Nscale and ElevenLabs power £41bn AI boom as Britain cements unicorn crown July 1, 2026 Britain’s AI sector has more than tripled in value in just a year, with fast-growing firms including Nscale and ElevenLabs now worth a combined £41bn as the UK strengthens its position as Europe’s leading startup hub. New research from the Hurun UK Unicorn Index shows the country’s nine AI unicorns have surged to a combined [...]
City launches new Digital ID framework against AI fraud June 30, 2026 The City of London Corporation has unveiled plans for a new digital identity framework it claims could unlock more than £5bn for the UK economy, as policymakers and the financial sector race to tackle increasingly sophisticated AI-enabled fraud. A blueprint published on Tuesday proposes a “Digital Verification Orchestrator”, or DVO – a system set to [...]
Mad about A Boy Named Susie to Eclipse rivals June 30, 2026 THIS Saturday’s Group One Coral Eclipse (3.35pm) from Sandown provides the first chance of the season to see how the three-year-olds measure up against their elders. Aidan O’Brien has won four of the last five renewals of this mile-and-a-quarter contest and currently accounts for four of the eight entries at this stage, while his son’s [...]
MDOTM Raises $27M Growth Equity Round Led by Expedition Growth Capital as AI Adoption Permeates the Asset and Wealth Management Industry June 30, 2026 The funding will accelerate international expansion and hiring across AI research, engineering, product, sales and client solutions Sphere, MDOTM’s AI investment platform, now supports more than $100 billion in assets across 60+ financial institutions, including Morgan Stanley, Amundi and Zurich Bank With fee compression and demand for personalization rising, firms are adopting Sphere to manage thousands of portfolios at scale
Exeter Chiefs deal done as Bournemouth owners complete ‘£45m’ takeover June 30, 2026 AFC Bournemouth owner Bill Foley’s Cannae Holdings have completed the purchase of Prem Rugby club Exeter Chiefs for a reported £45m. The American – who controls the Premier League club as part of a Black Knight consortium that includes Michael B Jordan – will become the majority owner of the Devonshire rugby union team, and [...]
Rolls-Royce and BAE shares fired up on Starmer defence investment plan June 30, 2026 London-listed defence stocks including Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems shot higher on Tuesday as investors backed the main beneficiaries of Keir Starmer’s £15bn expansion in military spending. The outgoing prime minister unveiled the government’s long-awaited Defence Investment Plan in a speech in Berkshire. He appeared alongside the Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis. The [...]
Archduke play at the Royal Court: A fascinating comedy about radicalisation June 30, 2026 Archduke | Royal Court | ★★★★☆ I’m not sure what I expected from this play about the days preceding the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand – the event credited with starting the First World War – but it wasn’t a comedy of errors whose influences run the gamut from Withnail and I to Chris [...]
‘Ultrasound cakes’ help fuel sales surge at London-listed Cake Box June 30, 2026 A surge in demand for ‘ultrasound cake’ has helped drive record sales at one of the UK’s biggest bakeries. Cake Box, which operates hundreds of stores across the UK, posted a 9.3 per cent rise in organic turnover to £45.9m for the year to end March as the firm set its sights on opening dozens [...]
UK fintech Monovate posts £8.3m loss as Visa and Mastercard partner dumps European arm June 30, 2026 A key fintech partner of Mastercard and Visa suffered a hit to its bottom line as the business restructured its European operations and counted the costs of a major accounting error. Monovate – which acts as a licensed middle man bridging businesses and payment giants – made a loss of £8.3m in 2025, which was [...]
Housebuilding giants hit with £4.5bn lawsuit for allegedly overcharging buyers June 30, 2026 Seven of Britain’s largest housebuilders are facing a class action lawsuit worth a potential £4.5bn in damages over allegations they overcharged 700,000 buyers of new-build properties. Mark McLaren, former parliamentary and legal affairs manager at consumer group Which?, is planning on launching the claim against FTSE 100 firms Barratt Redrow and Persimmon, FTSE 250 companies [...]