Author: Jamie Roberts, managing partner, YFM Equity Partners

It felt like tax rises are being framed as unavoidable – maybe that is right as the level of debt and cost of interest is so high and there is no short-term fix to this other than tax rises.

But sustained growth rarely comes from taxation and today’s words seems to ignore the long term risk of making it less attractive to create businesses in the UK.

Entrepreneurs, founders and business leaders, like everyone else, are feeling the strain of slower productivity and high inflation. If the UK wants to improve productivity and drive growth over the medium term, then it must continue to back the entrepreneurs starting and running businesses.

These are the people creating jobs and prosperity for all. The UK is still the best place in the world to start and run a business with tax incentives to drive investment (venture capital trust and EIS), a world leading legal system and a huge pool of talent – but we risk eroding that edge if we keep targeting the very people we need to build businesses and create employment.

I’m hoping that as well as the now expected tax rises that the Chancellor signals that Britain remains a place where people are rewarded for building businesses and creating jobs to deliver long-term prosperity.

Author: Andreas Adamides, CEO, Helm

Founders have mortgaged their homes and invested life savings to create jobs based on manifesto commitments that are now being ripped up.

Many are already on a knife-edge after being clobbered with a £40bn tax raid in the last Budget. Now they’re facing tax rises on top of a 6.7% minimum wage increase that will decimate margins.

Faced with higher taxes, soaring wage bills, and spiralling costs, businesses will be forced to slash jobs, abandon growth plans, or simply shut down. Those that survive will have no choice but to push prices up and inflation will stay high. This government is engineering a crisis.

We’re 18 months into a five-year Parliament. Stop blaming everybody else. Breaking manifesto pledges isn’t forced upon you – it’s a cop out, a betrayal and a death knell for investment.

Author: George Holmes, managing director, Aurora Capital

Businesses need clarity, but all they got today was a warning shot from the Chancellor. Rachel Reeves’s refusal to rule out tax hikes throws yet more uncertainty into the mix just as small business confidence was beginning to stabilise. Talk of ‘necessary choices’ and ‘everyone doing their bit sounds like code for squeezing taxpayers, including thousands of owner-managed firms already dealing with rising costs.

If the government walks back a key manifesto pledge within 18 months of taking office, it could stall hiring, investment, and growth plans across the SME sector. Small firms can’t make long-term decisions when policy is uncertain. And with cash flow already under pressure, any increase in income tax or national insurance would hit sole traders and small company directors hardest.

A ‘Budget for growth’ cannot be built on the backs of small businesses. If the Chancellor is serious about long-term stability, she needs to support productivity by investing in the SME backbone of the economy, not by taxing it into paralysis.

Risers:

Diversified Energy Company – +8.41%

Pantheon Infrastructure – +3.37%

Vietnam Enterprise Investments – +2.85%

SEGRO – +2.47%

Derwent London – +2.42%

Fallers:

Hochschild Mining – -4.46%

Ninety One – -4.15%

Anglo-Eastern Plantations – -3.76%

Metro Bank – -3.47%

Senior – -3.41%

Gumtree has partnered with Mangopay as part of its transformation into a fully transactional customer-to-customer (C2C) marketplace, moving away from its traditional model. 

With over 10 million monthly visitors and 2m active listings, the company will begin introducing wallet-first payments in selected categories before a full launch in 2026. 

The partnership allows users to pay and receive funds directly on the platform, eliminating offline transactions and improving safety and convenience for buyers and sellers. 

Mangopay’s white-label wallet system enables Gumtree to manage its payment flows and offer users instant re-spend options.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Rachel Reeves has refused to rule out tax rises in this month’s Budget.

In an unusual pre-Budget news conference in Downing Street, the Chancellor hinted that she would break a Labour election manifesto commitment not to increase income tax, VAT or national insurance.

Against the backdrop of an estimated £20-30 billion shortfall in the public finances and £2.6 trillion of national debt – 94% of GDP – Reeves said the country was in a worse state financially than they had expected after “years of [Conservative] economic mismanagement”.

Managed IT and cloud services provider Arc has appointed Mark Darrah as its new CTO, succeeding Matt Clayden after 25 years of leadership. 

Darrah brings more than 25 years of experience in the technology and managed services sector, having previously founded and led NITC, which Arc acquired in October 2024. 

As CTO, he will oversee strategic technology leadership, enhance service capabilities and integrate customer project delivery across the business.

The London-based firm’s CEO, James Clayden, praised the appointment as a key step in the company’s growth, citing his “leadership, vision and deep understanding of the MSP landscape” as instrumental to Arc’s expansion.

London-based consultancy Thistle Initiatives has appointed Scott Friedrichs as its new CEO following the addition of four new partners and CFO Alex Knight. 

The former PA Consulting Group veteran brings more than 30 years of leadership experience in consulting, having previously served as senior managing director and global head of life Sciences at North Highland Consulting. 

He was also SVP/director Americas at Chaucer/BIP Group, where he built a $10 million US consulting business.

The 70-person advisory firm, which provides consulting across regulatory compliance, financial crime and change & transformation, plans to broaden its focus beyond compliance to management consulting.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Salford-based refill-station startup H2Origin Refills is set to expand its network of smart water refill points after securing new investment from water hygiene specialist HydraClean.

The backing for the firm, which was on the GM Business Growth Hub’s first edition of its ASCEND Programme, follows earlier backing from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA).

The funding will accelerate the rollout of its technology across public spaces, workplaces, universities and leisure destinations as demand for sustainable, refillable alternatives to bottled water rises.

Reading-based HR, payroll and benefits software provider Ciphr has appointed Karen Williams as its new chief revenue officer to lead commercial growth as it looks to strengthen its market position. 

Williams joins from IRIS Software Group, where she served as vice president of group operations and previously held a number of senior leadership roles over 15 years, including head of accountancy sales, interim managing director of the accountancy division and MD during the company’s first North American expansion. 

At Ciphr, she will oversee all revenue-generating functions, including new business, business development, renewals and revenue operations, working alongside CEO Sion Lewis, her former colleague at IRIS.

Homemove, a PropTech platform which aims to simplify home-moving, has acquired long-established property website Home.co.uk.

Founded in 1995, Home.co.uk is one of the UK’s original independent property search and analysis websites. 

The platform will remain free to list for estate agents, which Homemove says is a key principle in its mission to build a smarter, fairer alternative to the incumbent portals. It also says they will now benefit from enhanced listings and new revenue opportunities through Homemove’s connected services platform.

A former head of operations at Monzo has joined online casino business MrQ.

Lyndsey Edgar has been named COO at the UK firm, while Adam Ryan (ex-FinTech marketing leader) has joined as CMO, Katie Harbron (ex-Flutter, Sky Bet) as CPO and Toby Bentall (ex-Oddschecker) as CFO.

MrQ says it is ‘bringing Monzo-grade product thinking to one of the most outdated industries in consumer tech’ with the move as ‘most online casinos run on bloated third-party platforms, stitched together by committees and slowed by compliance red tape… MrQ is building everything in-house – from the product stack to the player experience’.

Founded in 2018, MrQ has scaled without venture backing or external shareholders, and been profitable from day one.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has invested more than £930,000 over the past three years to enhance its data capability in an attempt to create smarter, safer and more efficient rail and road networks. 

The regulator has spent around £460,000 on new data systems, tools and consultancy, alongside £470,000 on staffing dedicated data roles as part of a wider effort to modernise how it gathers and analyses information.

Retail-focused customer experience platform Voyado has reported a 40% year-on-year increase in its UK customer base, driven by major new retail partnerships and rising demand for AI-powered personalisation tools. 

Recent clients include Never Fully Dressed, The Edinburgh Woollen Mill, John Smedley, ThruDark, Pooky Lighting and Menkind.

The Stockholm-founded company, valued at £260 million, is expanding rapidly across Europe following investment from Viking Global Investors. 

In the UK and Ireland, it has also entered a strategic partnership with XCM as well as maintaining 25% annual growth, fuelled by strong customer retention and international expansion.

Derby-based startup Vigilant AI.ai has secured £585,000 in pre-seed funding, led by venture capital firm Haatch, alongside contributions from the East Midlands Combined County Authority and the British Business Bank. 

The company builds AI “teammates” – generative AI systems designed specifically for regulated industries, helping businesses use AI safely and compliantly.

The funding will help the business expand its engineering and go-to-market teams, finalise pilot programmes and prepare for a wider commercial rollout in 2025.

The company’s founders say their technology bridges the “GenAI trust gap” by allowing financial and regulated firms to adopt AI tools without compromising governance or compliance

Huddersfield-based SaaS firm Adventoris has been selected to develop and manage a new B2B trade ordering platform for Suntory Beverage & Food GB&I – the producer of Lucozade, Orangina and Ribena. 

The project will use the company’s SwiftCloud platform to modernise the drinks giant’s wholesale ordering system, allowing trade customers to view products, check availability and place orders 24/7 via a branded online portal.

The partnership follows a competitive selection process, with Adventoris chosen for its strong record in the food and drink industry – its clients already include PepsiCo, AG Barr and Hallgarten & Novum Wines. 

The platform, due to launch in early 2026, will streamline Suntory’s order-to-billing process and provide real-time insights for customers.

Founded in 2012, Adventoris employs around 50 people at its Huddersfield headquarters and serves more than 220 clients across the UK.

A new study on leadership in private equity firms has found that companies with strong inclusive leadership practices significantly outperform their peers. 

Businesses with mature inclusion strategies were found to be 14x more likely to achieve high performance, while 83% of respondents said inclusion and wellbeing are essential for attracting and retaining talent. 

Nearly half of employees (49%) said they would consider leaving their current employer for a culture that prioritises psychological safety. 

The research, conducted by Inclusion Live, also revealed major perception gaps between leaders and staff, with leaders twice as likely to feel supported to perform at their best.

Businesses with the most inclusive cultures are also 3.78x more likely to execute in the areas and ways of working that deliver the elements needed for a strong exit value and swift sale.

THG Studios has launched SMASH – a padel court designed to bring together sport, technology and creativity. 

Built in collaboration with Google Cloud, the court uses real-time analytics and performance tracking to create data-driven content opportunities for brands and players. 

The facility, located within the company’s Manchester site, will host its launch on Thursday with a tournament, live demonstrations and a fireside chat with Alan Pardew. 

Partners include Slazenger, Havwoods and Myprotein, which have each contributed to the design and experience of the venue. 

The court will also serve as the setting for a new YouTube content series focused on padel, due to premiere in early 2026.

AIM-listed SaaS firm Dotdigital Group has seen its share price rise by 6% in the first half an hour of trading today after reporting a strong year of growth and profitability as it continues to scale globally and invest heavily in innovation.

For the year ended 30th June 2025, the London-based company delivered revenue of £83.9 million, up 6% from the previous year, with profitability slightly ahead of market expectations.

Adjusted EBITDA rose by 10% to £26.8m, while adjusted profit before tax increased by 13% to £19m.

The business, which is behind an AI-powered customer experience and data platform, finished the year with a cash balance of £36.2m, following the $20m initial payment for its June acquisition of Social Snowball.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Next 15 has confirmed that it is in discussions to sell its PR and marketing divisions amid media speculation of a potential £230 million swoop.

Sky News reported that private equity firm Epiris is eyeing a £230m swoop for several of the London-listed tech and data-driven growth consultancy’s divisions.

The potential deal is said to include PR firms MHP Communications and Outcast, marketing company M Booth and Activate, a demand generation specialist.

Sky said Epiris, based in London and which owns restaurant chains Las Iguanas and Cafe Rouge, had approached Ares Management to help finance any potential bid.

The speculation follows a period of transition at the consultancy, which issued a profit warning this year and saw long-serving boss Tim Dyson retire in June after 33 years in charge.

In August we reported how Next 15 is to permanently cease operations at its Silicon Valley venturing arm Mach49, a unit acquired in 2020, after it uncovered ‘potential serious misconduct’ there in June.