Business

Javvy Coffee launched in 2020—right when most of the world hit pause. But for the team behind the brand, it was time to move.

Frustrated by the sugar-loaded, overprocessed iced coffees lining café menus and supermarket shelves, they saw a gap. “People were drinking these every day without realizing what was in them,” one team member said. “It didn’t feel right.”

That realization sparked what would become Javvy Coffee—a brand built on simplicity, clean ingredients, and everyday functionality.

Their first product, Coffee Concentrate, was born through months of hands-on experimenting in home kitchens. It offered something people didn’t know they were missing: a clean, customizable base that put coffee control back into the hands of the drinker.

Customers could mix it however they liked—black, creamy, iced, or protein-packed. It caught on fast, especially with those looking for convenience without compromise.

Why Protein Coffee Works for Real Life

In 2023, Javvy launched Protein Coffee, a product shaped by how customers were already using the original concentrate. People had been mixing their iced coffee with protein shakes, so Javvy simplified the process—creating a ready-to-drink blend of natural caffeine and high-quality protein, with no gums or added sugar.

“People started using it before workouts, after cold plunges, or even as breakfast,” the team shared. “It became a go-to part of their routine.”

Its simplicity, flavor, and function quickly earned Javvy a loyal fan base—from wellness lovers to time-starved professionals.

From Online to On-Shelf (Soon)

While Javvy built its name through direct-to-consumer subscriptions, the brand is now gearing up for retail launches, bringing its clean caffeine products to store shelves for the first time. First up will be Sprouts Farmers Market.

“We’ve always believed in meeting people where they are,” said the team. “Retail is the next step—but our online subscription model remains the foundation.”

Subscribers still get early access, regular shipments, and flexible delivery options—making it easy to stay stocked without thinking twice.

Listening, Learning, and Living the Brand

One of the things that sets Javvy Coffee apart is its commitment to building real-world connections with customers. The team is exploring opportunities to appear at events like music festivals, local fitness meetups, and wellness gatherings—not just to share product samples, but to engage directly with the people who drink their coffee. This kind of face-to-face interaction is a key part of how Javvy listens, learns, and grows.

“We’re not just about the product—we’re about the routine,” one team member noted. “We listen to what’s working, what’s missing, and what can be better.”

This loop of feedback and adaptation has become a key part of how Javvy evolves. It’s not a one-way message—it’s a conversation.

Q&A: Javvy Coffee on Habits, Growth, and What’s Next

What first sparked the idea for Javvy Coffee?
We noticed people drinking iced coffee daily without knowing what was in it. Once we started reading labels, it was hard to ignore. We thought—why not create something cleaner?

Was the product development process immediate?
Not at all. It was hands-on, trial-and-error. No big plan, just a mission to fix something we personally dealt with.

Why start with Coffee Concentrate?
Flexibility. It lets people control how they make their coffee. We weren’t trying to dictate anything—just offer a clean starting point.

How did Protein Coffee come together?
It was inspired by our own customers. They were already mixing coffee and protein, so we streamlined it. Clean energy, functional fuel—no junk.

How has the response been?
Incredible. People drink it as part of their routine now. It’s more than a beverage—it fits into how they live.

What’s been key to your growth?
Staying consistent and listening to our customers. Trust takes time, but if you stay transparent, people notice.

What’s next for Javvy?
We’re expanding into retail, but we’re doing it carefully. We’re learning as we go—but we’re not slowing down.

Read more:
Inside Javvy Coffee: The Clean Caffeine Brand Changing Morning Habits

Thames Water has been handed a record-breaking £122.7 million fine by Ofwat following two damning investigations into the UK’s largest water utility.

The regulator found the company had breached key obligations relating to its wastewater operations and had unlawfully issued dividends despite poor environmental and customer performance.

Ofwat confirmed this morning that £104.5 million of the fine relates to serious failings in the company’s wastewater infrastructure — the largest financial penalty the regulator has ever imposed. A further £18.2 million has been levied for breaches connected to dividend payments, marking the first time Ofwat has penalised a water company over dividend decisions that failed to reflect its performance.

The regulator took aim at interim dividends totalling £37.5 million issued in October 2023 and a further £131.3 million paid out in March 2024. As a result of the enforcement action, Thames Water is now prohibited from issuing further dividends without Ofwat’s explicit approval.

David Black, chief executive of Ofwat, said: “Our investigation has uncovered a series of failures by the company to build, maintain and operate adequate infrastructure to meet its obligations. The company also failed to come up with an acceptable redress package that would have benefited the environment, so we have imposed a significant financial penalty.”

The move comes amid growing public and political pressure over the environmental performance of water companies, particularly regarding pollution and sewage spills. Environment secretary Steve Reed said: “The government has launched the toughest crackdown on water companies in history. Last week, we announced a record 81 criminal investigations have been launched into water companies. Today Ofwat announced the largest fine ever handed to a water company in history. The era of profiting from failure is over.”

The fine will be borne by the company and its shareholders, not customers.

Thames Water, which provides drinking water to 10 million people and wastewater services to 15 million across London and the Thames Valley, has been teetering on the edge of financial collapse for more than a year. Its current shareholders — including Omers, the Canadian pension fund, and sovereign wealth interests from China and Abu Dhabi — declared it “uninvestable” last year and wrote off their holdings.

In a last-ditch effort to stabilise the company, Thames’s board selected global investment firm KKR as its preferred bidder. KKR has offered a £4 billion cash injection in exchange for control, but the deal depends on complex negotiations with Ofwat over fines and future performance targets. Thames Water’s gross debt stands near £20 billion, and creditors are expected to take heavy writedowns under the current rescue plan.

Appearing before the Commons environment select committee earlier this month, Thames Water chairman Sir Adrian Montague and CEO Chris Weston said the company’s future now hinges on the outcome of talks with KKR and the regulator. Without a deal, they warned, penalties for continued failure — which could total more than £1 billion over five years — risk driving away investors entirely.

Ofwat’s current targets include improvements in pollution incidents, mains leakage, and customer service, all areas where Thames Water has consistently underperformed. Failure to renegotiate these targets could leave Thames unable to attract new funding or improve its credit rating from junk status, experts warn.

Should investment stall and the company remain unable to refinance, ministers and regulators may be forced to intervene directly, placing Thames Water into special administration — effectively returning the utility to public control.

Read more:
Thames Water hit with record £123 million fine by Ofwat after investigations uncover failures and illegal dividends

Following early April’s extensive global media coverage on the Trump administration’s sweeping USAID budget cuts, the tangible impact for Africa has come into sharper relief in May.

Entire funding streams are set to vanish in countries including ​​Senegal, Guinea and Mauritania, while the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Uganda and South Africa will be hit hardest in terms of lost aid volumes. As African and international NGOs caution, funding gaps are already undermining critical health, education and infrastructure programmes across the continent, threatening to reverse decades of development progress and jeopardising the lives and futures of millions.

In this shifting aid landscape, African countries must strengthen ties with reliable private-sector partners to fill the gap and keep local development progress on track. Deeply embedded within local communities and equipped with significant investment resources, technical expertise and a growing commitment to sustainable innovation, the mining industry is particularly well-placed to lead the charge in this space.

Africa’s looming, but avoidable, crisis

In an early-May op-ed, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema describes the Trump administration’s aid cuts as a “devastating blow for Africa.” The world’s second-largest recipient of USAID funding, Sub-Saharan Africa received $12.7 billion in 2024 alone, with Hichilema highlighting how the US has long accounted for one-quarter of Africa’s international aid, including through life-saving programmes like the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

As Zambia’s president notes, the Trump administration’s cuts appear to have sparked a troubling ripple effect, with countries such as the U.K., France and Germany announcing significant aid reductions in recent months. Stressing the impending crisis’s scale, the Institute for Security Studies has warned that an estimated 19 million additional Africans could fall into extreme poverty by 2030 should high-income countries permanently cut 20% of their foreign aid budgets – yet the immediate consequences are already emerging.

In South Africa – which has lost nearly 90% of its USAID funding – residents of remote areas are struggling to access basic medication, with the cancellation of home-delivery services forcing HIV patients to travel long distances to receive life-saving antiretroviral drugs. According to the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation, South Africa faces over 500,000 additional HIV-related deaths in the coming decade. Meanwhile, other treatable diseases like malaria and tuberculosis could claim up to 4 million additional lives across the continent, with the DRC among the most exposed countries.

Beyond public health, USAID’s collapse is dismantling other critical development pillars. Recent Center for Global Development (CGD) analysis reveals that areas including education, infrastructure and investment face funding losses of 90% to 100%. The disruption is wide-ranging, undermining access to STEM education and vocational training in South Africa, microfinance programmes for women’s economic empowerment in Kenya and gender-based violence response services in the DRC – the second-largest victim of US funding cuts.

Mining sector leading on sustainable partnerships

Yet, faced with these enormous pressures, Africa’s political and civil society leaders are proactively framing this shifting international aid landscape as an opportunity to replace the outdated, top-down model with homegrown sustainable development solutions anchored in local realities. Under this new vision, the continent’s resilient growth will depend on a dynamic private sector, with the mining industry’s financial firepower and strong presence within rural communities positioning it to play this catalytic role.

At the heart of the mineral-rich Copperbelt region, the DRC’s partnership with Chinese mining company CMOC is laying the foundation for the country’s inclusive, sustainable economic transformation. In 2024, CMOC’s copper output rose 55% year-on-year to 650,161 tonnes, breaking into the world’s top ten of copper producers and becoming last year’s fastest-growing copper producer, with the company’s parallel increase in cobalt output overwhelmingly a byproduct of copper expansion at its TFM and KFM sites.

Beyond fueling local employment and public revenues, CMOC’s strong financial performance has enabled the ambitious funding of its community development programmes. Guided by its UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) commitment – reflected in its ‘AA’ MSCI ESG rating – CMOC invested over $40 million last year for a range of local education, public health, economic development and gender-equality initiatives, complemented by its significant internal investment in skills development. What’s more, CMOC is progressing the 200 MW Heshima hydropower project with DRC partners to bolster local energy infrastructure and security.

Meanwhile, the Chinese mining sector is supporting a similar approach in Ghana, with Accra launching the Association of China-Ghana Mining (ACGM) in April to promote sustainable mining and community-focused development. Bringing together mining firms including Chifeng Gold, Earl International and Ghana Manganese Company (GMC), the ACGM’s priorities include investment facilitation, technology transfers and skills-building to expand local talent and employment.

In addition to boosting economic output, the ACGM is pursuing broader goals, from ensuring mining respects local biodiversity and supporting youth development programmes co-designed with the Ghanaian government to addressing the dual public health and economic threats posed by illegal mining. Amid USAID’s rollback, the ACGM’s blueprint aligns closely with the CGD’s recent warning that Africa’s growth-hindering informal economy and weak infrastructure require private sector-driven partnerships focused on human capital development in underserved areas.

Resilient overhaul to legacy aid system

As President Hichilema emphasises, Africa’s critical minerals represent one of the most promising paths to building value-added industries that support the green and digital transitions. This is precisely why Zambia and the DRC are partnering to develop EV battery value chains in the mineral-rich Copperbelt region they share – a strategic effort backed by companies like CMOC.

Meanwhile, as the CGD has highlighted, international institutions like the World Bank and IMF should help African governments remove barriers to private sector growth in fragile areas, including by promoting regulatory reforms and investing in transport infrastructure that lowers costs and links rural areas to regional and global trade corridors. Such measures would amplify the growth impact of local industries, deepen regional integration and foster the stability essential for long-term development.

Looking ahead, the sharp withdrawal of USAID marks a turning point in Africa’s development trajectory. In place of traditional donor models, there is now an urgent need for long-term, investment-led partnerships that deliver both local value and strategic stability. By acting now and engaging with clarity, responsibility and ambition, mining companies can help African governments drive growth in key sectors and shape a more resilient future.

Read more:
USAID losses in Africa leave funding gap that mining sector must step up to fill

Swedish startup Alrik has secured new investment to accelerate its mission of transforming construction logistics, raising fresh funding led by Nordic VC People Ventures and with further backing from existing investor Pi Labs.

The new capital brings the company’s total raised to €7 million.

Alrik is building what it describes as the global construction logistics operating system, a connected platform that unites suppliers, merchants, carriers, truck drivers and construction sites. Already a dominant player in the Nordics with customers including Saint-Gobain, Byggmax, Renta, Sonsab, XL-Bygg and Karl Hedin, the startup is now expanding across northern Europe.

“Think of Alrik as the Doordash for building material merchants,” said founder and CEO Nici Sundén-Cullberg. “We take care of the messy logistics so our customers can focus on selling and serving construction sites.”

Co-founder and chief product officer Axel Enblad said the platform replaces analogue workflows and fragmented systems with an integrated digital infrastructure. “We automate dispatching, optimise transport sourcing, manage invoicing, and connect seamlessly with ERPs, carriers, drivers and job sites,” he said.

Construction is a €15 trillion industry, with an estimated 10% of spend tied up in logistics — much of which still relies on manual processes and phone calls. Alrik’s software platform streamlines these operations, offering features such as automated emissions tracking and full invoicing integration. On average, customers report a 25% reduction in logistics costs per delivery.

Usage has surged over the past year, with revenue and app activity increasing more than tenfold. Monthly shipments through the platform have soared from 2,000 to over 25,000. With each merchant able to connect to a growing ecosystem of thousands of carriers and over 100,000 unique construction sites, the network effects are compounding rapidly.

“Alrik is solving one of the construction industry’s biggest friction points,” said Dhruv Gupta of Pi Labs. “They’re not just optimising logistics — they’re unlocking new revenue opportunities and building a future-ready ecosystem.”

Thérèse Mannheimer at People Ventures agreed, calling Alrik’s SaaS model “smart, scalable and built for the long haul”. The company was recently named Sweden’s Most Innovative Software Company of 2024 by Breakit.

The new funding will be used to further develop Alrik’s product and go-to-market strategy, supporting its enterprise customers as it expands further into key markets across Europe.

Read more:
Swedish logistics platform Alrik raises €7m to build global OS for construction industry

Modern small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) heavily rely on cloud accounting software like Xero for their day-to-day bookkeeping, invoicing, and payroll.

While these platforms offer undeniable convenience, there’s a critical, often overlooked challenge: the long-term management of attached financial documents. HMRC mandates that businesses retain financial records for six years from the end of the last company financial year they relate to, or even longer in some cases. This requirement can trap businesses in ongoing subscription costs, even after they’ve ceased trading or transitioned to a new system.

This article explores why UK SMEs need to proactively manage their accounting attachments beyond active software subscriptions, safeguarding both compliance and budget, and how technology is now providing effective solutions.

The Hidden Cost of Cloud Accounting (and the HMRC Requirement)

Cloud accounting is efficient for active businesses. However, if your business winds down or switches platforms, you might face a dilemma: to continue accessing your attached documents, you typically need to maintain your Xero subscription. Based on October 2023 pricing, this could equate to at least £1200 per business over the mandatory 84 months (seven years) of record-keeping. Add to this the ongoing administrative burden of updating payment details and monitoring emails for notifications, and the “free” access you thought you had becomes a recurring expense.

The real risk intensifies if HMRC decides to inspect your business records five years after you’ve ceased trading. While you might have exported reports and transaction data, the thousands of crucial files (like receipts and supplier invoices) you’ve spent hours attaching could be inaccessible if your Xero account has been closed. Losing access to this vital proof of spend can lead to significant complications.

Why Your Accounting Attachments Are Critical

These seemingly small attachments hold immense value for your business:

Proof of Spend: They serve as indispensable evidence for supplier invoices, receipts, and other bank spends, crucial for verifying expenses during tax inspections or audits.
Audit Readiness: Having instant access to original documents ensures your business remains compliant with HMRC’s strict record-keeping requirements.
Dispute Resolution: Should any financial queries arise in the future, having original attachments readily available simplifies resolution.
Time Investment: The hours spent attaching these documents represent a significant administrative investment that should not be easily lost.

Future-Proofing Your Records: The Digital Solution

The solution lies in strategically exporting and securing your financial records, including all attachments, in a future-proof format. This involves:

Downloading in Original Format: Ensuring that critical documents like PDFs and JPGs are saved as they were originally attached.
Associated Data Export: Complementing document exports with associated transactional data in easily accessible formats like CSV files. This ensures your records are complete and usable.
Independent Access: The ability to access your full set of financial records on any device in the future, without needing special software or a continuous subscription to your cloud accounting platform.

This approach offers peace of mind, knowing your business’s financial history is secure and readily available, regardless of your operational status.

Spotlight: Numerint – Securing Your Xero Attachments Simply and Affordably

For UK SMEs utilising Xero for their accounting, Numerint offers a crucial service designed to future-proof financial records and manage compliance. Numerint allows users to download all their Xero attachments in one go, from supplier invoices (bills to pay) and bank spends to customer invoices and bank receipts.

The process is designed for simplicity: users sign in with their existing Xero credentials and export all files with a single click. Attachments download in their original format (e.g., PDF, JPG), with associated data as a CSV file, ensuring future access on any device without special software. Numerint provides a personalised experience: it scans your Xero account and provides a quote based on the number of attachments, with filters to limit by date range or document type, allowing for precise, budget-friendly exports. For instance, pricing ranges from £5 for 100 attachments (Micro) to £30 for 550 (Small) or £190 for 5000 (Large). For enterprise clients, including large firms and accounting practices with multiple Xero subscriptions and thousands of files, Numerint supports regular backups, task workflows, bulk migrations, and consolidation, offering customised solutions and volume discounts.

Founded by a Chartered Accountant, a software development company, and a global e-commerce brand, Numerint leverages wide-ranging business experience to build innovative solutions for common operational challenges faced by businesses.

Strategic Benefits for SMEs

Implementing a solution like Numerint offers several strategic advantages for SMEs:

Compliance Without Ongoing Costs: Meet HMRC record-keeping requirements without being tied into years of software subscriptions.
Data Portability and Ownership: Gain full control and ownership of your critical financial documents.
Reduced Administrative Burden: Simplify the process of closing a business or transitioning accounting systems.
Peace of Mind: Eliminate the worry of potential financial complications or audit issues due to inaccessible records.

Conclusion

In the evolving landscape of cloud accounting, the long-term management of financial records, particularly attachments, is a vital consideration for UK SMEs. By proactively future-proofing these documents, businesses can not only ensure compliance with HMRC regulations but also achieve significant cost savings and unparalleled peace of mind. Embracing innovative digital solutions is key to maintaining control over your financial history and safeguarding your budget, long after the last transaction is recorded.

Read more:
Future-Proofing Your SME’s Financial Records (and Your Budget)

Live shopping channels predated ecommerce but faded away in the age of streaming platforms as fewer people watched television. Now, though, the concept is back, thanks to the popularity of live streaming across the entertainment industry.

Live streaming has permeated the ecommerce industry, with various Chinese platforms leading the way. Now, it’s taking hold in the West too, with British retailers beginning to jump on the trend. This concept could represent the future of online retail in the country.

Live Streaming Now a Key Feature of Ecommerce

Live streaming has been one of the most popular developments in the internet era, as it allows people to experience things in real time. This leads to greater immersion and interaction, which helps it appeal to a lot of people.

The evolution of live streaming is happening rapidly, with the online casino industry one of the leaders in its development. Online blackjack games now come with live streaming, putting players in touch with real world dealers. Games like Cashback Blackjack show how far the technology has come, with HD footage of a swanky studio.

It’s no surprise that the rise of live streaming in entertainment has spread out into the ecommerce industry. The technology allows people to experience something that’s happening in real time, giving them a sense that they are there. With online retail, this can allow sellers to display their products and answer questions about them in real time. They can even offer time-sensitive promotions in the stream, giving shoppers a sense of urgency and potentially boosting sales.

British Retailers Getting on Board

Aside from ecommerce giants like Amazon introducing live streamed shopping channels, various British retailers are beginning to jump on the trend. Indeed, some of the biggest names on the UK high street, such as Marks & Spencer and Boots have tested shoppable video experiences. Last year, John Lewis launched a series of interactive livestream events focusing on seasonal fashion and homeware collections, with clickable links embedded into the stream.

Smaller retailers are also finding that this medium is an excellent way to connect with customers. There are various tools, like Livescale and Shopify Live, which allow people to host branded shopping events directly to their own websites. This is the perfect way to build a strong relationship with customers, as the live chat features allow for some back and forth conversation.

Various Platforms Are Helping With the Shift

Along with the platforms that empower small businesses to add live streaming to their own websites, various major platforms are also accommodating the technology and enabling real time shopping experiences.

For instance, Instagram Live Shopping has recently taken off, and YouTube has also introduced a Shopping tab for people who want to find live ecommerce content. These give businesses even more outlets to reach people and zone in on their target audiences.

Live commerce may have started out as a novelty, but it is rapidly becoming a viable and popular way for people to shop online. It’s great to see many UK businesses jumping on the craze already, and small business owners should also try to take advantage of it where possible.

Read more:
Is Live Commerce the Future of Online Retail?

McKinsey & Company has cut more than 10 per cent of its global workforce in the past 18 months, trimming headcount from over 45,000 at the end of 2023 to around 40,000 today, as the consulting giant adapts to a downturn in demand and the fallout from costly legal settlements.

The New York-based firm had dramatically scaled up during the pandemic, increasing its workforce by nearly two-thirds over five years in response to a surge in demand for consultancy services. But as the market has cooled, McKinsey has been forced to tighten its belt.

The reductions include the dismissal of 400 technical specialists last year in areas such as data and software engineering, and a broader restructuring that began in 2023, resulting in the departure of 1,400 back-office staff. The company has also intensified performance reviews, putting pressure on underperforming consultants to leave voluntarily.

The headcount changes come as the firm grapples with slowing growth across the consulting sector and the financial consequences of its involvement with opioid manufacturers in the US, which have led to hundreds of millions of dollars in legal settlements.

Despite the cuts, McKinsey says it remains committed to growth. A spokesperson for the firm said: “As clients turn to us to help them thrive amid disruption, and generative AI enables new levels of productivity for our teams, our firm continues to grow and we’re doing more impactful work, in more ways, than ever.”

The spokesperson added that McKinsey continues to offer “unrivaled development opportunities” for its staff and plans to hire thousands of new consultants this year.

While the company’s 2024 annual report, published this month, did not include an updated revenue figure or staff numbers, its 2023 revenue stood at $16 billion.

The latest figures underline a period of significant recalibration for the consultancy sector, which has faced a slowdown in corporate spending and increasing scrutiny over business practices after years of rapid expansion.

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McKinsey cuts 10% of global workforce amid slowdown in consulting demand

The UK’s government bond market is increasingly exposed to the risk of sharp price swings and sudden sell-offs, the International Monetary Fund has warned, due to a growing reliance on hedge funds and foreign investors.

In its annual health check of the UK economy, the IMF said the gilts market was showing signs of potential “vulnerability,” particularly as traditional long-term investors — such as pension funds and insurers — retreat from holding longer-dated debt.

According to the Fund, hedge funds now account for nearly a third of all UK bond transactions, raising concerns over the market’s stability during periods of stress. These highly leveraged investors are more likely to react swiftly and unpredictably to shifts in sentiment, leading to potentially destabilising volatility in gilt prices.

“When a large share of the market is held by entities with short investment horizons and higher leverage, the risk of disorderly market movements increases,” said Luc Eyraud, the IMF’s mission chief to the UK.

The warning comes as the UK faces rising borrowing costs amid increased bond issuance and continued “quantitative tightening” by the Bank of England, which has been offloading gilts since 2022. Both developments are weighing on the supply and demand balance in the gilt market.

Increased bond sales by the Debt Management Office (DMO), which is raising capital to cover elevated public spending, have added to the pressure. The IMF noted that these conditions have contributed to rising yields, especially at the long end of the curve. The yield on 30-year gilts recently hit 5.5 per cent — the highest in more than three decades.

The Bank of England and the Treasury were praised by the Fund for adapting their approach, particularly the DMO’s decision to issue more short-dated debt, which reduces the risk of locking in higher interest costs over the long term. DMO co-head Jessica Pulay recently said the move reflects the “declining strength” of demand from long-term institutional investors.

The UK gilt market was last thrown into turmoil during the aftermath of Liz Truss’s September 2022 mini-budget, when a collapse in investor confidence forced pension funds to sell off long-dated gilts en masse, prompting emergency intervention by the Bank of England.

Since then, market sentiment has remained fragile, with the UK’s bond market highly sensitive to global events. The recent uptick in yields has mirrored movements in US Treasuries, triggered by renewed trade war threats from President Trump.

In response, the IMF urged UK authorities to maintain “close monitoring, regular stress testing and continued engagement with market participants” to help detect risks early and prevent future destabilisation. While the Fund acknowledged that the gilt market has so far shown resilience, it emphasised the importance of proactive risk management in the face of a shifting investor base and uncertain global outlook.

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IMF warns UK government debt market is vulnerable to sudden shocks

Sara Murray, the founder of electronic monitoring firm Big Technologies, has agreed to a court order not to move or sell assets worth up to £320 million, as she faces a major High Court lawsuit over alleged undisclosed links to offshore companies.

The legal battle has placed Murray, 56, at the heart of a corporate governance scandal that has rocked the company she founded and once led as chief executive. Big Technologies — best known for providing electronic tagging services to police and probation authorities — dismissed Murray in March after alleging she extracted “significant sums” from the company through offshore entities.

In a stock market announcement, Big said Murray had undertaken not to “dissipate her assets” to the value of the £320 million claim against her. The order was reportedly made at the High Court, marking a significant escalation in a case that is now also attracting regulatory scrutiny from the Financial Conduct Authority and the Takeover Panel.

Murray, through a spokesman, said that public statements made by the company — including remarks in its latest annual report by chairman Alex Brennan — were potentially in contempt of court due to an existing privacy order. “The statements are also misleading. It follows that we will not respond,” the spokesman added.

Big Technologies, however, rejected that claim. A company spokesman said: “The company has accurately reported the undertaking given to the court by Sara Murray and has explained to her lawyers why they are wrong in seeking to suppress it.”

At the heart of the dispute is Big’s claim that Murray had a concealed interest in four offshore companies that collectively held over 17 per cent of Big’s shares at the time of its 2021 stock market float — a stake that earned £113 million on listing. The company now argues that Murray’s direct and indirect holdings may have exceeded 30 per cent, which under City rules would have triggered an obligation to make a formal buyout offer.

Big’s disclosures represent a dramatic reversal from its previous position. Until recently, the company had categorically denied any link between Murray and the offshore entities. But its latest filings now claim Murray “verified” earlier court statements that it believes were false. The company alleges that she controlled the disputed companies either personally or via a family trust.

Separately, a group of shareholders is suing Big for £70.1 million, plus damages, alleging they were unfairly pushed out when the company acquired Murray’s previous business, Buddi, in 2018. Big said it will now apply to add Murray as a defendant in that case, with the aim of recovering any losses directly from her if the shareholders’ claim succeeds.

Murray’s personal assets, which may now be under the court’s asset-freezing order, are understood to include a Belgravia townhouse purchased for £7 million in 2019 and an Oxfordshire farmhouse acquired in 2008 with her then-husband, Michael Jackson, former chairman of Sage Group.

Big Technologies is currently valued at about £340 million — down sharply from its £1 billion valuation at peak. The unfolding legal battle, which could drag on for months or even years, has placed the company under intense scrutiny and threatens to reshape its governance and leadership structure for the long term.

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Big Technologies founder Sara Murray agrees to asset freeze amid £320m High Court legal battle

The UK housing market is enjoying its strongest spell of activity since the pandemic-era “race for space,” with estate agents reporting a surge in buyer interest and sales agreed reaching a four-year high, according to new data from property portal Zoopla.

Sales activity is up 6 per cent compared with this time last year, buoyed by improved mortgage rates, better availability of homes, and renewed buyer confidence. The revival is most pronounced in the north of England and Scotland, where estate agents are seeing heightened demand after years of subdued activity.

After a brief pause in April, blamed on the Easter holidays and a hike in stamp duty, the market rebounded strongly in May. Mortgage affordability has improved thanks to falling rates and easing lending criteria, while the supply of homes on the market is 13 per cent higher than a year ago.

“More homes for sale means more buyers looking to move home,” said Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla. “This, coupled with more attractive mortgage deals and changes to how lenders assess affordability, is supporting an increase in the number of sales being agreed.”

Sellers are also becoming more realistic, with homes selling for around 3 per cent below their initial asking price. Despite increased activity, price growth remains modest. The average UK house price has edged up by 1.6 per cent over the past year to £268,250.

Regional disparities persist. Prices in cities like Aberdeen, Bournemouth and Brighton have dipped slightly, while northern areas such as Blackburn and Belfast have seen rises of more than 5 per cent. A glut of properties in the south is keeping a lid on price growth there, with the southwest seeing a 21 per cent increase in listings, followed by 17 per cent in London and 15 per cent in the southeast. By contrast, listings in the northwest have risen by just 3 per cent.

Zoopla forecasts a 2 per cent increase in UK house prices by the end of 2025, with total sales volumes expected to rise by 5 per cent year on year.

As Donnell noted, “We expect momentum to build through the rest of the year. The mix of improved affordability, stronger mortgage product offerings, and sellers who are also keen to buy, is creating the healthiest market we’ve seen since the pandemic boom.”

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UK house sales hit four-year high as market momentum builds in May