UK fintech Zempler Bank snapped up for less than half previous valuation February 12, 2026 London-based fintech Zempler Bank has been snapped up by Nigeria’s biggest bank in a deal that has slashed the firm’s valuation, City AM can reveal. The small business lender – formerly known as Cashplus – has been acquired by The Access Bank UK with a price tag of around £3.45p per share. The sale represents [...]
Making Tax Digital set to boost SME productivity February 5, 2026 Britain’s push to digitise tax ahead of the Making Tax Digital (MTD) deadline is set to help close its productivity gap with countries like France and Germany, City AM understands. According to Starling Bank, wider use of digital financial tools by SMEs could add £25.3bn to the economy, helping to narrow the UK’s productivity gap [...]
HSBC and Sage tackle Making Tax Digital burden for SMEs January 30, 2026 HSBC UK is launching a new digital tax tool inside its business banking platform, as the countdown to the government’s biggest shake-up of income tax reporting enters its final phase. Built using embedded tech from Sage, the service, called My Business Finances, will allow small business owners to manage invoicing and tax reporting. The move [...]
Hackney tops London’s entrepreneurial boroughs for startup loans January 12, 2026 Startup founders in Hackney racked up the highest volume of loans in London as fleets of British entrepreneurs launched their business in the capital. Some 1,309 loans were taken out by founders in Hackney through the Start Up Loans initiative since its launch in 2012 topping £11.4m in value. The borough has benefitted from being [...]
Football-style firings in SMEs: A risky game for business owners January 5, 2026 HR professionals are seeing SMEs start to copy football’s “sack the boss” culture when things go south for the company, but warn that this strategy could turn into an “expensive legal headache”. Managers of major football teams, especially those in the Premier League, can operate like a revolving door when the team is in a [...]
Big banks SME lending comeback slowed down by Budget jitters December 11, 2025 High street banks’ return to small business lending slowed in the third quarter of 2025 after the chaos on the road to the Autumn Budget dampened activity in the economy. Big banks dished out nearly £4.2bn in total loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the three months to 30 September – a level [...]
AI powers UK’s startup surge as founder numbers soar December 3, 2025 While Britain is trudging through another tax-heavy Budget, LinkedIn data has revealed signs of a founder boom, with AI doing much of the heavy lifting. As Rachel Reeves attempted to boost startup and scale-up appetite in her Budget, LinkedIn revealed that the number of UK professionals adding ‘founder’ to their profile has jumped 69 per [...]
Reeves hands small businesses sour cocktail in Autumn Budget November 26, 2025 Small and mudiec-sized businesses (SMEs) now face a sour cocktail of higher taxes, rising costs, and tighter margins following Rachel Reeves’ second Budget as Chancellor. Dividend taxes are up, income tax and National Insurance thresholds remain frozen until 2030-31, and salary-sacrifice pension reliefs are being curtailed. For many small business owners, the Budget will feel [...]
What does the Budget mean for you? November 26, 2025 Rachel Reeves’ second Budget has been the most closely watched in recent memory, with media briefings and soundings on all sides. Rachel Reeves has raised taxes by £26bn in her second Budget, which follows on from last year’s £40bn. They will go up to well over 38 per cent of GDP by 2030, the OBR [...]
Autumn Budget: Will the UK keep its tech talent or drive it abroad? November 25, 2025 Time is running out for Rachel Reeves to reassure the sector she has spent months courting. With tax rises looking increasingly likely in Wednesday’s Autumn Budget, the mood across UK tech has shifted to concern, reviving the warning issued earlier this month by some of Britain’s most valuable founders: change course, or risk watching high-growth [...]