Midday Markets: Burnham’s welcome crack down on pesky non-competes Business The Midday Market report is a new newsletter from City AM, giving you fresh analysis on the City’s biggest stories straight into your inbox every lunchtime. Today, Ali Lyon outlines the positive case for Andy Burnham’s clampdown on non-competes and lengthy notice periods. You know something is wrong with the upper end of Britain’s labour [...]
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 [...]
British AI firm Synthesia warns ‘sci-fi’ fears risk choking UK tech Tech British AI firm Synthesia has warned that “sci-fi” fears over AI could lead to poorly designed regulation, as pressure grows on ministers to toughen the UK’s AI rules. Alexandru Voica, head of corporate affairs and policy at the London-based AI video company, told City AM there was “no evidence” for claims that AI was already [...]
Venture heavyweights denounce government’s £1bn scale-up fund plans August 28, 2026 The government’s flagship £1bn scale-up fund will miss out on top deals and chalk up poor performance for its pensioner investors should ministers select a traditional firm to manage it over a specialist venture capital shop, a group of the UK’s top early-stage investors has warned. The industry heavyweights, who between them are early backers [...]
French AI boss calls for youth mobility scheme July 9, 2025 The boss of one of France’s most successful tech start-ups has thrown her weight behind calls for a youth mobility scheme between the EU and UK, warning that Europe must have access to deep pools of talent to stand a chance of competing in the AI arms race. Eleonore Crespo, co-founder of business planning unicorn [...]
Are we entering the ABBA Voyage era at work? October 28, 2024 AI avatars are about to replace you in meetings. The possibilities are tantalising – and unsettling, writes Paul Armstrong AI avatars are joining our Zoom calls, often before we do. Meeting note-takers, digital clones, even interviewers are now infiltrating the office landscape—often uninvited. This isn’t some distant sci-fi concept; it’s happening now. Is this progress, [...]