Barclays and Lloyds picked for City watchdog’s AI live testing April 21, 2026 Barclays has joined the second cohort of firms selected by the UK’s financial watchdog to get a safe run at testing AI as banking giants battle to bulk up their tech capacity. The FTSE 100 constituent will join its peer Lloyds Banking Group – which will be represented by its subsidiary Scottish Widows – as [...]
Trojan tools: AI is professional services’ newest cyber liability April 21, 2026 As the UK government ramps up pressure on businesses to strengthen their cyber defences over Anthropic’s Mythos, professional services firms are already feeling increasingly anxious about cybersecurity. In the last month, a hacker gained access to one of Bain & Co’s internal AI tools, which followed another attack that exposed cybersecurity flaws in a system [...]
Clio founder: We may not have the hype of Jude Law, but our data beats any AI rival April 21, 2026 Legal tech Clio’s boss tells senior reporter Maria Ward-Brennan that, with rivals closing in, the firm is betting that proprietary data, not hype, will determine its competitive edge in the AI race.In a competitive landscape, Clio founder and CEO Jack Newton believes his legal tech firm is in a “great position” in the marketplace, because [...]
Chip makers and defence contractors power profit upgrade for London tech stock Renishaw April 20, 2026 London-listed engineer Renishaw upped its profit guidance on Monday, sending its shares to the top of the FTSE 250, helped by demand from defence contractors and chipmakers. The Gloucestershire-based precision tech firm is known for its precision equipment used in the lithography process of making microprocessors. On Monday, it pointed to “a substantial expansion” of [...]
UK fintech chiefs switch growth plans as capital conditions wane April 20, 2026 Over seven in ten UK fintech chiefs are switching growth plans due to the country’s ailing capital conditions. Some 71 per cent of the sector’s top bosses said they have had to adjust growth strategies as a result of tightening capital conditions, according to a fresh report from fintech advisory firm Chatsworth and market researcher [...]
Allbirds shares rockets as shoe brand pivots to AI April 16, 2026 Shares in Allbirds surged by over 580 per cent after the struggling shoe brand unveiled a dramatic pivot into AI, betting on soaring demand for tech infrastructure to revive its fortunes. The Nasdaq-listed firm said it had secured $50m (£37m) in convertible financing to shift into an ‘AI compute infrastructure’ business, focusing on buying high-performance [...]
Beauty Tech Group profits jump following London IPO April 16, 2026 The Beauty Tech Group has posted stronger-than-expected annual results after its London listing last year, with revenue and profits surging as demand for at-home beauty devices continued to grow across international markets. The Manchester-founded business, which floated on the London Stock Exchange in October at a valuation of about £300m, told markets on Thursday that [...]
PwC consulting overhaul reveals AI reckoning for the Big Four April 16, 2026 The influx of AI is putting the Big Four’s structures under strain, and cracks are beginning to appear in their consultancy divisions, argues senior reporter Maria Ward-Brennan. The industry is facing a storm of problems, including over-recruitment during the pandemic, low staff attrition rates due to economic issues, and a drop in fees as the [...]
Exclusive: Treasury and regulator to hold crunch talks with UK fintech unicorns April 16, 2026 Top fintech bosses will lock horns with Treasury and watchdog officials next week as the industry lobbies for key regulatory reforms, City AM can reveal. Several of the nation’s fastest-growing companies are set to meet City Minister Lucy Rigby on Tuesday as part of a flurry of key summits in UK fintech week. The City [...]
London’s unlikeliest tech hub? The Ideal Home Show April 15, 2026 Think the Ideal Home Show is for fuddy duddies? We've been at the cutting edge of tech for 118 years, writes director Giles Perry.