get Funded, In Business Amy Ingham 0 Comments

The Athena brand, famous for the Tennis Girl poster, is up for sale as its UK and EU trademarks come to market. What the deal means for brand buyers.

Britain's night time economy has greeted Andy Burnham's expected arrival in Downing Street with something it has not felt in years: optimism. But its trade body has attached a condition, warning the incoming Prime Minister that "optimism must now be matched with action".

‘The work starts now’: nightlife bosses set Burnham an early test

10 July 2026 In Business Jamie Young 0 Comments

The NTIA has welcomed Andy Burnham’s expected arrival in No 10 but warns the night time economy needs action on tax and costs, not just warm words.

NatWest has opened a new business Accelerator at Tyseley Energy Park in Birmingham, handing West Midlands founders direct access to capital, coaching and investor networks in a region whose advanced engineering and manufacturing sector already generates £22 billion a year and supports 273,000 jobs.

NatWest picks 300-year-old wire maker’s site for new accelerator

9 July 2026 Get Funded, In Business Jamie Young 0 Comments

NatWest Accelerator opens at Tyseley Energy Park, giving West Midlands SMEs access to capital, coaching and investor networks to turn ideas into growth.

Diana’s niece bets on rosé with a one-shop Knightsbridge launch

9 July 2026 In Business Jamie Young 0 Comments

Lady Eliza Spencer launches Lala V Rosé exclusively at Hackstons in Knightsbridge. What the one-store strategy signals for premium drinks brands.

Investors who have pledged to back women are outperforming the wider market for the sixth year in a row, according to new government commissioned research that suggests the rest of the investment industry is leaving growth on the table.

Backing female founders beats the market, six years of data show

9 July 2026 Get Funded, In Business Jamie Young 0 Comments

New research shows backing female-led businesses drives UK growth, with Investing in Women Code investors outperforming the market for a sixth year.

Japanese companies are lining up more than £18 billion of investment in British wind farms, infrastructure and financial services. But HMRC's treatment of visa paperwork and Japanese health insurance risks souring the relationship before the money lands, a leading tax firm has cautioned.

Japan pledges £18bn, but HMRC’s small print could send it elsewhere

9 July 2026 In Business Jamie Young 0 Comments

Japanese investment worth over £18bn is heading for the UK, but HMRC’s stance on visa costs and health insurance could deter it, warns Blick Rothenberg.

Ten years after Britain voted to leave the EU, the clearest measurable cost to the British passport is not its overall standing, which remains firmly elite, but a 22-place gap between where it ranks on paper and where it ranks at the border.

Brexit’s quiet signature: UK passport lags 22 places on travel freedom

9 July 2026 In Business Jamie Young 0 Comments

Ireland outranks the UK again in the Global Passport Index 2026, which finds a 22-place Brexit mobility gap. What it means for UK business travellers.

One in 20 UK business owners admits a company-wide lapse in focus has cost them more than £1 million, according to new research that puts a hard price on distraction, and finds that for many, the trouble starts at home.

Business owners count £1m cost of taking their eye off the ball

9 July 2026 In Business Jamie Young 0 Comments

New research reveals the business distractions costing UK owners dearly, with one in 20 losing over £1m. See the biggest focus killers and the fixes.

Dogtooth Technologies, the British pioneer of AI-powered robotic harvesting, has raised more than £14 million to put its fruit-picking robots to work on commercial farms in the UK and overseas, in a deal that says as much about the state of the rural labour market as it does about the march of the machines.

Robotic harvesting pioneer Dogtooth secures £14m to help growers beat labour shortages

8 July 2026 Get Funded, In Business Amy Ingham 0 Comments

Dogtooth Technologies raises over £14m to scale AI-powered robotic harvesting as UK growers battle seasonal labour shortages. What it means for SMEs.

UK tech companies raised $15.3bn in the first half of 2026, an 84 per cent leap on the $8.3bn recorded in the second half of 2025 and enough to hold Britain's place as the world's third-largest tech funding market, behind only the United States and China. But the headline number hides a less comfortable truth for the average founder: the money went to fewer companies.

UK tech funding nearly doubles to $15.3bn, but the money is going to fewer companies

8 July 2026 Get Funded, In Business Jamie Young 0 Comments

UK tech funding nearly doubled to $15.3bn in H1 2026, but fewer firms shared the money. What the funding boom really means for SME founders raising now.

Small firms were meant to be the biggest winners from Britain's shift to paperless trade. Three years on, government-commissioned research has found them "untouched" by the reforms, while large companies and shipping carriers quietly pocket the savings.

Digital trade revolution passes small firms by as big business banks the savings

8 July 2026 Get Funded, In Business, Technology Jamie Young 0 Comments

UK SMEs remain untouched by digital trade reforms as big firms bank the savings, government research finds. What it means for smaller UK exporters.

Unite Group has cut asking rents in Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield to lift occupancy. What the student rent cuts mean for UK landlords and SMEs.

Unite cuts student rents to fill halls as new supply hands power to tenants

8 July 2026 In Business Amy Ingham 0 Comments

Unite Group has cut asking rents in Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield to lift occupancy. What the student rent cuts mean for UK landlords and SMEs.

A Hampshire defence entrepreneur has thrown down the gauntlet to Andy Burnham, urging the Labour leadership frontrunner to make this month's Farnborough International Airshow one of his first engagements, potentially on his first day in Downing Street.

Airshow veteran urges Andy Burnham to fly the flag for defence at Farnborough

7 July 2026 In Business, Opinion Amy Ingham 0 Comments

SME boss Andrew Barnett calls on Labour leadership frontrunner Andy Burnham to attend Farnborough International Airshow 2026 and put defence at the top of his in-tray.

Small businesses across the UK are being invited to play a central role in the country’s future defence strategy, as the government launches a landmark £400 million innovation fund aimed at transforming military technology and procurement.

Lockheed Martin swoops on British torpedo maker Ultra Maritime in $3.45bn undersea warfare deal

7 July 2026 Get Funded, In Business Jamie Young 0 Comments

Lockheed Martin is to acquire British undersea warfare specialist Ultra Maritime from Advent’s Cobham Ultra for $3.45bn, as global conflicts drive record defence demand.