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SME funding roadshow expands with new finance ecosystem partners. Purbeck Personal Guarantee Insurance has joined the FUEL Roadshow, a UK-wide programme designed to connect SMEs with investors, lenders, and advisers as businesses navigate an increasingly complex funding environment.
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Scottish salmon producer shifts to employee ownership to secure succession. Marine Products (Scotland) has transferred ownership to an Employee Ownership Trust, placing the Glasgow-based salmon producer in the hands of its staff while ensuring continuity of leadership and long-term independence.
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Currency volatility is rising, forcing businesses to rethink FX risk. Thanim Islam, Head of FX Analysis at Equals Money, explains how structured hedging, scenario planning, and faster treasury decisions can help companies protect margins as sterling and global interest-rate paths diverge.
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Peers urge ministers to reject opt-out AI copyright rules now. A Lords committee says licensed, transparent training data would better support creators, investment, and responsible model development, while warning that weaker copyright protections could stall UK licensing markets and deepen reliance on opaque overseas systems.
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Morgan Stanley cuts 2,500 roles as revenues hit record highs. The 3% reduction spans banking, trading, wealth, and investment management, excluding financial advisors. The bank has touted internal GPT-4 tools that automate research and meeting notes, raising questions about how productivity gains are reshaping staffing.
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Payroll mistakes are pushing UK workers towards financial instability and job moves. New research suggests many employees are already struggling with pay errors, just as HMRC prepares major payroll rule changes in April 2026 that could further increase complexity for employers.
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February’s US dealmaking was defined by conviction rather than volume. A $110bn media merger, a $34.5bn cable consolidation, and major transactions in banking, medtech, and payments infrastructure revealed a market pursuing scale — with regulators, financing, and integration now central to execution.
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UK contactless payment caps end nationwide on 19 March 2026. Banks can set their own limits, but must prove risk controls. With the blunt backstop gone, fraud monitoring, real-time analytics, and customer settings will matter more — and larger institutions may move first while others keep £100 until systems mature.
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Europe’s February M&A rewarded scarcity, scale, and defensive cashflows. Italy’s MPS pursued Mediobanca in a €16bn tie-up. InPost drew a €7.8bn offer as buyers chased large last-mile platforms. Blackstone and EQT agreed to buy Urbaser for $6.6bn, Germany took a TenneT stake, and Henkel moved for coatings group Stahl.
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February’s UK dealmakers chased scale, stability, and strategic scarcity again. Engie’s £10.5bn agreement for UK Power Networks led the month, while Nuveen’s £9.9bn purchase of Schroders underscored pressure for asset-management scale. NatWest bought Evelyn Partners, nexfibre consolidated fibre via Substantial, and Brookfield-backed Radiant merged with London’s Ori in late February.