End the non-competes! Tech bosses warn ‘unfair’ rules are choking UK growth Tech Some of Britain’s leading tech founders have called on the government to tear up “unfair” employment restrictions they say are choking growth and leaving UK startups struggling to compete with Silicon Valley. The bosses of Elevenlabs, Synthesia, Fuse Energy and a string of British AI startups have signed an open letter published on Tuesday demanding [...]
Graduate start-ups require a new kind of office Partner The City’s future as an economic powerhouse is being driven by a new kind of graduate. In years gone by, the Square Mile’s leading financial services, tech and consulting firms have hoovered up university leavers from the moment they don their graduation gowns, funnelling them from campus to office. The next chapter in the City [...]
Britain to offer visa refunds to woo tech scale-ups Tech The government will reimburse visa fees for high-growth firms hiring overseas talent as ministers step up efforts to turn Britain’s most promising scale-ups into global tech champions. Business secretary Peter Kyle is set to unveil a package of measures aimed at helping fast-growing companies “start, scale and stay” in the UK, including a new concierge-style [...]
UK bets on East London hub to anchor next phase of innovation April 19, 2026 The UK’s push to build a more joined-up innovation economy is increasingly being anchored in east London, where Here East has turned into one of the country’s largest multi-sector tech campuses. Set within the former Olympic press and broadcast centre in Stratford, the 1.2m sq ft site aims to bring various universities, startups, corporates and [...]
Investors eye farming as AI’s latest cash cow March 23, 2026 A startup fitting livestock with AI-powered collars is closing in on a $2bn valuation, as investors turn their attention to a less obvious frontier for AI. New Zealand-based Halter is in talks to raise fresh funding led by Founders Fund, the Silicon Valley firm backed by Peter Thiel. The round is understood to be heavily [...]
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 [...]
Huel and Moneybox founders head to No 10 as Reeves courts scale-ups December 9, 2025 The bosses of Huel and Moneybox were among dozens of founders headed to No10 on Monday evening, as the government wooed scale-ups with a sweeping package of tax and investment reforms unveiled in the Budget. Rachel Reeves used the Downing Street reception to promote what she claimed was the most significant overhaul of entrepreneur incentives [...]
British founders dodged an exit tax – and bagged a few wins instead November 27, 2025 Startup founders went into this week’s Budget in a state of quasi-panic. Rumours of a so-called ‘exit tax’ on wealthy individuals, fuelled by weeks of speculation, sparked fears that Britain was about to hurt its own ecosystem. Far from taxing entrepreneurs on the way out, Rachel Reeves used her second Autumn Budget statement to shower [...]
UK spinout economy could be Reeves’ next growth lever November 19, 2025 As Chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares to deliver her Autumn Budget, discussions of economic growth often centre on investment and fiscal levers. However, an arguably equally powerful driver of economic growth operates within the nation’s universities. Spinout ventures are turning ideas into viable businesses, attracting investment, generating high-skilled jobs and developing technologies with global reach. In [...]
Government-backed bank fuels entrepreneurship for unemployed Brits November 4, 2025 The British Business Bank has announced that nearly £150m in loans has been handed to unemployed people to help them start their own businesses since 2012. The figure represents 22 per cent of all finance issued through the government-backed ‘start-up loans’ programme, which aims to support entrepreneurs who may find it difficult to secure funding [...]