Business

Britain’s entrepreneurial spirit remains strong, with 84 new companies launched every hour in the first half of 2025, according to fresh analysis from SME lender iwoca.

The annual Business Hotspots report, which draws on Companies House data, found that more than 363,000 businesses were registered between January and June 2025. However, this marked a 21% fall compared with the same period in 2024 — the first nationwide decline since iwoca began its index in 2021.

The drop follows reforms to Companies House rules in spring 2024, which increased registration requirements and fees to help tackle fraud and tax evasion. Persistently low SME confidence has also weighed on start-up activity.

Wales was the worst-hit region, with new registrations down 39% year-on-year. Cardiff experienced the sharpest fall of any local authority, halving from 15,679 in H1 2024 to 7,485 this year. By contrast, Somerset bucked the trend with a 167% increase in registrations, rising from 603 to 1,612.

The South West weathered the slowdown best, with just a 9% fall, while most regions saw double-digit declines. Overall, 201 local authorities recorded fewer new firms, with only three registering an increase.

London retained its crown as the UK’s entrepreneurial hub, with 1,307 new businesses created per 100,000 residents — the highest in the country for the fifth year running. That dominance came despite a 25% fall in the raw number of registrations, from 152,439 in H1 2024 to 114,905 this year.

The North West climbed to second place with 570 businesses per 100,000 people, outperforming the national average with only a 10% decline in total registrations. The West Midlands followed with 532 per 100,000, while Wales dropped to fourth place and Scotland slid to the bottom of the table with 328 per 100,000.

At the local level, Camden once again topped iwoca’s list, recording 7,031 new businesses per 100,000 residents. Westminster came second (5,084 per 100,000) and Islington third (4,749). Cardiff was the only non-London authority in the top 10, placing sixth, while Manchester ranked 13th overall with 1,168 per 100,000.

Despite the overall slowdown, iwoca’s CEO and co-founder Christoph Rieche insisted that the figures highlighted Britain’s enduring entrepreneurial resilience.

“Start-ups are the fresh organisms in our economic ecosystem, driving innovation, efficiency and future prosperity,” Rieche said. “While new business registrations fell in 2025 due to stricter Companies House rules, it’s encouraging to see over 363,000 new firms still launched in the first half of the year. This clearly shows that Britain’s entrepreneurial spirit remains incredibly strong. We wish all these founders every success.”

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84 new businesses launched every hour in Britain during H1 2025 despite slowdown

When Gyve Safavi and Mark Rushmore first met on a speedboat in the south of France — with advertising tycoon Sir Martin Sorrell also on board — few could have predicted that the chance encounter would spark a £24 million sustainable toothbrush business.

Their brand, Suri, now boasts celebrity fans including Sir Jony Ive and the Kardashians, and is stocked by Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop in the US. But behind the glamour lies an unlikely product: an eco-friendly electric toothbrush designed to end the problem of sink-side “gunk”.

“No one likes that gunk,” says Safavi, 42, pointing to the wall-mountable magnet that keeps Suri brushes elevated and clean.

Both men started their careers at Procter & Gamble, working on global consumer brands like Oral-B and Gillette. Years later, Safavi was at WPP and Rushmore running his own events business when the idea of a sustainable health and beauty product began to take shape.

By 2020, with the pandemic derailing Safavi’s travel plans and Rushmore free after selling his first company, the pair reconnected in a London park. Safavi shared a detailed business plan for a toothbrush made from corn starch, castor oil and aluminium — designed to be repaired or recycled, stripped of unnecessary gimmicks like Bluetooth, and priced for everyday use.

Rushmore recalls: “That night I opened the file and it was the most detailed, comprehensive research, with so much thinking behind everything. I could see there really was something that, if we combined our skills, we could take further.”

The pair spent lockdown cold-calling 24 manufacturers across Asia. Most laughed at their vision. “Efficiency and innovation for a factory means making what you already make, faster and cheaper — not taking a risk with two guys who’ve never built hardware,” Safavi says.

Eventually, one factory in China agreed, and they raised £800,000 from angel investors and venture capital firm Salica to fund their first 5,000 brushes. Early prototypes were clunky, but with consumer testing, design tweaks and sheer persistence, Suri began to take shape.

By May 2022, their first run sold out in three days. A second run sold out in two weeks. Instagram ads, glowing press reviews and a £200,000 advertising prize from the Earth Ad Fund amplified demand.

Suri now employs 37 people and has raised further funding rounds — £2 million in 2023 and £6 million in 2024, with backers including JamJar, the venture fund founded by the Innocent smoothies team. Safavi and Rushmore remain the largest shareholders.

But success has not been without challenges. A logistics error early on left 3,000 US orders stranded because couriers refused to ship items containing batteries. “For 72 hours, that really felt existential,” Rushmore admits. “If everyone had demanded refunds, we would have been finished.” Instead, they emailed each customer personally, and most stuck by them.

Key selling points include a long battery life, a quiet motor, and the much-marketed wall-mount magnet. Customers are also encouraged to return brushes for repair or recycling. Safavi says their philosophy is simple: “Focus on what people actually use, and cut the rest.”

Their efforts have been recognised by industry figures, not least design icon Sir Jony Ive, who texted his approval of the brush late one night. “We were giggling like two little kids,” Safavi recalls.

Both founders acknowledge the personal toll of start-up life, crediting their wives as “unsung heroes” who shouldered the family load while they worked 18-hour days without salary.

From a chance meeting on a boat to a fast-growing brand disrupting Oral-B and Philips, Suri’s story shows how two friends tackled the overlooked pain points of toothbrush design and turned them into a multimillion-pound business.

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Suri founders banish toothbrush “gunk” with sustainable design and build £24m brand

Tottenham-based e-commerce brand Vanquish Fitness has secured a £1 million trade loan from NatWest, guaranteed by UK Export Finance (UKEF), in a move designed to accelerate its growth and expand its reach in international markets.

Founded in 2014, Vanquish has carved out a niche in the competitive athleisure and gym wear market, supplying high-quality active streetwear to a global customer base. With strong sales in the UK and the US, the brand now aims to scale further, using the new financing to invest in products, strengthen supply chains, and explore opportunities in North America.

The flexible trade loan facility gives the business the ability to draw down funds as required, ensuring timely payments to international suppliers, safeguarding stock levels, and reducing the risks of delays or shortages — challenges that have hampered many e-commerce brands in recent years.

Co-founder and CEO Oliver Maloney said the partnership marked a turning point for the business.

“This funding from NatWest is a game-changer for us. It allows us to manage our cash flow more effectively, ensuring timely payments to our suppliers and preventing any disruptions in our supply chain. With this support, we’re well-positioned to continue our growth trajectory and explore new market opportunities as well as building on our success in the US.”

The deal is part of NatWest’s wider strategy to boost trade finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), offering working capital support to help businesses expand into new markets.

Ayaz Sadiq, Relationship Director at NatWest, said: “By leveraging our trade finance solutions and specialist expertise, we are able to support businesses like Vanquish Fitness who want to take the next step in levelling up their business and achieving growth in new areas.”

Ellie Morrison, Trade Finance Manager at NatWest, added that the loan demonstrated the bank’s ongoing commitment to the SME sector.

“This funding provides the necessary working capital to help the business overcome cash flow challenges and achieve its growth ambitions, something which exemplifies our commitment to supporting SMEs and fostering economic growth.”

The involvement of UK Export Finance underscores the government’s efforts to back British brands with global potential.

Keisha Silvera, Export Finance Manager at UKEF, said: “We’re pleased to support Vanquish Fitness in partnership with NatWest. They’re a business that’s ready to build on their strong domestic foundation and scale up in key export markets like the US.

By providing the guarantee to NatWest’s trade loan, we’re helping Vanquish Fitness maintain reliable supply chains whilst they pursue their growth ambitions in the competitive global athleisure market. This shows exactly what UKEF is here for: to help British businesses overcome financing barriers and compete successfully on the world stage.”

With demand for athleisure continuing to rise globally, the funding positions Vanquish to capitalise on both new product development and international expansion, supporting its ambition to become a leading British brand in the global activewear market.

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Vanquish Fitness secures £1m NatWest funding to fuel global growth

Britain’s labour market showed fresh signs of cooling in August as payroll employment fell again and the pace of wage growth slowed, according to official figures.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the number of people on payrolls dropped by 8,000 to 30.3 million in August, following a revised fall of 6,000 in July. Over the past 12 months, payrolls have contracted by 127,000.

The unemployment rate held steady at 4.7% in the three months to July, in line with forecasts, but the latest data underlines a slowdown in hiring as demand for workers continues to weaken. Vacancies fell by 10,000 to 728,000, extending a run of 38 consecutive months of declining job openings.

Pay growth also softened. Average weekly earnings excluding bonuses grew by 4.8%, down from 5%, while pay including bonuses rose 4.7%. Economists and the Bank of England track wage data closely as a key driver of inflation.

The figures come ahead of the Bank of England’s latest policy meeting this week. Rates are expected to remain unchanged at 4% after being cut in August — the fifth reduction in a year. Market pricing suggests they could stay on hold for the rest of 2025, with policymakers signalling they are prioritising the fight against inflation despite evidence of a cooling jobs market.

Inflation data due on Wednesday is forecast to show annual price growth of between 3.8% and 3.9% in August, nearly double the Bank’s 2% target.

Liz McKeown, ONS director of economic statistics, said: “The labour market continues to cool, with the number of people on payroll falling again, while firms also told us there were fewer jobs in the latest period.”

The combination of weaker hiring, falling vacancies and moderating pay growth will add to concerns that the post-pandemic jobs boom has definitively run its course, with sectors from retail to construction reporting sharp slowdowns in demand for workers.

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UK labour market cools: jobs and pay growth slow, says ONS

Jaguar Land Rover’s battle to recover from a devastating cyberattack could see its factories idle until November, according to suppliers briefed on the situation, raising fears of lasting damage to Britain’s largest carmaker and its supply chain.

The Tata Motors-owned manufacturer has already endured two weeks of halted production since hackers targeted its systems on 1 September, forcing it to shut down global operations and send thousands of workers home. The company admitted last week that “some data” may have been accessed, and has referred the incident to the Information Commissioner’s Office, fuelling concerns that customer details could be at risk.

Suppliers are now reported to have been warned that assembly lines may remain dark for another seven weeks. The Daily Telegraph cited one source who said November had been floated as a “guidance date which they think is sensible”, though stressed that even an earlier restart would take weeks before production returned to a normal run rate of around 1,000 vehicles a day.

Jaguar Land Rover denied issuing any official guidance to suppliers, insisting it was still working “around the clock” to restore its global IT systems in a “controlled and safe manner”.

The disruption has paralysed production at JLR’s Solihull and Halewood plants, its Wolverhampton engine facility and Castle Bromwich site. Thousands of staff remain on standby, with unions urging the government to consider a temporary furlough-style scheme to subsidise pay and protect livelihoods.

The longer the outage continues, the greater the strain on JLR’s fragile supply chain. Andy Palmer, former chief executive of Aston Martin, warned he “would not be at all surprised” if some suppliers face insolvency due to the sudden collapse in cashflow.

The crisis is the latest blow for the carmaker, which has faced headwinds from falling quarterly profits, shifting US tariffs and the challenge of financing its electric transition. Insiders say the immediate priority is restoring manufacturing capability without leaving systems vulnerable to further attack.

JLR has so far declined to clarify whether any customer data has been compromised. Initially it said there was “no evidence” of stolen information, but its subsequent disclosure to regulators suggests investigations are ongoing.

Even with systems back online, it may take weeks for production to stabilise, raising questions about whether the company can meet its output targets for the remainder of the year. For Britain’s wider automotive industry, the episode underscores both the risks of cyberattacks and the vulnerability of supply chains built on just-in-time production.

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Cyberattack threatens to keep Jaguar Land Rover factories idle until November

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has become only the fourth company in history to reach a $3 trillion market valuation, as investor enthusiasm over artificial intelligence and relief from a favourable US antitrust ruling drove shares to record highs.

Shares in the California-based group climbed more than 4 per cent on Monday, pushing its market cap to $3.04 trillion. The stock has risen 31 per cent so far this year, buoyed by strong earnings, rapid AI adoption, and a landmark legal reprieve earlier this month.

The milestone puts Alphabet in rare company alongside Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple. Nvidia crossed $4 trillion in July, becoming the world’s most valuable firm and providing a floor for equity markets following President Trump’s announcement of sweeping new tariffs.

Alphabet’s latest rally followed a September ruling in Washington that eased fears of a forced break-up. A judge rejected US Department of Justice calls for Google to divest its Chrome browser and Android mobile operating system, after a 2023 decision found the company had created an illegal monopoly in search. Shares surged to record highs on the day, with President Trump personally congratulating Alphabet chief executive Sundar Pichai at a White House dinner: “Well you had a very good day yesterday. Google had a very good day yesterday.”

The company has not avoided regulatory scrutiny altogether. Earlier this month, EU regulators fined Google nearly €3 billion for abusing its dominance in advertising technology.

Even so, Alphabet has outperformed expectations throughout 2025. Second-quarter revenues reached $96 billion, including a 12 per cent rise in Google search services to $54.2 billion, while YouTube advertising sales also beat forecasts. Cloud revenues rose nearly a third to $13.6 billion, further cementing the group’s dominance across multiple digital markets.

AI remains at the heart of the company’s growth story. Pichai said in July that Google’s AI “overviews” software is now used by 1.5 billion people, while its multimodal AI assistant Gemini continues to expand. “We are leading at the frontier of AI and shipping at an incredible pace. AI is positively impacting every part of the business, driving strong momentum,” he told investors.

The stock’s rise came alongside a broader US market rally ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting this week, when a widely expected quarter-point rate cut is due to be confirmed.

Alphabet shares closed up 10.81 points, or 4.49 per cent, at $251.61 on Monday.

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Google parent Alphabet reaches $3 trillion valuation as AI and legal reprieve boost shares

Britain has dropped further down the world’s innovation league table, falling to sixth place in the latest global rankings published by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo).

The UK was ranked fifth last year and fourth in 2024, with the latest slip raising fresh concerns about the country’s ability to remain competitive against fast-rising rivals.

The annual Global Innovation Index measures nearly 140 economies on 80 indicators, including research and development spending, venture capital activity, high-tech exports and intellectual property filings.

Switzerland once again claimed the top spot, followed by Sweden and the United States. South Korea rose sharply to fourth place, climbing from 11th in 2019, while China entered the global top ten for the first time.

Lord Vallance, the UK’s science minister, said he was “not happy with the direction of travel” but insisted the government had a plan to reverse the trend.

“We have clearly got the potential with the science base that we have got, the start-up base that we have got and the entrepreneurs we have got to be at the forefront,” he said. “Of course I don’t want us to be slipping down that ranking. I want us to go in the other direction and that is my big focus in this ministerial job.”

In Europe, Germany fell two places to 11th and France slipped to 13th, despite Paris stepping up efforts to attract UK tech firms post-Brexit.

The Wipo report also highlighted strong performances from emerging economies. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Brazil, Mauritius, Bahrain and Jordan have all been among the fastest climbers since 2020.

Global growth in research and development spending slowed to 2.9 per cent in 2024, down from 4.4 per cent the previous year and the lowest rate since 2010. Wipo expects it to weaken further this year to 2.3 per cent.

While companies in AI, software and pharmaceuticals raised investment, the slowdown was driven by cuts in automotive and consumer goods sectors.

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UK falls to sixth in global innovation rankings as rivals surge ahead

Nothing, the London-based consumer technology startup founded by Carl Pei, has secured $200 million in a Series C funding round at a $1.3 billion valuation, as it prepares to pivot from being the first new independent smartphone brand in over a decade towards building an AI-native platform.

The raise, led by Tiger Global with support from existing investors including GV, Highland Europe, EQT, Latitude, I2BF and Tapestry, alongside new strategic backers Qualcomm Ventures and Indian investor Nikhil Kamath, brings Nothing’s total funding to $63 million.

The company, which surpassed $1 billion in cumulative sales earlier this year, says the fresh capital will be used to accelerate its innovation roadmap, scale global distribution and bring its first AI-native devices to market in 2026.

Pei, (pictured) who co-founded smartphone disruptor OnePlus before launching Nothing in 2020, said the Series C round marks the start of “chapter two” for the company.

“For AI to reach its full potential, consumer hardware must reinvent itself alongside it,” he said. “We see a future where operating systems are hyper-personalised to each user, where interfaces adapt to our context, and where devices act as agents on our behalf. This is the opportunity Nothing is uniquely positioned to capture.”

The company has shipped millions of devices in just four years, including its Phone (2), Ear (stick) and Ear (2) products. It has built a global supply chain and design team capable of launching new hardware at speed and scale, with Pei arguing that its ability to own “the last mile of distribution” gives it an advantage over incumbent tech giants in building the next wave of AI-driven consumer devices.

Nothing says its vision is to create an operating system that learns deeply about its users and adapts to them individually. Unlike today’s one-size-fits-all systems, Pei describes a future where “a billion different operating systems will be rendered for a billion different people.”

While smartphones will remain central, the company sees AI extending across multiple form factors — from wearables and smartwatches to smart glasses, humanoid robots and eventually even electric vehicles.

In the near term, Pei predicts a new category of AI-native devices will emerge alongside smartphones. “Soon, we’ll all be carrying an additional device that will be just as important,” he said, suggesting that products capable of capturing richer user context will make AI assistants far more useful in daily life.

Nothing confirmed it will also launch a new Community round to give its 120,000-strong supporter base another opportunity to invest. Previous rounds were heavily oversubscribed, with retail investors buying into the company’s growth story alongside institutions.

The company’s Series C comes against a backdrop of mounting pressure on global consumer tech. Hardware margins have been squeezed by tariffs, inflation and a post-Covid spending slowdown, but investors are betting that AI integration can drive a new growth cycle.

Jose Gaytan de Ayala, who led the deal for Tiger Global, said: “Nothing is rewriting the rules of consumer electronics by embedding AI at the heart of hardware. With its unique design ethos, growing community and bold vision, the company is positioned to shape the next decade of consumer tech.”

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Nothing secures $200m Series C to build AI-native hardware platform

Google has unveiled plans to invest an additional £5 billion in the UK over the next two years, in a move it says will help expand the country’s artificial intelligence economy, create thousands of jobs and accelerate breakthroughs in science and technology.

The announcement coincides with the state visit of US President Donald Trump, during which major technology and energy deals are expected to dominate the agenda.

The investment will include significant spending on Google’s infrastructure, research and engineering teams, as well as support for Google DeepMind, its London-based AI arm. The company said the expansion would generate 8,250 “new AI-driven jobs” in Britain.

Ruth Porat, Google’s president and chief investment officer, confirmed the plans on Tuesday alongside Chancellor Rachel Reeves at the official opening of the company’s first UK datacentre in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire.

“With today’s announcement, Google is deepening our roots in the UK and helping support Great Britain’s potential with AI to add £400 billion to the economy by 2030,” Porat said.

Reeves hailed the move as “a powerful vote of confidence in the UK economy and the strength of our partnership with the US”.

The expansion of datacentres has raised questions about pressure on the national grid, with the rapid growth of AI demanding vast amounts of computing power. Google said it would work with Shell to store and deploy clean energy, helping to run its UK operations on at or near 95% carbon-free power by 2026.

The new datacentre has been designed to minimise water consumption through advanced air-cooling systems, while surplus heat will be used to provide free energy to local homes, schools and businesses.

Demis Hassabis, co-founder and chief executive of Google DeepMind, said the announcement built on Britain’s longstanding role at the cutting edge of innovation. “The UK has a rich history of being at the forefront of technology — from Lovelace to Babbage to Turing — so it’s fitting that we’re continuing that legacy by investing in the next wave of innovation and scientific discovery in the UK,” he said.

The Hertfordshire opening comes as all of the major technology groups ramp up capital spending on datacentre infrastructure. Google’s capital expenditure rose to $52.5 billion last year, up from $32.3 billion in 2023. Microsoft’s jumped to $44.5 billion in 2024, from $28.1 billion the year before.

Leaders of other US technology firms, including Sam Altman of OpenAI and Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella, are expected in Britain this week to coincide with the presidential visit. Further announcements on digital infrastructure and energy projects are expected, as the UK seeks to close the gap between its strong scientific credentials and its relatively underpowered digital backbone.

On Monday, the UK government announced a raft of nuclear power initiatives with US partners, designed to help meet soaring demand for electricity as the country pushes forward with AI adoption and the transition to electric vehicles.

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Google pledges £5bn UK investment and opens Hertfordshire datacentre amid Trump visit

Elon Musk has bought $1 billion worth of Tesla shares in his first open-market purchase since 2020, underscoring his commitment to the carmaker as it prepares for a shareholder vote on a record-breaking compensation package.

Regulatory filings show Musk acquired 2.6 million shares through a revocable trust at prices ranging from $372 to $396, lifting his stake in Tesla above 13 per cent. The purchase sparked a rally of almost 10 per cent in early trading, before shares closed up 3.6 per cent at $410.26. Tesla stock has gained 18 per cent in the past five days and is nearing its all-time high of $480, reached at the end of last year.

The move comes as Tesla’s board has proposed a $1 trillion pay deal for Musk if he grows the company’s market capitalisation from about $1.3 trillion to $8.5 trillion by 2035. The package would give him 12 tranches of shares if Tesla hits “formidable” milestones, including producing 20 million vehicles, launching one million robo-taxis, delivering one million Optimus robots, and lifting adjusted earnings to $400 billion.

Musk’s share buy marks his first personal investment in Tesla stock since a modest $10 million purchase on Valentine’s Day in 2020. Since then, he has sold about $20 billion of shares, much of it to finance his controversial purchase of Twitter, now X, in 2022.

The new pay plan, which could lift his stake in Tesla to at least 25 per cent, is designed to sharpen his focus on the carmaker after political distractions and other ventures weighed on Tesla’s sales and reputation. First-quarter profits this year slumped by more than 70 per cent.

Musk has already agreed to scale back his political activities “in a timely manner” as part of the agreement. He previously advised the Trump administration on efficiency measures before a high-profile split last year.

Robyn Denholm, Tesla’s chairwoman, defended the plan in a letter to investors: “If Elon achieves all the performance milestones, his leadership will propel Tesla to become the most valuable company in history.”

Musk, 54, remains bullish about Tesla’s future, particularly its work in AI, robotics and autonomous driving, although he has warned of “a few rough quarters” when US incentives for EV purchases expire later this month.

The billionaire’s personal wealth, estimated at $378 billion, is once again under scrutiny after Oracle founder Larry Ellison briefly overtook him as the world’s richest man this week.

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Elon Musk invests $1bn in Tesla stock as record $1tn pay deal looms