Business

Recently published figures for Q3 of the 2025-26 financial year revealed gross gambling yield (GGY) for UK online casinos of £1.5 billion. Will they be able to continue posting such results amid rising costs in the coming months?

The cost of a UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) licence is likely to be increased later this year. It’s the latest piece of bad financial news for UK online casinos. Although the online gambling industry continues to post impressive results, there are also concerns about the dangers of addiction.

Last year saw a new mandatory levy come into force. UK gambling sites reviewed by Dailystoke.com had been making voluntary payments with funds going towards researching gambling harm and treatment of those who have been affected. However, the government felt not all companies were making an equal contribution and introduced a mandatory levy. This is aimed at raising £100 million a year with some of the funds going to the NHS.

Then came the Autumn Budget which included details of a rise in Remote Gaming Duty. A rise had been considered long overdue but companies were shocked when the rate went up from 21% to 40%. This will come into force in April of this year. A further rise in sports betting tax rates will take place next year.

There has been stricter regulation introduced in the past year and more is likely to come into force in the future. One major rule change last year saw maximum stakes for online slots introduced and this year, action has been taken against the bonuses UK online casinos offer.

Financial results published since the maximum stakes for online slots were introduced haven’t been bad news for online casinos. Slots provide a large proportion of GGY for sites and for Q3 the figure was £788 million 10% higher than recorded in the same period 12 months ago.

The average length of sessions for players has fallen from 18 minutes to 16 minutes but sites will be relieved to see the high GGY figure. The overall GGY of £1.5 billion was up from the £1.42 recorded in Q2. However, compared to Q3 of the previous financial year, there was a 2% fall.

Last month saw a consultation period begin regarding a rise in the cost of a UKGC licence. These are required for a company to legally operate in the UK. As you will read, there are many companies who are unlicensed and causing serious problems for the Treasury, legal operators and gamblers.

The UKGC has a tough task regulating the gambling industry and regularly investigates companies who may have committed regulatory breaches. This has seen several companies issued with fines when breaches have been confirmed. With the UKGC also looking to deal with the problems being caused by illegal sites, their costs have been steadily increasing and not been matched by their level of funding, hence the existence of a shortfall that needs to be closed.

That is why they are calling for a rise of an average 30% but there are other options currently being discussed in the consultation period. Other options are a 20% increase and the one that the government prefers. That would see a 30% rise in licence fees but only 20% would be used for commission-related costs with the remaining 10% ring-fenced and only used for specific regulatory priorities. These would include strengthening their enforcement capabilities and taking action against illegal operators.

The UKGC say that if the increase was to be only 20%, this would lead to savings of £15.8 million needing to be made and possibly a 10% cut in staffing levels by 2030-31. They would find it difficult to be able to carry on their current level of investigating suspected regulatory breaches.

How would UK online casinos be affected by a further rise in costs on top of the mandatory levy and tax increases? Stricter regulation is driving players to the black market and that is a worrying problem for the legal sites. It’s not good news for players either as the levels of customer protection are not as high as they do not need to adhere to the new rules. The Treasury does not receive any mandatory levy or tax contributions so a strong UKGC is needed to lead the fight against the illegal operators.

Top companies such as bet365, Flutter Entertainment and Entain are global businesses. If the levels of regulation continue to increase as well as the higher costs, they may be forced to make cuts in the UK and concentrate more on overseas interests in South America, the USA and Asia.

Read more:
UK Online Casinos Face Further Increased Costs

Advances in digital health have transformed fertility awareness from traditional methods into precise, personalized monitoring.

Today, individuals have access to tools that provide real-time insights into their reproductive cycles, helping them make informed decisions about conception and overall reproductive health. Central to this evolution is the ovulation tracker, a device that measures key hormonal changes to identify fertile windows with high accuracy.

For many women, pinpointing ovulation is essential. The fertile window is brief, often only a few days each cycle, and timing intercourse or conception-related interventions within this period can significantly improve the likelihood of pregnancy. While calendars, basal body temperature charts, and cervical mucus observation can offer rough guidance, they lack the precision of hormonal measurement. An ovulation tracker detects surges in luteinizing hormone (LH), the biological signal that triggers ovulation, offering definitive insight into the most fertile days of the cycle.

How Digital Ovulation Trackers Work

Unlike traditional paper-based or visual strip methods, modern ovulation trackers integrate technology to provide quantifiable data. They use biochemical sensors to detect LH levels in urine, translating subtle hormonal fluctuations into clear, interpretable results. This approach reduces the risk of misreading faint test lines and provides a numerical indication of hormone concentration, which is particularly valuable for individuals with irregular or modest LH surges.

Many digital trackers are paired with smartphone applications. The combination of physical measurement and software analysis enables users to automatically record results, visualize trends over time, and generate forecasts for upcoming cycles. These features transform a single diagnostic measurement into a comprehensive fertility intelligence tool, enabling users to understand patterns rather than relying on isolated data points.

Benefits of Consistent Ovulation Tracking

The value of an ovulation tracker lies not only in the immediate detection of fertile days but also in long-term cycle analysis. Hormone levels can fluctuate from month to month due to lifestyle, stress, illness, or metabolic changes. Consistent monitoring across multiple cycles provides a clearer picture of an individual’s unique hormonal rhythm, helping identify irregularities or shifts in ovulation timing.

Beyond conception planning, ovulation tracking offers insights into overall reproductive health. Irregular ovulation patterns can indicate endocrine issues such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) or thyroid imbalances. By tracking hormone trends consistently, users can recognize deviations early and seek timely medical advice. This proactive approach aligns with the principles of preventive healthcare, placing control and awareness in the individual’s hands.

Enhancing Accuracy with Technology

Accuracy is paramount in fertility monitoring. Advanced ovulation trackers employ calibrated biochemical assays and sensitive detection technology to ensure reliable readings. Devices often include features to account for baseline hormone variability, reducing the likelihood of false positives or negatives. This precision allows users to plan with confidence and provides data that can be shared with healthcare professionals if needed.

Digital ovulation trackers also improve accessibility. They reduce the need for repeated clinical visits, allowing discreet, home-based monitoring without compromising quality. This autonomy encourages regular use, which is crucial for understanding personal cycles and identifying long-term fertility trends.

Integrating Fertility Data into Healthcare

The integration of ovulation trackers into broader digital health ecosystems enables more personalized reproductive care. Data collected by the device can be securely shared with healthcare providers during consultations, enabling clinicians to evaluate cycle patterns remotely. This capability supports informed decision-making and enables timely interventions when irregularities are detected.

The combination of at-home monitoring, precise hormonal measurement, and digital analytics exemplifies the direction of modern fertility care. Users gain actionable insights, while healthcare professionals receive accurate, structured data to enhance clinical guidance.

The Future of Fertility Monitoring

As technology continues to advance, ovulation trackers will likely become even more sophisticated. Predictive algorithms may analyze multi-cycle data to anticipate subtle hormonal shifts, while integration with other health metrics could provide a holistic view of reproductive well-being. Artificial intelligence and machine learning have the potential to make cycle prediction more precise than ever before, moving fertility monitoring from reactive measurement toward proactive optimization.

Miracare ovulation tracker represents the intersection of biotechnology, digital health, and user-centric design. When providing accurate hormone measurements, consistent cycle tracking, and actionable insights, it empowers individuals to take control of their fertility journey. As the landscape of reproductive healthcare evolves, these tools will continue to play a vital role in enabling informed decisions and enhancing overall reproductive wellbeing.

Read more:
Understanding the Role of an Ovulation Tracker in Modern Fertility Care

In today’s market, every single company is a technology company. It does not matter if you sell clothing, offer financial advice, or run a local delivery service. Your customers find you online, they buy from you through digital platforms, and they expect your services to be available 24 hours a day.

Because of this massive shift, the pressure on business owners has never been higher. Consumers today have zero patience. If your mobile application is slow, or if your website lacks the features they want, they will instantly move to a competitor. To survive and grow, a modern business must be able to create and update its digital tools incredibly fast. However, rushing to build technology introduces a terrible risk: you might accidentally leave your digital doors wide open to criminals.

In this article, we are going to explore the ultimate balancing act for modern business leaders. We will explain, using simple and clear language, how you can speed up the way your company builds its digital products while ensuring that your customer data remains completely safe.

The Speed Limit of the Past

To understand how to move faster today, we must look at why companies used to move so slowly. In the past, creating new software or updating a website was a long, divided process.

Imagine a factory where the people who design the cars never speak to the people who actually put the engines together. That is how the tech world used to work. One group of people (the developers) would spend months writing computer code in a quiet room. When they finally finished, they handed the code over to a completely different group of people (the operations team) whose job was to put that code on the internet.

Because these two teams never communicated, things broke constantly. The developers would write a great feature, but it would crash the operations team’s computer servers. They would argue, blame each other, and spend weeks trying to fix the mess. This clunky, divided system meant that releasing a simple update could take months or even years. In today’s business world, waiting months to give your customers what they want is a guaranteed way to go out of business.

Breaking Down the Walls

To survive, the most successful companies realized they had to break down the wall between the code writers and the server runners. They needed them to work together as one single, fast-moving machine.

This new way of working is known as DevOps (a simple combination of the words Development and Operations). The goal is to use teamwork and clever automated tools to build, test, and release new software every single day, rather than once a year.

However, changing the entire culture of how a business operates is incredibly difficult. You cannot just tell two different teams to start working together and expect perfect results. They need new rules, new communication skills, and new software tools to automate the boring parts of their jobs.

Because this change is so complex, smart business leaders rarely try to figure it out alone. Instead, they look for outside guidance and invest in professional Devops Consulting.

Bringing in an expert consultant is like hiring a master coach to train your staff. These experts study how your business currently builds its technology. Then, they introduce specialized tools that act like a digital assembly line. Instead of a human manually moving files around, the automated tools take the new code, test it for basic errors, and push it live to the internet in a matter of minutes. This expert guidance helps a business transform from a slow, divided company into a high-speed digital powerhouse, allowing them to release new features to their customers constantly.

The Hidden Risks of High Speed

Thanks to these new methods, businesses can now build and update their digital products faster than ever before. But moving at lightning speed brings a very serious new danger.

When humans work quickly, they make mistakes. In a physical factory, a tired worker moving too fast might forget to tighten a bolt. In the digital world, a programmer rushing to release a new app update might accidentally make a tiny typing error in the computer code. They might accidentally leave a digital folder unlocked, or they might use an older piece of code that has a known flaw.

To the average person, these tiny mistakes are completely invisible. But to a cybercriminal, they are massive opportunities. Hackers are always scanning the internet, looking for companies that have left a digital window open by mistake.

Many small and medium-sized business owners think they are safe because they are not massive corporations. This is a dangerous myth. Cybercriminals actually prefer targeting smaller businesses because they know smaller companies usually have weaker security. If a hacker finds a mistake in your fast-moving code, they will break in. They can steal your private business plans, copy your customers’ credit card numbers, or lock your entire computer system until you pay a massive ransom. The financial and reputational damage from this kind of attack can destroy a growing business overnight.

Automating Your Security Guards

So, here is the ultimate business puzzle: how do you build technology fast enough to beat your competitors, but safely enough to keep the hackers out?

You cannot ask a human security guard to stop and read every single line of code you produce. If you do that, you lose all the speed you just worked so hard to gain. The only way to fight automated, fast-moving hackers is with automated, fast-moving defense systems.

You must set up a system that constantly checks your own digital building for open windows before the criminals find them. The most effective way to do this is by making regular Vulnerability Scanning a core part of your daily business routine.

Think of this scanning process like having a team of robotic security guards that never sleep. These advanced software tools are programmed with a massive, constantly updated dictionary of every trick and attack that hackers are currently using to break into businesses.

Day and night, these scanners inspect your company’s website, your cloud storage, and the new code your team is building. They rapidly test your defenses over and over again. If the scanner finds a mistake—like a password that is too weak, or a digital door that a programmer forgot to lock—it instantly sounds an alarm.

It alerts your technology team and tells them exactly where the weak spot is located. The team can then quickly write a “patch” to fix the mistake and lock the digital door tightly. Because this entire process is automated, it does not slow down your business. It runs quietly in the background, keeping you safe while you continue to move at top speed.

Conclusion: The Mark of a Modern Leader

Leading a successful business today requires a deep understanding of how technology drives your growth. It is no longer enough to just have a website; you must have an engine that can adapt and improve constantly.

By bringing in expert consultants to unite your teams and automate your building process, you ensure your company can keep up with the demands of modern customers. At the same time, by implementing constant, automated security scanners, you ensure that every fast step forward is a safe one.

When you master both speed and security, you do more than just survive in the digital age. You build a strong, resilient, and highly trusted business that will thrive for years to come.

Read more:
The Digital Balancing Act: How Growing Businesses Can Move Faster Without Sacrificing Security

UK businesses remain broadly confident in Britain as a base for growth, even as rising costs and economic uncertainty weigh on margins, according to new research from Barclays.

The bank’s latest Business Prosperity Index, analysing anonymised data from around one million clients alongside a survey of 1,000 business leaders, reveals a two-speed economy emerging at the end of 2025. Larger firms are pushing ahead with long-term borrowing and investment, while smaller companies are turning to short-term liquidity to manage tighter margins.

Despite ongoing challenges, 58 per cent of business leaders said the UK remains the best place to start, scale and grow a business. A similar proportion, 57 per cent, believe Britain is becoming a more attractive place to list, with London cited as the preferred market for a future float by 46 per cent of respondents.

Almost all firms surveyed (93 per cent) reported higher trading costs over the past year, driven primarily by energy (85 per cent), labour (80 per cent) and supply chain expenses (78 per cent).

In response, 80 per cent have passed some of these increases on to customers, with businesses transferring an average of 30 per cent of higher costs. A further 65 per cent expect to raise prices again this year.

Energy pressures remain particularly acute, with 34 per cent of companies reducing consumption to offset rising bills. More than a third (37 per cent) view cutting operating costs as the most effective way to unlock investment in 2026.

Barclays’ client data show cash inflows slipped 3.4 per cent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, signalling subdued spending. However, borrowing patterns differ sharply by company size.

Larger firms increased long-term borrowing by 8.7 per cent compared with a year earlier, suggesting confidence in future expansion. By contrast, smaller businesses reduced longer-term lending while increasing overdraft usage by 2.5 per cent, reflecting short-term cash flow pressures.

Two-thirds of large businesses and over half of medium-sized firms believe current economic conditions support long-term growth, compared with just 12 per cent of micro businesses.

Confidence in individual company prospects remains comparatively strong, with 86 per cent of small business leaders upbeat about the year ahead, although that figure drops to 68 per cent among micro firms.

Against this backdrop, Barclays has launched its 2026 Business Prosperity Fund, committing £22bn in lending to support new investment and refinancing among business and corporate clients.

Abdul Qureshi, managing director of Barclays Business Banking, said smaller firms were understandably cautious but still saw opportunity. “There is clearly more to be done to help turn confidence into tangible progress,” he said.

Matt Hammerstein, chief executive of Barclays UK Corporate Bank, added: “Even in a period marked by cost pressure, businesses show clear belief in the UK as a place to grow. Our role is to help bridge the gap between ambition and action.”

The findings suggest that while the macroeconomic backdrop remains uncertain, corporate sentiment towards the UK’s long-term prospects is holding firm — with access to capital, market reputation and investor depth cited as key advantages.

For policymakers and lenders alike, the challenge now is ensuring that resilience among larger firms translates into renewed momentum for smaller enterprises, where caution is still tempering expansion plans.

Read more:
UK firms back home market for growth as Barclays unveils £22bn lending fund

Youth unemployment has surged to its highest level in more than a decade, raising fears of a “lost generation” and intensifying expectations that the Bank of England will cut interest rates next month.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that in the three months to December 2025, the unemployment rate among 16 to 24-year-olds climbed to 16.1 per cent. That equates to nearly 740,000 young people out of work, an increase of around 120,000 in under a year.

In the first quarter of 2024, before the implementation of higher employer national insurance contributions and minimum wage rises, the youth unemployment rate stood at 14.2 per cent, or roughly 620,000 people.

The rise means young people account for nearly half of the total increase in unemployment across the economy over the same period, despite representing just 13 per cent of the working-age population.

Economists warn that while spikes in youth joblessness were seen during the 2008 financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic, the current rise is unusual because it has occurred without a comparable surge in unemployment among older age groups.

Peter Dixon, senior economist at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, said younger workers were being “priced out of the market”. Louise Murphy of the Resolution Foundation noted that almost one in six young people who want to work cannot find a job.

Some analysts argue that recent fiscal policy changes have disproportionately affected entry-level employment. Increases in employer national insurance contributions and the compression of minimum wage differentials between age bands have raised labour costs for sectors such as hospitality, retail and leisure, industries that traditionally provide first jobs for school leavers and students.

Further pressure is expected in April when additional provisions of the government’s Employment Rights Act, including expanded sick pay entitlements, come into force.

Despite the deteriorating employment figures, there is a positive element within the data: economic inactivity among young people has returned close to pre-pandemic levels, suggesting more are seeking work. However, many are struggling to secure positions.

The softening labour market has reinforced expectations that policymakers will move to support growth. Financial markets are increasingly confident that the Bank of England will cut its base rate from 3.75 per cent to 3.5 per cent when its monetary policy committee meets on 19 March.

Analysts at Bank of America said the rise in unemployment and easing wage growth “keeps us comfortable with our base case of a March cut”, while ING economist James Smith described the latest jobs report as keeping the central bank “firmly on track” for a reduction.

In its most recent forecasts, the Bank of England acknowledged that downturns in employment often emerge first among younger cohorts, warning that current trends may signal broader weakness in labour demand.

With inflation easing and growth subdued, attention now turns to whether rate cuts can help prevent the recent spike in youth unemployment from becoming entrenched.

Read more:
Youth unemployment hits 11-year high as rate cut expectations build

We sit down with James Doyle, Managing Director of Endeavour Group, a building safety consultancy and training provider supporting duty holders responsible for some of the UK’s most complex and high-risk buildings.

Based in the North West and operating nationally, Endeavour Group brings an evidence-led, engineering discipline to the built environment as regulatory scrutiny continues to increase.

With more than two decades of experience spanning offshore oil and gas, process safety and fire engineering, Doyle applies high-hazard industry methodologies to residential and commercial settings, helping organisations work through the requirements of the Building Safety Act with a clearer understanding of their responsibilities.

His team works with clients to strengthen building safety through intrusive assessments, safety case support and accredited training. As an approved ProQual training centre since 2018, the business delivers nationally recognised qualifications across fire safety, passive fire protection and health and safety, and is currently launching three new Fire Risk Assessment qualifications at Levels 3, 4 and 5.

Alongside its UK work, Endeavour has delivered UK-standard training internationally through remote delivery for several years. More recently, this has developed into direct conversations with overseas organisations, including engagement in Dubai, who are seeking to better understand how competence, evidence and decision making translate into live, occupied buildings.

In this interview, Doyle discusses the challenges duty holders face under the Building Safety Act, why evidential rigour matters, and the principles guiding decision making in a sector where the stakes are high.

What is the main problem you solve for your customers?

The single biggest issue our clients face is a lack of reliable information at a time when the expectations placed on duty holders have never been higher.

The Building Safety Act has transformed the regulatory landscape, yet many assessments across the UK are still carried out through visual surveys or templated reports that do not meet the level of evidence the legislation requires. That gap creates legal, financial and operational risk.

At Endeavour Group, our role is to give clients a clear picture. We carry out intrusive compartmentation surveys, fire risk assessments, building risk reviews, safety case reports, resident engagement support, remedial action planning and ongoing compliance management, all underpinned by photographic evidence, technical justification and structured reasoning. Every finding is linked back to fire strategy intent and the statutory definition of a relevant defect so there is no ambiguity about what the issue is or why it matters.

Through our partnership with Riskflag, we also support clients with a digital golden thread that organises their evidence, actions and decision making in an auditable way. When people work with us, they gain confidence and a route to compliance.

What made you start your business?

Endeavour Group began in 2018 after I moved from more than two decades working in offshore oil and gas, process safety and fire engineering. In high-hazard environments, assessment quality, intrusiveness and evidential strength are not optional. You learn very quickly that reassurance means nothing if it is not supported by facts.

When I stepped further into the built environment, I could see an increasing gap between what the legislation would ultimately demand and what was being delivered on the ground. Many reports were non-intrusive. Many conclusions were based on assumptions rather than evidence. Organisations responsible for buildings were making important decisions without the technical understanding to identify risk properly.

I created Endeavour because the sector needed a consultancy that applied engineering discipline, communicated clearly and delivered assessments that could stand up to legal and regulatory challenge. What began as a specialist consultancy has grown into a national capability supporting high-rise residential, supported living, student accommodation, retail, commercial, education and transport.

What are your brand values?

For us, competence, clarity and integrity are not marketing terms. They are the foundations of how we work.

Competence means having the technical depth to interpret fire strategy, identify relevant defects, challenge assumptions and build evidence that supports decisive action. Clarity means presenting findings in a way that duty holders, residents and regulators can understand without ambiguity. Integrity means reporting what the evidence shows rather than what people hope to hear.

These values guide how we approach every survey, every safety case and every piece of advice we give.

Do your values define your decision making process?

Yes, completely. We always ask ourselves: would this stand up to regulatory, legal or third-party scrutiny? If the answer is no, we refine it.

Through years of working with the regulator we understand their role in asking the ‘what if’ question, and we ensure that our reports comprehensively satisfy this requirement with appropriate mitigation. We test our findings and their failure modes adapted from offshore safety case methodology, which ensures every conclusion is traced back to justification.

The same standard applies to our training centre, where evidential discipline underpins everything we deliver.

Is team culture integral to your business?

It is essential. Our team is our strength.

The work we do spans high-rise residential, student living, supported living, care environments, commercial and educational settings. Each brings its own challenges, and our ability to deliver depends on a culture built on openness, technical curiosity and shared accountability.

That collaborative approach also supports our international conversations, where the emphasis is on sharing experience and understanding how similar challenges are managed in different operating environments.

In terms of your messaging, do you communicate clearly with your audience?

Clarity is central to everything we do. Building safety is technical, but communication should not be.

Our reports explain the issue, the evidence, the risk and the action required in straightforward language. We avoid jargon and prioritise giving duty holders information they can use immediately. The same approach shapes our training, where real-world examples help learners understand how legislation applies in practice.

What is your attitude to competitors?

There are organisations in the sector that deliver excellent work, but there is still significant variation in standards.

We regularly see surveys that lack intrusive inspection or fail to link findings back to the definition of a relevant defect. These reports may reassure people in the moment, but they do not provide the level of evidence required under the Act.

What we do is driven by quality, not comparison. We know our methodology is robust because our evidence has already changed outcomes, including cases where developers have accepted responsibility for defects once they reviewed our findings. Strong evidence drives accountability.

What advice would you give to anyone starting a business?

Focus on building deep expertise and do not compromise your standards. Consistency, honesty and high-quality work are far more valuable than volume.

Surround yourself with people who share your approach and invest in their development. If you concentrate on doing things properly, reputation and growth will follow naturally.

What three things do you hope to have in place within the next twelve months?

First, the full launch of our Building Safety Masterclass to help duty holders understand relevant defects, liability pathways and evidential requirements under the Act.

Secondly, increasing the portfolio of higher-risk buildings being managed and achieving successful Building Assessment Certificate approvals.

And third, continuing to explore international conversations, including recent engagement in Dubai, where organisations operating complex, occupied buildings are asking similar questions around competence, accountability and how UK-standard training and assessment translate into real-world decision making.

Read more:
Getting To Know You: James Doyle, Managing Director of Endeavour Group

Nearly nine in 10 higher-risk pension funds have failed to match the performance of the FTSE 100 over the past five years, according to new analysis that raises fresh concerns about retirement outcomes for millions of savers.

Research by Investing Insiders examined almost 13,000 personal and workplace pension funds holding more than £1tn in assets between December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2025. Funds in the medium-high and high-risk categories were benchmarked against the FTSE 100 over the same period.

The FTSE 100 delivered cumulative returns of 84.67 per cent over five years, turning £20,000 into £36,934 and £50,000 into £92,335.

By contrast, 89 per cent of pension funds in the higher-risk categories underperformed that benchmark. Of 7,370 funds analysed at these risk levels, 6,540 failed to keep pace with the index.

The worst-performing fund in the study, Zurich Assurance’s Zurich JPM Emerging Europe Equity Pn ZP GTR in GB, lost 98.59 per cent of its value over five years. A £50,000 investment in that fund would now be worth just £705 — more than £91,000 less than if the same sum had tracked the FTSE 100.

Other underperformers included funds linked to the collapsed Woodford Equity Income strategy and several UK property-focused vehicles, many of which suffered heavy losses during periods of market stress.

All of the 10 worst-performing funds were categorised as high risk, and 87.6 per cent of the 1,418 funds in that bracket failed to beat the benchmark.

In contrast, the best-performing fund in the study — Aviva Life & Pensions UK’s Aviva Pen Ninety One Global Gold Pn S6 GTR in GB — delivered returns of 180.28 per cent over five years, growing £50,000 to £140,140.

Investing Insiders estimates that the gap between the best and worst performers could equate to a difference of £139,000 on a £50,000 contribution over the same period.

Antonia Medlicott, founder of Investing Insiders, described the findings as alarming. “Some funds in the same risk category are almost tripling investments, while others are wiping out value,” she said. “Savers often assume their pensions are steadily progressing, but performance can vary dramatically.”

She argued that greater transparency is needed from providers, particularly when funds underperform benchmarks for sustained periods. She also urged individuals to take a more active role in reviewing their pension allocations.

While the FTSE 100 is a widely recognised benchmark, pension portfolios are typically diversified across global equities, bonds and alternative assets. As such, some fund managers argue that direct comparison with a single UK index may not fully reflect investment strategy.

Nevertheless, the scale of underperformance highlighted in the report underscores the impact of asset allocation, fund selection and risk profile on long-term retirement savings.

With retirement outcomes increasingly dependent on defined-contribution schemes, the findings add weight to calls for better default fund design and clearer communication to help savers avoid significant shortfalls in later life.

Read more:
Nine in 10 high-risk pension funds fail to beat FTSE 100 over five years

The owners of Virgin Media O2 have agreed a £2bn takeover of challenger fibre network Netomnia, marking a significant step towards consolidation in Britain’s crowded broadband market.

Liberty Global and Telefónica, alongside InfraVia Capital through their Nexfibre joint venture, will acquire Netomnia, currently the UK’s second-largest alternative network provider.

The deal will expand Nexfibre’s footprint to around 8 million households by the end of next year. Combined with Virgin Media O2’s existing infrastructure, the enlarged network will cover approximately 20 million premises and serve about 6.2 million customers.

That scale brings it close to Openreach, the network arm of BT Group, which has passed just over 21 million premises with full fibre.

Shares in BT fell 2.5 per cent following news of the acquisition.

Founded in 2019, Netomnia is one of dozens of “altnets” that emerged to challenge the dominance of Openreach and Virgin Media O2. However, many smaller fibre operators have paused expansion amid higher borrowing costs and weaker-than-expected customer take-up.

Rajiv Datta, chief executive of Nexfibre, said the enlarged group would offer greater scale to wholesale partners, including Sky, which recently began using CityFibre’s network in addition to Openreach.

The transaction saw Virgin Media O2 beat CityFibre, backed by Goldman Sachs, which has previously positioned itself as a natural consolidator of the fragmented sector.

Simon Holden, chief executive of CityFibre, criticised the move, warning it risked recreating an “ineffective duopoly” between BT and Virgin Media O2 and calling on the Competition and Markets Authority to scrutinise the overlap.

The acquisition will be financed with £850m in equity from InfraVia and £150m from Liberty Global and Telefónica, alongside a £2.7bn debt facility to fund both the purchase and further network expansion.

The deal comes as Virgin Media O2 continues to face customer losses, shedding 18,000 broadband subscribers and 165,000 mobile customers in the latest quarter.

Separately, Liberty Global has agreed to pay €1bn to Vodafone for its 50 per cent stake in VodafoneZiggo, the Dutch joint venture. Liberty plans to merge VodafoneZiggo with its Belgian unit Telenet and spin off the combined entity, Ziggo Group, via a listing in Amsterdam next year.

The Netomnia acquisition signals that consolidation in the UK fibre market, long expected as funding tightens and competition intensifies, is now gathering pace, potentially reshaping the balance of power in Britain’s broadband industry.

Read more:
Virgin Media O2 owners strike £2bn deal for Netomnia in fibre consolidation push

Small businesses are bracing for what they describe as an “unprecedented cost crunch” in April, with more than a third warning they may shut down or scale back operations as a raft of higher expenses take effect.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has written to Rachel Reeves warning that the cumulative impact of rising energy bills, business rates, higher employment costs and changes to statutory sick pay risks undermining economic growth.

A survey by the FSB found that 35 per cent of small firms plan either to close or reduce output over the coming year in response to increased energy standing charges, a rise in the national living wage and higher dividend tax rates.

Tina McKenzie, the FSB’s policy and advocacy chair, said the burden of new costs would directly affect firms’ ability to invest. “Running a small business is about to get a lot more expensive,” she wrote. “If profits are squeezed by government policy, businesses cannot grow.”

The FSB estimates that an employer with nine staff paid at the national living wage will see annual employment costs increase by £25,850 between January and April 2026, a 12.9 per cent jump.

It also calculates that a typical small shop or restaurant will see business rates rise from £4,790 to £5,590 this year, while changes to dividend tax, a common way for owner-managers to draw income, will cost an additional £578 annually on earnings of £50,000.

The removal of the lower earnings limit for statutory sick pay is expected to add further pressure. The FSB estimates the change will cost a nine-employee firm around £990 a year.

Jane Wiest, who runs Initially London, a retailer specialising in monogrammed products, said improving sales had been overshadowed by higher taxes and operating costs.

“We had a strong January, but then these taxes started to hit,” she said. “You’re trying to work out how the money coming in will cover the expenses going out. It makes it hard to hire or invest because you’re carrying this constant burden.”

Sarah Curtis, who operates a historic boatyard in Ipswich, said rising wages and utility bills were making recruitment increasingly difficult.

“There are so many small increases, utilities, wages, rates, and they all add up,” she said. “Small businesses are very reluctant to take on anyone new.”

The FSB argues that the combined effect of cost increases risks deterring hiring and curtailing expansion plans at a time when policymakers are seeking to boost economic growth.

While ministers have defended the measures as necessary to improve worker protections and fund public services, business leaders warn that smaller firms, often operating on tighter margins and with limited access to affordable finance, are particularly exposed.

With April approaching, small employers say they face a stark choice: absorb higher costs, raise prices or pull back on activity, each with potential consequences for jobs and local economies.

Read more:
Small businesses warn of April ‘perfect storm’ as costs surge

Digital transformation has altered almost every aspect of modern business, and tax is no exception. Across the UK, businesses must now adopt digital record-keeping and reporting practices.

While this was previously optional, it is now mandatory. For founders, this represents a structural change that’s likely to influence financial processes, digital infrastructure, decision-making, and long-term planning, among other areas.

Why Digital Tax Rules Should Be on Every Founder’s Radar

From 6th April 2026, digital tax systems will become a mandatory part of the standard business infrastructure. The ultimate aim of this modernisation is to boost accuracy and transparency across the UK tax system, but for businesses, it means implementing stringent digital financial compliance systems and processes (if you haven’t already).

As such, founders can no longer treat compliance as something that they simply hand over to an accountant. The shift toward digital record-keeping involves quarterly rather than annual reporting, which in turn means that underlying data must be closely and consistently tracked through business systems in real time (or near real time). You can no longer rely on end-of-year reconciliation to clear all financial loose ends; they need to be tracked and addressed immediately.

Founders should be aware that non-compliance with these new digital record requirements and submission obligations will, at best, lead to administrative disruption and, at worst, result in financial penalties or even a fraud investigation. For example, organisations that fail to maintain appropriate digital records or meet reporting deadlines are likely to face daily fines until the deadlines are met.

A Founder-Friendly Overview of Digital Tax in the UK

Let’s start with a founder-focused overview of the new MTD system:

What HMRC means by digital record-keeping and reporting

When they refer to ‘digital record-keeping and reporting’, HMRC means creating and storing financial records using approved digital software and submitting information to it electronically. Typically, a digital financial record uses electronic systems to capture income and expense details, such as amounts, dates sent/received, transaction categories, and more.

For VAT-registered entities, digital records should also include core information like identification data and VAT account records. Just as you would with analogue financial records, you will need to preserve these records digitally for several years in order to maintain an audit trail.

One very important aspect of MTD is digital linking. It is no longer sufficient to manually copy data from platform to platform. Instead, platforms should communicate with one another and link seamlessly for data sharing. This automated connection and data transfer ultimately benefits everyone involved by improving consistency and reducing the risk of human error.

Which businesses are affected

From April 2026, all businesses (including unincorporated businesses) and landlords with income exceeding £50,000 PA will be required to comply with digital record-keeping requirements. The income thresholds are set to get progressively lower over subsequent years. As such, even founders whose businesses don’t currently meet the threshold should start preparing and aligning their processes for Making Tax Digital.

How Digital Tax Rules Impact Day-to-Day Business Operations

Digital tax rules are likely to impact day-to-day business operations in a variety of ways:

Changes to internal finance processes

Businesses will feel immediate effects on internal finance processes once the digital rules come into force. For a start, finance teams will need to ensure that all records are captured in a structured digital format from the outset. This includes transaction categorisation, system integration, installation and maintenance of compatible software environments, and more.

Similarly, reporting cycles and processes will have to shift from retrospective compilation and analysis to continuous monitoring. Teams must start treating financial data as a live operational asset rather than as a once-yearly obligation.

The knock-on effects for cash flow and forecasting

Digital reporting also brings indirect advantages and pressures. For example, real-time financial visibility should enable more accurate forecasting and tax estimation, helping founders anticipate liabilities earlier. Similarly, software environments often display projected tax positions based on current records, which can significantly improve planning capacity.

At the same time, increased reporting frequency can expose gaps in data quality and process discipline that might otherwise go unnoticed. This can create friction in the short term as teams work to plug gaps and fix issues, but it will ultimately lead to smoother, more accurate financial workflows.

Common Mistakes Founders Make When Preparing for Digital Tax

Here are some common mistakes to be aware of and to avoid when preparing for digital tax:

Treating digital tax as a last-minute project

If you possibly can, treat tax as an ongoing process. Leaving things until deadlines are looming has always been a bad idea – but with the new quarterly reporting schedule, it could plunge you into a continuous cycle of chasing your tax backlog.

Remember that your staff will likely need training on the new system, and some processes will need to be redesigned. As such, start preparing as early as possible to avoid delays when the first reporting deadlines arise.

Over-relying on spreadsheets and manual workarounds

Spreadsheets are useful analytical tools, but on their own, they often fail to meet integration and compliance requirements. For example, if you are relying on manually transferring data from spreadsheet to platform to spreadsheet, etc., you’re at risk of submission errors or compatibility issues.

How Founders Can Prepare Their Business in Practical Terms

Let’s take a look at some practical ways business founders can prepare for MTD:

Reviewing existing finance systems and processes

Start by evaluating your existing systems and processes. Assess exactly how financial data enters your organisation, how it is processed, and whether or not your systems support digital linking and structured record retention.

Ideally, use this review as an opportunity to think about software compatibility, staff capability, and documentation practices. Identifying weaknesses early will save you from costly retrofitting later.

Choosing tools that support compliance and growth

The right tools can make a huge difference to your MTD preparation and ongoing financial processes. Look for Making Tax Digital software that aligns with HMRC requirements and allows businesses to maintain records, automate submissions, and integrate accounting workflows.

Working More Effectively With Accountants and Advisors

Accountants and advisors can play a more efficient, more proactive role in a post-MTD world. Here’s how:

Why digital records improve collaboration

Digital systems boost visibility between founders and advisors. For example, if they have the right access and permissions, accountants can access structured data directly. This makes things a lot more efficient and means that no time (or accuracy) is wasted with manual transfers.

This kind of speed and transparency ultimately promotes efficiency, shortens reporting cycles, and supports higher-quality decision support.

Shifting accountants from compliance to strategy

When routine compliance is streamlined with digital tools, professional advisors can focus more on planning and optimisation. This means more time spent working on things like strategic insight on tax positioning, cash flow management, and investment decisions.

Preparing Early as a Competitive Advantage

Early adoption of digital tax processes will reduce operational disruption and position your business to realise the benefits of MTD sooner. For example, the earlier you go digital, the earlier you can benefit from clearer financial oversight and more efficient reporting structures.

Digital readiness also signals organisational maturity. Investors, lenders, and partners frequently view structured data governance as evidence of reliable management capability. This reputational factor can influence your access to funding and boost your credibility in potential partnership situations.

Building a Business That’s Ready for the Future

Digital tax rules aren’t an isolated compliance exercise – they represent a broader shift toward data-centric governance in the UK. As such, founders who treat the transition as an opportunity to refine financial infrastructure will derive greater long-term value than those who focus solely on regulatory adherence.

Embedding digital record discipline, selecting integrated tools, and collaborating strategically with advisors will lay the foundation for scalability and resilience. By approaching preparation as part of organisational development, founders can position their businesses to operate confidently within evolving regulatory and technological environments.

Read more:
What Founders Need to Know About Preparing Their Business for Digital Tax Rules