Business

Barclays has provided a £4 million trade loan to British high-performance apparel brand ThruDark, supporting its continued growth and accelerating its retail expansion strategy.

The funding, provided by Barclays UK Corporate Bank, has been deployed to strengthen ThruDark’s working capital following the crucial Golden Quarter trading period, encompassing Black Friday, Christmas and January sales. It has also enabled the brand’s high-profile festive retail activation at Battersea Power Station, bringing its performance-led apparel to one of London’s most prominent retail destinations.

Founded in 2016 by former special forces soldiers Louis Tinsley and Anthony “Staz” Stazicker, ThruDark has built a reputation for designing rugged, high-performance clothing tested in demanding real-world environments. The brand has scaled rapidly in recent years, blending technical innovation with a strong community and endurance-driven identity.

That growth was recognised at the Barclays Entrepreneur Awards, where ThruDark was named Scale Up Company Award winner for 2025. The business has also featured again in The Sunday Times ranking of Britain’s fastest-growing private companies, underlining its momentum in a competitive retail landscape.

Owen Dady, relationship director at Barclays UK Corporate Bank, said the deal reflects the bank’s wider commitment to supporting ambitious UK companies. He pointed to Barclays’ £22 billion Business Prosperity Fund, announced last year, which is designed to help businesses invest for growth, scale operations and manage periods of peak demand.

Chris Reynolds, chief executive of ThruDark, said the funding has given the business vital flexibility to invest confidently. He noted that the facility has helped the company purchase stock at scale, meet strong seasonal demand and push forward with its physical retail ambitions, adding that the Scale Up Company Award win was a major milestone for the team.

Beyond retail, ThruDark continues to build its brand through sport, adventure and elite performance. Its partnerships range from teamwear sponsorship with Triumph Racing to title sponsorship of the Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Race, often described as the “canoeists’ Everest”. Its kit has also been tested on world-first expeditions, including a record-breaking speed ascent that saw one of the company’s co-founders travel from London to the summit of Mount Everest and back in under seven days.

Together, the funding and recent accolades mark another step in ThruDark’s transition from niche performance label to scaled British retail brand with international ambition.

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Barclays backs ThruDark retail expansion with £4m trade loan

Up to 3,000 skilled manufacturing jobs could be at risk unless the Ministry of Defence moves quickly to place a long-delayed helicopter order, according to industry sources close to the programme.

Workers at Leonardo Helicopters’s Yeovil site in Somerset, the UK’s last remaining military helicopter factory, fear the company could close the facility as early as the end of March if the government fails to commit to a new contract within weeks.

Leonardo, the Italian-owned defence group that acquired the former Westland Helicopters business, is the sole bidder for the £1bn “new medium helicopter” programme, which was launched by the Ministry of Defence in February 2024. However, prolonged delays in awarding the contract have cast doubt over the future of the site.

Industry insiders say the bid’s “best and final offer” expires in March, with pricing dependent on complex global supply-chain commitments. One source said Leonardo would have needed confirmation by January to meet production and delivery timelines. Any delay beyond March risks forcing the entire procurement process to restart.

“It’s critical at the moment,” the source said. “If this slips past March, the price and the bid itself may no longer be valid.”

The issue has escalated in recent months. In November, Leonardo’s chief executive, Roberto Cingolani, told investors that talks were under way with the UK government to strengthen collaboration. In December, he wrote directly to Defence Secretary John Healey, warning that delays could lead Leonardo to scrap future investment in the UK – including in its electronics and cyber security operations.

Cingolani described the medium helicopter contract as a “cornerstone” of Leonardo’s UK strategy, adding that any cancellation or further delay would trigger a “reevaluation” of the company’s presence in Britain.

The standoff comes despite repeated ministerial commitments to increase defence spending in response to heightened geopolitical risks, particularly Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. Defence suppliers have grown increasingly frustrated by the absence of a long-promised defence investment plan, which had been expected before Christmas.

Unite has warned that uncertainty is eroding confidence among the workforce. Sharon Graham, the union’s general secretary, said employees in Yeovil were being left in limbo while the government delayed decisions.

“Leonardo workers are looking over their shoulders wondering where the next order will come from,” she said. “This uncertainty must end, and the government should confirm the medium-lift helicopter order now.”

The Ministry of Defence said it was working on a new defence investment plan and highlighted record levels of planned spending. A spokesperson said the government would commit £270bn to defence over the course of the current parliament, describing the inherited defence programme as “overcommitted and underfunded”.

For Yeovil, however, the timeline is far shorter. Without swift action, industry figures warn that Britain risks losing not just thousands of skilled jobs, but its last domestic capability to build military helicopters – a blow that would be difficult, if not impossible, to reverse.

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3,000 jobs at risk unless MoD confirms helicopter order, industry warns

Britain’s retailers limped to the end of 2025 after a lacklustre Christmas trading period, with non-food sales failing to deliver the seasonal boost many high street businesses were relying on.

New figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) show overall retail sales rose by just 1.2% in December compared with a year earlier — well below the 12-month average growth rate of 2.3%. While food sales proved resilient, demand for non-food items such as clothing, electronics and gifting products fell flat at the most critical time of the year.

Non-food sales slipped by 0.3% year on year in December, a sharp reversal from the 4.4% growth recorded in the same month in 2024. Retailers cited mild, wet weather, weak consumer confidence and heavy discounting as key factors behind the disappointing performance.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, described the trading period as a “drab Christmas”, noting that sales growth has now slowed for the fourth consecutive month.

“Non-food sales fell flat in the run-up to Christmas, with gifting items doing worse than expected,” she said. “Many shoppers were clearly holding back for discounts, with a late surge in activity driven largely by Boxing Day and the start of January sales.”

The subdued mood was reflected in consumer spending data. Barclays reported that card spending fell by 1.7% in December compared with a year earlier, marking the steepest annual decline since February 2021 and worsening from a 1.1% drop in November.

Food inflation continued to prop up supermarket revenues, however. Grocery prices rose by 4.3% in December, according to Worldpanel by Numerator, pushing average supermarket spending to £476 for the month, around £15 more than last year. Yet the pressure on household budgets remains intense, with 64% of shoppers saying they plan to cut grocery spending in 2026, while more than half expect to reduce discretionary purchases such as clothing and eating out.

Discount grocers were the clear winners of the festive period. Aldi reported a 3% rise in sales in the four weeks to 24 December, while Lidl recorded a 10% increase in the four weeks to Christmas Eve, both delivering record festive performances. Tesco and Sainsbury’s also posted Christmas sales growth, although their share prices fell last week after investors had anticipated stronger results.

Elsewhere, the picture was far more challenging. General merchandise retailers struggled across categories including clothing, jewellery and homewares. Argos, owned by Sainsbury’s, reported a 2.2% drop in sales over the six weeks to 3 January, citing weak online traffic, aggressive promotions and fragile consumer sentiment.

The pressure is already feeding through to corporate distress. Shares in Associated British Foods, owner of Primark, have fallen around 15% this year following a profit warning linked to weak fashion sales. Meanwhile, several retailers — including Claire’s, The Original Factory Shop and LK Bennett — are expected to appoint administrators, underscoring the fragile state of the UK’s retail sector as it heads into 2026.

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UK retailers suffer ‘drab December’ as non-food Christmas sales disappoint

Senior Labour backbenchers are pressing the government to force UK banks to expand lending to small businesses and low-income communities, warning that a lack of affordable finance is holding back entrepreneurship and economic resilience.

Gareth Thomas, a former business minister, has tabled a 10-minute rule bill that would require banks to measure, disclose and improve how they serve underserved communities and smaller firms. The proposal mirrors the US Community Reinvestment Act, which obliges American banks to demonstrate how they support poorer areas and small enterprises.

Thomas said the cost of living crisis had exposed deep weaknesses in access to affordable credit across the UK economy. He argued that millions of households and early-stage entrepreneurs struggle to secure low-cost finance at precisely the moments when it could prevent financial distress or enable business growth.

The bill has attracted backing from a group of senior Labour figures, including Treasury select committee chair Meg Hillier, business and trade committee chair Liam Byrne, work and pensions committee chair Sarah Owen, and former shadow chancellors Anneliese Dodds and John McDonnell.

Under the proposed legislation, banks would be required to report on their performance in reducing financial exclusion and improving access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises. Regulators would then rate banks against those criteria, increasing transparency and applying pressure to improve outcomes.

The bill would also compel banks to provide greater support for credit unions and community development finance institutions (CDFIs), which often specialise in face-to-face lending for small firms and individuals overlooked by mainstream lenders. In the US, many banks meet their obligations under the Community Reinvestment Act by partnering with such organisations.

The push comes despite the Treasury publishing a financial inclusion strategy last year that included support for expanding credit unions. Campaigners argue that the strategy lacked enforceable duties on banks and relied too heavily on voluntary action from the sector.

Hillier said financial inclusion should not be treated as a peripheral issue. “All too often, improving access to finance is seen as a box-ticking exercise rather than a core economic priority,” she said, adding that the Treasury committee is currently examining whether government plans go far enough to address structural barriers to finance.

Small business advocates welcomed the proposal. Michelle Ovens, founder of Small Business Britain, said many entrepreneurs still face significant obstacles when seeking fair and affordable banking services. She described the bill as a step towards greater accountability across the financial sector.

The legislation is unlikely to progress in its current form, but it reflects growing unease among Labour MPs about the government’s economic direction, particularly after recent policy reversals on business rates relief for pubs and changes to inheritance tax thresholds for farmland.

A Treasury source cautioned that banks are already subject to obligations around financial inclusion through existing regulation, including the Financial Conduct Authority’s consumer duty, and suggested the bill could duplicate current requirements.

Nevertheless, the proposal highlights mounting political pressure for a more interventionist approach to small business finance, as concerns grow that limited access to affordable credit is stalling growth across large parts of the UK economy.

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Labour MPs push banks to expand lending to small businesses and poorer communities

Alphabet has become one of the world’s most valuable companies after its market capitalisation briefly passed $4 trillion, following confirmation that Apple will integrate Google’s artificial intelligence technology into its products this year.

The boost came after Apple said it would introduce the technology underpinning Google’s Gemini chatbot into its ecosystem, including Siri, marking a major strategic endorsement of Alphabet’s AI capabilities.

Alphabet’s class A shares rose 1.7 per cent on the announcement, briefly touching $334.04 and pushing the company into the elite $4 trillion valuation bracket, before easing back later in the session.

Apple said the Gemini software provided the “most capable foundation” for use across its global product base, which spans more than two billion active devices. The move represents a significant shift in Apple’s AI strategy, as it accelerates efforts to compete with rivals in the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence market.

Google launched its Gemini large-language model in late 2023 as part of its challenge to OpenAI, whose ChatGPT product has dominated consumer awareness of generative AI. The agreement with Apple now gives Alphabet access to one of the largest consumer technology platforms in the world.

In a joint statement, the two companies confirmed they had entered into a “multi-year collaboration” to support the development of Apple’s next generation of large-language models, which will sit at the heart of its Apple Intelligence division.

These systems, branded Apple Foundation Models, will be made available to developers through Apple’s Foundation Models framework, allowing third-party apps to integrate Apple’s AI tools while drawing on Google’s underlying technology.

“After careful evaluation, Apple determined that Google’s AI technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models,” the companies said. “Apple is excited about the innovative new experiences this collaboration will unlock for users.”

Analysts said the deal was a significant validation of Alphabet’s AI strategy, while also highlighting Apple’s urgency in strengthening its own capabilities.

Wedbush analysts described the announcement as a “major validation moment” for Google, adding that it also marked a crucial step for Apple as it works to accelerate its AI roadmap into 2026 and beyond.

“While the timeline to fully integrate Gemini into Siri is longer than expected, this was a necessary move for Apple to deliver a truly competitive personal assistant across its hardware ecosystem,” the firm said, noting the potential for future subscription-based AI revenues.

For Alphabet, the partnership underlines its growing influence in the AI arms race and cements its position alongside Microsoft and Nvidia as one of the dominant players shaping the next phase of global technology.

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Google parent joins $4 trillion club after Apple selects its AI technology

Karavel, an AI-powered compliance platform built for highly regulated sectors, has secured £1.25 million in pre-seed funding in a round led by Fuel Ventures.

The investment will support product development and accelerate Karavel’s commercial expansion across the UK and Europe, as the company looks to modernise compliance workflows for organisations facing increasingly complex regulatory scrutiny.

Karavel is designed for legal, compliance and marketing teams operating in sectors such as financial services, fintech, insurance, healthcare and consumer credit. Its platform brings together regulatory monitoring, marketing and advertising reviews, horizon scanning and compliance gap analysis into a single, AI-driven interface, replacing the fragmented and manual processes still widely used across regulated industries.

The funding comes at a time when the pressure on compliance teams is intensifying. Regulatory frameworks are expanding, enforcement is increasing and the cost of non-compliance continues to rise. Despite this, many organisations still rely on spreadsheets, manual reporting and external legal support to track regulatory change and approve communications, creating bottlenecks, slowing product launches and driving up costs.

Founded by Pedro Sousa and Nav Garcha, Karavel was built in response to these challenges. The pair bring experience from companies including Revolut, Deliveroo, CNN and ClearScore, and say the platform was born out of their own frustration with outdated compliance systems.

Karavel’s technology automates financial promotion and advertising reviews, monitors regulatory updates in real time and flags relevant changes as they occur. Its AI analyses new rules, extracts applicable requirements and provides clear, actionable guidance to help teams respond quickly and confidently.

The company says the results are already significant. Its AdCheck tool allows financial promotions to be reviewed up to three times faster, with a 91 per cent first-pass approval rate. Meanwhile, its horizon scanning capability replaces bi-weekly manual reporting with daily automated alerts, delivering efficiency gains of up to fourteen times and reducing external legal spend by as much as 73 per cent within the first year.

Pedro Sousa, co-founder of Karavel, said the platform was built to address the real-world pressures compliance professionals face every day.

“During my time as a head of compliance, I experienced first-hand the manual, repetitive work, fragmented processes and constant anxiety that something important might be missed,” he said. “We built Karavel to give compliance, legal and marketing teams the clarity, automation and confidence I always wished I’d had in previous roles.”

Mark Pearson, founder of Fuel Ventures, said Karavel was tackling one of the most pressing operational challenges in regulated sectors.

“Karavel is redefining how organisations interpret regulations, review content and coordinate across teams,” he said. “The founders have combined deep compliance expertise with advanced AI to replace outdated workflows with intelligent systems that deliver real commercial impact. We’re proud to support their vision as they scale.”

With regulatory scrutiny showing no signs of easing, Karavel is positioning itself as a core infrastructure platform for organisations that need to move quickly without compromising compliance.

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Karavel raises £1.25m pre-seed round to modernise compliance in regulated industries

What football fans expect from sports sites has shifted completely. Dry match reports about yesterday’s game don’t cut it anymore. People want real-time numbers, instant updates, and analytics they can actually dig into.

Site owners who want to keep visitors around have no choice — static pages need to become living information hubs, and data visualization tools make that happen. High-quality infographics are becoming just as important an element as original articles.

Tools for Data Integration

A wide range of football widgets is available today, allowing webmasters to integrate live data into their websites without complex development. These tools make it possible to display match schedules, results, and key statistics in a clear and accessible format, helping users get the information they need without delays. Among the available solutions, Scoreaxis provides a set of football widgets designed for seamless integration into different types of web resources. With these tools, site owners can present live match data directly on the page, significantly improving the overall user experience and meeting audience expectations for speed and accuracy.

A central part of this ecosystem is the “Live Match” widget. It goes beyond showing the score by broadcasting match events in real time. Users can view team lineups, goal scorers, cards, and ball possession statistics without leaving the page. This keeps visitors engaged throughout the match and positively impacts behavioral metrics.

Key platform capabilities for webmasters:

Global Reach: Stats cover 5,000+ teams across hundreds of leagues — major championships and obscure tournaments alike.
Deep Personalization: Colors, fonts, and block sizes all adjust to match the existing site design without looking out of place.
Detailed Metrics: Widgets display specific data, such as penalties, assists, and history of the last five matches (W-D-L form).
Adaptability: Interface elements display correctly on both desktop monitors and mobile device screens.

Multifaceted Statistics

Beyond general results, Scoreaxis offers tools for personal analytics. The “Team Top Players” and “League Top Players” widgets display lists of top scorers and assistants. The screenshots show how neatly information about stars like Salah or Haaland is presented: number of matches played, goals, and penalties.

The “Team Info” block deserves special attention. This is a real find for analytical previews. It demonstrates average ball possession figures, disciplinary statistics (yellow/red cards), and the team’s overall effectiveness in the season. Using such data makes materials on the site more expert and well-grounded.

Conclusion

Implementing automated widgets solves two challenges at once: it reduces the editorial workload associated with manual updates and increases audience engagement. By integrating modern football data tools, sports websites become more dynamic, informative, and better aligned with the expectations of today’s football fans.

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Modern Football Widgets for Websites: From Live Scores to Match Statistics

Jonathan Charrier is a Montreal-based entrepreneur and the founder of Charrier Global Imports, a company that connects Quebec and North American consumers with specialty foods, artisanal goods, handcrafted clothing, and wellness products from around the world. He launched the business in 2012 after years of hands-on travel and study in international trade.

Charrier grew up in Montreal’s Rosemont neighbourhood, surrounded by a mix of cultures, languages, and cuisines. Both of his parents worked in hospitality, which shaped his respect for service and long-term relationships. Weekend visits to local public markets introduced him early to global flavours, textiles, and craftsmanship.

After studying international business at a local college, Charrier chose experience over a traditional career path. He spent two years travelling through France, Italy, Peru, Brazil, and Morocco. During this time, he volunteered on vineyards, visited cooperatives, and met artisans working in small workshops. He saw first-hand how skilled producers often lacked access to larger markets despite the quality of their work.

That insight became the foundation of Charrier Global Imports. Starting from a small Mile End warehouse, Charrier built a focused catalogue that included Provençal olive oils, Peruvian textiles, and Moroccan spices sourced from a women’s cooperative. Growth came steadily through trust, consistency, and word of mouth.

Today, Charrier Global Imports supplies boutique shops, restaurants, and online customers across North America. Jonathan remains closely involved in sourcing and supplier relationships. He is known for treating producers as partners and for maintaining high standards across a diverse global supply chain.

Q&A With Jonathan Charrier

Q: You grew up in Montreal. How did that shape your career path?

Montreal played a big role. I grew up in Rosemont, which is a very mixed neighbourhood. You hear different languages on the street. You smell food from everywhere. My parents worked in hospitality, so service and people were always part of daily life. We spent a lot of weekends at public markets. That’s where I first became curious about where things come from and who makes them.

Q: You studied international business, but you didn’t follow a typical route after that. Why?

I felt that textbooks alone were not enough. I wanted to see how trade worked in real life. After college, I travelled for two years. I went to France, Italy, Peru, Brazil, and Morocco. I volunteered on vineyards. I visited cooperatives. I spent time in small workshops. Those experiences taught me more than any classroom.

Q: What stood out to you during those travels?

The biggest thing was the gap between quality and access. I met people making excellent olive oil, textiles, spices, and food products. The skill was there. The care was there. But many producers struggled to reach bigger markets. They didn’t have the contacts or the systems. That problem stayed with me.

Q: Is that what led to Charrier Global Imports?

Yes. The idea grew slowly. I wasn’t thinking about building a large company at first. I was building relationships. I listened to people’s stories. I learned how they worked. When I came back to Montreal in 2012, I rented a small warehouse in Mile End. I started with a very tight selection of products I knew well.

Q: What were those early products?

Olive oils from Provence. Handmade textiles from Peru. Moroccan spices from a women’s cooperative. Each item had a clear origin and a clear story. I focused on consistency and quality. Retailers need to trust what they’re buying. Word of mouth did most of the work in the early years.

Q: How did the business grow from there?

Slowly and carefully. I added products only when I understood the supply chain. Over time, we expanded into chocolates, teas, home goods, and wellness items. The key was not moving faster than our partners could support. Growth has to work for everyone involved.

Q: You still travel regularly to meet suppliers. Why is that important?

You can’t manage relationships from a desk forever. Visiting producers keeps things honest. You see changes early. You understand challenges on the ground. It also shows respect. These are not anonymous suppliers. They are people you rely on.

Q: How do you see your role today compared to when you started?

At the start, I did everything. Now my role is more about oversight and direction. I focus on sourcing, standards, and long-term planning. But I still stay close to the details. That’s where problems and opportunities appear first.

Q: What defines leadership in this industry for you?

Consistency. Fair dealing. Listening. Imports rely on trust across borders. If you break that trust, it spreads quickly. I believe leadership means protecting relationships, not squeezing them.

Q: Looking back, what lesson shaped your career the most?

That good business is built on understanding people. Products move, but relationships last. Everything I’ve done since those early travels comes back to that idea.

Q: And outside of work?

I like simple things. Cooking. Cycling along the Lachine Canal. Exploring restaurants in Montreal with my partner. Those moments keep me grounded and connected to why I started in the first place.

Read more:
Jonathan Charrier Montreal: Building a Global Import Business Through Trust, Craft, and Cultural Exchange

Meta has appointed former Trump administration adviser Dina Powell McCormick to a newly created senior leadership role, underlining the tech giant’s determination to accelerate its push into artificial intelligence infrastructure.

The owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp said Powell McCormick will join the company as president and vice chairman, with a remit spanning global strategy, government engagement and capital partnerships, with a particular focus on funding and scaling Meta’s vast AI ambitions.

The appointment comes just weeks after Powell McCormick stepped down from Meta’s board, a move that initially surprised investors given she had joined less than a year earlier. She will now report directly to Meta founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, the company confirmed.

In a statement, Zuckerberg said Powell McCormick’s background made her uniquely suited to the role. “Dina’s experience at the highest levels of global finance, combined with her deep relationships around the world, makes her exceptionally well placed to help Meta navigate this next phase of growth,” he said.

Meta has emerged as one of the most aggressive investors in AI infrastructure as it races rivals such as OpenAI, Microsoft and Oracle to develop increasingly powerful systems. The company is building multiple gigawatt-scale data centres across the United States, including a flagship site in Louisiana that was highlighted by former US president Donald Trump and is expected to cost as much as $50bn.

Zuckerberg has pledged to spend up to $600bn on infrastructure over the coming years and has already begun raising tens of billions of dollars in external financing to support the programme. Meta has also struck long-term energy partnerships, positioning itself as one of the world’s largest corporate buyers of nuclear power to meet the vast electricity demands of AI.

Powell McCormick will play a central role in securing and managing those capital relationships. She brings more than three decades of experience in global finance, including 16 years at Goldman Sachs, where she led the firm’s global sovereign investment banking business. Most recently, she served as president and head of global client services at investment firm BDT & MSD Partners.

She is expected to remain on BDT & MSD’s advisory board following her move to Meta.

Her appointment also reflects Meta’s growing engagement with governments as scrutiny of AI, data centres and energy use intensifies. Powell McCormick previously served as deputy national security adviser during Trump’s first term and held senior roles in the George W. Bush administration. Her husband, Dave McCormick, is currently a Republican senator for Pennsylvania.

Meta’s move comes amid intensifying competition in AI infrastructure, with rivals including Elon Musk’s xAI, which recently announced a $20bn expansion of data centre capacity near Memphis, and OpenAI-backed projects seeking to reshape global computing power.

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Former Trump adviser Dina Powell McCormick joins Meta in senior AI strategy role

Gold and silver prices have surged to fresh all-time highs, prompting experts to urge ordinary Britons to take a closer look at what they already own, including forgotten jewellery tucked away in drawers and boxes at home.

Gold climbed to $4,603.87 while silver reached $84.69, as investors piled into traditional safe-haven assets amid rising geopolitical tension involving Iran, fears of potential US military action, and fresh instability in Washington following the launch of a criminal probe into US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell.

While the rally has captured the attention of global markets, industry specialists say the price spike is creating tangible opportunities for everyday individuals, not just professional investors.

Jim Tannahill, managing director of London-based jewellers Suttons and Robertsons, said the current market presents genuine options for people who already hold gold or silver, whether knowingly or not.

“These all-time highs are creating real opportunities for everyday people,” he said. “If you already own gold or silver, whether physical or digital, these levels give you choices. You can sell and lock in a profit, or even use what you own as security for a short-term loan without having to part with it permanently.

“It’s also well worth checking drawers and jewellery boxes. Old, broken or unwanted jewellery can be worth far more than people expect at today’s prices. And if you’re unsure whether something is real gold, it can usually be tested and valued by carat at no cost.”

Tannahill added that exposure to precious metals does not have to mean buying bullion or financial instruments. Well-bought second-hand gold or platinum jewellery, he said, is often overlooked but can combine enjoyment with long-term value. In the UK, many jewellery items sold for under £6,000 are free from capital gains tax, while UK legal-tender gold coins such as Sovereigns are exempt altogether.

However, financial advisers have urged caution for those tempted to chase the rally by investing directly in metals at record prices.

Samuel Mather-Holgate, managing director at Swindon-based Mather and Murray Financial, warned that gold and silver do not generate income in the way traditional investments do.

“With precious metal prices at all-time highs it’s tempting to jump straight in,” he said. “But unlike shares or bonds, these assets don’t compound or generate returns beyond capital growth. The risk is buying at the top.”

Instead, he suggested that investors consider funds or companies operating within the sector. “Gold and silver miners, for example, can offer exposure while still benefiting from business fundamentals. In an increasingly dangerous world, precious metals remain a useful hedge – but how you access them matters.”

David Belle, founder and trader at Fink Money, echoed that view, saying he prefers to invest in companies rather than commodities themselves.

“When you buy a commodity, you’re entirely at the mercy of macro forces,” he said. “With a company, you have management, cash flow and balance sheets working to create value. That provides a more structured way to express a view on the market.”

Others cautioned that strong momentum can reverse quickly. Anita Wright, a chartered financial planner at Ribble Wealth Management, said record highs often encourage emotional decisions.

“Gold and silver making new highs is exciting, but this is exactly when people need to keep their heads,” she said. “Prices can overshoot and then snap back sharply on profit-taking.

“Checking jewellery boxes can be worthwhile, but do it carefully. Separate items by hallmark, weigh them, and get more than one quote from reputable buyers. Be clear whether you’re selling for scrap value or as a collectable, and remember that sentimental value can’t be recovered once an item is gone.”

Rob Mansfield, an independent financial adviser at Rootes Wealth Management, added that chasing recent gains is rarely a sound long-term strategy.

“Before buying something that has already risen sharply, people should think carefully about their objectives and what they can afford to lose,” he said. “There’s no guarantee today’s rally continues. If you do want exposure, funds or ETFs linked to miners or metals may offer a more balanced route.”

As global uncertainty continues to drive demand for safe havens, the gold and silver rally shows little sign of fading. But experts agree that while opportunity exists, discipline and perspective remain essential.

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Gold and silver hit record highs as experts urge Britons to check drawers and jewellery boxes