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Crypto miner digs itself into a hole
Global economic uncertainty and recent volatility in financial markets have boosted interest in trading cryptocurrency. However, the latest closure of a UK based crypto business, amid claims of fraud, is a fresh reminder of the risks of dabbling in this still...
Letter from London: The impact of a stunning set of local elections
Print off this briefing and brandish it before my eyes sometime in 2029, when the prediction I am about to make may be proved hopelessly awry. I reckon UK politics is on the cusp of monumental realignment; at the next election for the first time since the Great Reform...
Hiring squeeze squashes agencies
Recruiters are in trouble. Having expanded rapidly to around 30,000 agencies in recent years, and survived Covid, a dramatic fall in job vacancies is forcing record numbers of company failures in the sector. A new analysis by CityAM of agency insolvencies in the last...
Sanctions convictions follow business breaches
Earlier this month, two individuals were sentenced for breaches of Russian linked financial sanctions for the first time ever in the UK. Both Russian nationals, they were found guilty of eight counts of breaching financial sanctions and two counts of money laundering,...
Directors’ bans still led by Covid loan abuse
The Insolvency Service disqualified more than 1,000 directors in 2024-25, according to its latest report on enforcement outcomes. Of the 1,036 sanctioned, 736 were banned for Covid loan abuse. The average length of a ban was eight years, on a scale of two to 13 years....
Tried and Tested: Recipes You’ll Love – Flaounes for Easter
Every four years or so, something quite special happens in the Christian calendar: the Catholic and Orthodox Easters fall on the same Sunday. 2025 is one such year - and for Greek Cypriots like Katerina Mina, our marketing director at Buchler Phillips, it means the...
Bronzewood Capital backs acquisition of Fairline Yachts
Bronzewood Capital, the private equity investor focused on UK mid-market turnaround situations with asset backing, is pleased to announce its first transaction, one month after launch. The firm is backing Fairline Holdco Limited in acquiring the business and assets of...
Dundee’s near-death rocks stricken universities
The cash crisis pushing Dundee University to the brink of collapse is a familiar tale of woe in UK Higher Education these days. An ‘expert taskforce’ and £22m of Scottish government support may have hauled Dundee back from the edge, but other institutions won’t be so...
SEND tipping teetering councils over the edge
This week, after the customary two months of respite, the first of ten Council Tax instalments will once again be debited from household bank accounts. For most, they will have risen sharply, as the financial crisis that has left many local authorities close to bust...
Letter from London: Spring Statement
Time will tell whether this week’s spring statement enables Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, successfully to reset the UK government’s economic strategy. Few commentators predicted the torrid baptism of fire that has beset the Labour administration after it...
Staff cost hikes set to demolish builders
Construction companies continue to top the insolvency tables month-on-month, but a new report by sector experts predicts a new spike prompted by imminent hikes in National Insurance (NI) and minimum wage costs. Turner & Townsend’s (T&T) UK Market...
March 2025 Newsletter – SME funding review must recognise payments crisis
Another government review aimed at helping stricken Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs). This time, the Department for Business and Trade has spotted a debt crisis for smaller firms and is calling for them to share their experiences of accessing finance in the UK as...
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