• Deals may be back. Trust in the credit machinery is another matter.

    Deal confidence is rising faster than credit market trust can follow. A stronger M&A outlook now sits alongside strain in private credit, leaving boards to reconcile strategic ambition with harder questions about liquidity, underwriting, lender concentration, covenant quality, and whether the financing supporting a transaction is as durable as the deal thesis itself.


  • TreviPay flags friction in European B2B buying

    TreviPay says friction and AI expectations are reshaping buyer loyalty. A survey of 550 buyers across Europe and the UK points to invoice accuracy, onboarding speed, ERP integration, and payment flexibility as competitive requirements in supplier selection.


  • Imagination appoints new UK finance director

    Imagination names Harsharan Travers UK finance director with immediate effect. The agency says the former Ogilvy UK finance leader will oversee commercial and financial operations, supporting growth, efficiency, and client delivery across the UK business.


  • Oracle remakes finance and procurement software for AI agents

    Oracle is redesigning Fusion to work more directly with AI. The update shifts finance and procurement tasks toward prompts, agents, and automated execution, as the software group tries to prove enterprise applications remain central to business decision-making by becoming the layer where data, workflows, approvals, and AI actions meet securely.


  • AIM transfers gather pace on reforms

    AIM graduates are moving up as listing reforms take hold. Pinsent Masons says transfers to London’s Main Market have tripled year on year as rules and investor access change the calculus.


  • FCA rules sharpen third-party cyber oversight

    FCA rules tighten cyber reporting across financial services supply chains. Arqit says the bigger test is retaining control when critical infrastructure, data, and services sit beyond an institution’s own estate.


  • Metro Bank adds FX forwards service

    Metro Bank is expanding hedging tools for business customers further. The bank’s new FX Forwards offer, powered by Equals Money, is designed to help corporate and commercial clients manage exchange-rate risk and plan payments with greater certainty.


  • Retirement gaps create business planning risk

    Most workers are off course for retirement, Flagstone survey finds. The savings platform said the mismatch between planned and likely retirement ages is becoming a workforce-cost issue for employers, not just a personal finance problem.


  • CVL rise keeps SME pressure visible

    Higher liquidations show cashflow strain still grips many small businesses. February’s insolvency data pointed to another rise in creditors’ voluntary liquidations, reinforcing concerns that directors are shutting viable companies before financial pressure worsens.


  • Bank Rate held amid energy shock

    Bank Rate stayed put as markets weighed inflation and conflict. Property and business leaders said the hold offers short-term stability, though energy prices, borrowing costs, and wider geopolitical risk are still feeding caution into investment and household finances.