
Octopus Energy acquires majority stake in Uplight for US expansion. The acquisition, in partnership with Schneider Electric, will address rising electricity demand due to data centres and electrification.

Infosecurity Europe is tying cyber risk to geopolitical instability directly. The event’s 2026 keynote programme will examine cyber conflict, resilience, and European cooperation as organisers report rising concern about how international tensions are reshaping security collaboration.

Ministers tighten payment rules for large business buyers today. Proposed reforms would cap terms at 60 days, mandate interest on overdue invoices, expand enforcement powers, and bring payment performance closer to board scrutiny, though the measures still require legislation and some of the most significant changes would not take effect before 2027.

Azerion promotes Rebecca Callaghan to lead out-of-home growth in UK. The promotion gives the advertising platform a dedicated senior lead for programmatic digital out-of-home as it pushes the channel deeper into omnichannel media planning.

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 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 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.

Tech West England expands China trade mission plans for 2026. The programme pairs a November mission to Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong with a June UK Market Discovery Tour timed to London Tech Week.

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.

AI is moving from assistance towards delegated action inside chat. Tencent’s latest WeChat move points to a wider shift in enterprise technology, where the real question is no longer whether employees use AI, but how companies govern permissions, approvals, audit trails, and accountability once software begins acting on a worker’s behalf.