Small business minister: we will unlock £1bn of local lending February 25, 2026 Community Development Finance gives small local business the funding and confidence they need to grow. That’s why this Labour government is launching a taskforce to expand the sector, say Blair McDougall and Bob Annibale The UK has long been home to an entrepreneurial spirit of creativity and innovation, from household names to neighbourhood heroes. Despite [...]
Wayve raises $1.2bn as self-driving firm gears up for robotaxi launch February 25, 2026 British self-driving car company Wayve has raised $1.2bn (£950m), ticking its valuation up to $8.6bn and marking one of the largest capital raises for a UK AI startup. The funding round was led by Eclipse, Balderton and Softbank Vision Fund 2, with new backing from investors like Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Baillie Gifford, the British [...]
Third of London homes cheaper to buy than to rent as prices fall February 25, 2026 More than a third of London homes are now cheaper to buy than to rent as house prices in the capital shrunk in the last year. The proportion of London houses which are cheaper to buy with a mortgage has doubled since last year, from 18 to 36 per cent, while still lower than the [...]
Pro Climbing League leans into urban boom ahead of sold-out London launch February 24, 2026 When the first batch of tickets for the London launch event of the Pro Climbing League went on sale last month they sold out in five minutes. Not quite Oasis or Taylor Swift levels of devotion, but for a minority sport with little history as a spectator event, impressive nonetheless. On Saturday night at Magazine [...]
Nicky Henderson: It’s 50-50, everyday I change my mind on Constitution Hill February 24, 2026 NICKY Henderson is no closer to making a decision on the next step for stable star Constitution Hill following his brilliant Flat debut win at Southwell last Friday. With Constitution Hill set to school over hurdles tomorrow, Henderson said: “I promise you, it is 50-50. Every day, I change my mind, but I think we’ve [...]
HOLYWATER TECH’s My Drama Debuts Wild Silence With Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Marking First TV Celebrity Turn in a Vertical Series February 24, 2026 Wild Silence signals the beginning of Chmerkovskiy’s acting career and debuts exclusively on the My Drama app on February 27
Paul Nicholls: British trainers in “better place” heading into Cheltenham February 24, 2026 PAUL Nicholls is confident that British trainers can challenge Ireland’s dominance at this year’s Cheltenham Festival, with the Ditcheat-based trainer suggesting Britain are going into Cheltenham “in a better place than we’ve been for the last few years”. Ireland won the Prestbury Cup by a huge 20-8 margin last year, but Nicholls believes the likes [...]
Deloitte big winner at Winter Olympics as sponsor sees engagement surge February 24, 2026 Big Four accounting firm Deloitte was one of the best performing sponsors at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics based on online engagement. The London-headquartered giant was joined by TCL Technology and Omega SA as the best engaged firms, according to UK engagement. According to research from adtech firm Quantcast, Deloitte enjoyed a 15 per cent [...]
Allica Bank joins fintech unicorn club after £100m injection February 24, 2026 Small business lender Allica Bank will join the illustrious club of British fintech unicorns after securing a fresh funding round. The challenger bank is said to have netted $155m (£111m) in a Series D fundraise, which will take the firm’s valuation to $1.2bn and over the billion pound mark to declare unicorn status. The round [...]
Bank of England chief: Interest rate cut is an ‘open question’ February 24, 2026 The governor of the Bank of England has said that an interest rate cut in March was an “open question” as policymakers suggested the jobs market would remain weak over the coming months. Appearing before the Treasury Select Committee on Tuesday, Andrew Bailey said he had not seen enough evidence to back an interest rate [...]