Business

The struggling British fashion brand LK Bennett has been bought out of administration by US restructuring specialist Gordon Brothers, raising the prospect that its remaining nine UK shops could close with the loss of around 380 jobs.

Gordon Brothers, which acquired Poundland for £1 last year, confirmed it has purchased LK Bennett’s global brand and intellectual property assets for an undisclosed sum after the retailer collapsed for the second time in six years.

The Boston-based firm said the womenswear label would move to an “asset-light” model, fuelling speculation that LK Bennett could become an online-only business. The future of its physical estate and workforce remains uncertain.

Tobias Nanda, head of brands at Gordon Brothers, said LK Bennett remained a “beloved heritage brand” with strong international appeal.

“We are excited to add LK Bennett to our portfolio and proud to steward the brand into its next phase of growth, bringing its modern luxury to both long-time followers and new customers around the world,” he said.

Founded in the early 1990s by Linda Bennett with a single store in Wimbledon, LK Bennett became known for its signature shoes, handbags and occasionwear. At its peak, the brand operated more than 200 stores globally, but has since shrunk to just nine standalone UK shops and 13 concessions.

The business has struggled for more than a decade following private equity ownership. Bennett sold a majority stake to Phoenix Equity Partners in 2008 for an estimated £80m to £100m, before later returning as a consultant as profits collapsed. She bought the company back in 2017 after it posted a £48m loss.

In 2019, LK Bennett entered administration for the first time and was acquired by Rebecca Feng, its Chinese franchise partner, leading to the closure of 15 stores. More recent accounts revealed the business had recorded a £3.5m loss in 2024 and carried almost £22m of debt, prompting auditors to warn of “material uncertainty” over its future.

Nimit Shah, managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Gordon Brothers, said the firm believed LK Bennett was “capable of reinvigoration under a new asset-light model”, suggesting a sharp pivot away from the traditional high street.

The acquisition comes amid sustained pressure on the premium fashion sector, which has struggled with weaker consumer demand and rising costs. While some rivals, such as Reiss and Me+Em, have successfully adapted their offer, LK Bennett has been hampered by what analysts describe as a dated business model and slower response to changing tastes.

The wider UK retail sector has also seen a wave of restructurings. Footwear brand Russell & Bromley was bought out of administration by Next earlier this month, a deal that will result in the closure of most of its stores.

LK Bennett reported revenues of £42.1m in the year to January 2024, down from £48.8m the previous year, swinging from a £2.3m profit in 2023 to a £3.5m post-tax loss. The company employs around 380 people.

Gordon Brothers’ takeover now leaves staff and customers waiting for clarity on whether LK Bennett’s physical presence on the UK high street will survive its latest rescue.

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Poundland owner Gordon Brothers buys LK Bennett out of administration

More than 3,400 jobs and billions of pounds of private investment are set to flow into Lanarkshire after the UK government named the region as Scotland’s first AI Growth Zone, a flagship initiative under its Modern Industrial Strategy.

The Lanarkshire AI Growth Zone, announced on 29 January, will be delivered by Scottish data centre operator DataVita at its Airdrie site, in partnership with AI cloud specialist CoreWeave. The project is expected to generate more than 3,400 jobs over the coming years, including around 800 high-value roles focused on artificial intelligence, data and digital infrastructure.

These roles will range from AI researchers and software engineers to permanent operational staff running and maintaining advanced data centres. The remaining jobs will be created during the construction phase, as work begins on new data centres, supporting infrastructure, a renewables park and associated facilities.

Alongside job creation, the project has secured £8.2 billion in private investment, making it one of the largest AI-linked infrastructure commitments announced in the UK to date. A further £540 million community fund will be generated over the next 15 years as data centre capacity comes online, providing targeted support to help tackle cost-of-living pressures in the local area.

The fund will back a wide range of initiatives, including skills and training programmes, apprenticeships, after-school coding clubs, and support for local charities and foodbanks. DataVita’s parent company, HFD Group, will also contribute an additional £1 million per year to local community organisations.

The Growth Zone will deliver at least 50 apprenticeships, helping to build a pipeline of Scottish AI talent, while strengthening collaboration between industry, universities and training providers. Ministers said the scheme will ensure local people have access to the skills needed for emerging AI-driven careers.

The announcement marks further progress on the government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, with ministers saying more than 75 per cent of its commitments have already been delivered. In total, 38 of the plan’s 50 actions have been met within a year, supported by a new public dashboard tracking progress.

Over the past 12 months, the government has increased national AI computing capacity tenfold and launched a major skills drive, delivering more than one million free AI training courses. AI is already being deployed across public services, with around a third of NHS chest X-rays now AI-enabled, fraud detection times cut by 80 per cent, and new AI planning tools set to be rolled out to all councils by spring 2026.

Prime minister Keir Starmer said the Lanarkshire project showed how AI investment could directly benefit working people.

“Getting on in life should not mean travelling miles from your community for work while struggling to pay the bills at home,” he said. “By bringing billions of pounds of investment into Lanarkshire, we are creating good, well-paid jobs and funding support that directly helps families with the cost of living.”

Technology secretary Liz Kendall said the Growth Zone would ensure the benefits of AI are felt locally. “From thousands of new jobs and billions in investment to direct community support, this is how AI can deliver real change for people across Scotland,” she said.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves added that AI Growth Zones were central to driving regional growth and unlocking private investment, while Scotland Office minister Kirsty McNeill said the project would write “the next chapter” in North Lanarkshire’s industrial history.

DataVita managing director Danny Quinn said Scotland now had “everything AI needs; talent, green energy and infrastructure”, while CoreWeave’s international managing director Ben Richardson described the site as a shift from “AI ambition into AI in production”.

When complete, the Lanarkshire AI Growth Zone will be among the most advanced AI sites globally, with plans for more than 500MW of on-site power generation over the next four years. Energy will be drawn from on-site renewables, and excess heat from cooling systems is expected to be reused, with proposals to supply nearby University Hospital Monklands, Scotland’s first fully digital, net zero hospital.

Lanarkshire joins four other AI Growth Zones announced over the past year – in Oxfordshire, North Wales, South Wales and the North East of England. Together, these zones are expected to create up to 15,000 jobs and attract at least £28.2 billion in private investment, cementing the UK’s position as Europe’s leading AI economy.

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Lanarkshire named latest AI Growth Zone with 3,400 jobs and £8.2bn investment boost

The government will create a new cross-department Future of Work Unit, expand its ambition to upskill 10 million workers in AI by 2030, and invest £27 million in a new TechLocal programme aimed at entry-level tech roles, the Science and Technology Secretary has announced.

Delivering her first major speech on artificial intelligence at Bloomberg on Wednesday, Liz Kendall set out how the government intends to position Britain to “win for Britain on AI”, while supporting workers through the disruption the technology will bring.

Kendall said AI was now “the engine of economic power and hard power” and that the UK was in a global race to harness its benefits responsibly. “We are at a defining moment for Britain, our place in the world and our future prosperity,” she said.

The newly announced Future of Work Unit will sit within Kendall’s department and will be tasked with analysing the impact of AI on the labour market and coordinating action across government. It will bring together the Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Education, the business department and the Treasury, supported by a panel of experts.

Kendall said the unit would ensure government was not a “bystander” to fears about job losses, but actively supported people through transition. The CBI and the TUC have agreed to take part.

Building on an existing pledge to upskill 7.5 million workers, Kendall announced the government’s ambition would now rise to 10 million people trained in AI skills by 2030, with at least 2 million of those in small and medium-sized businesses.

More than one million AI courses have already been delivered, she said, through partnerships with companies including Accenture, Amazon, Barclays, BT, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Sage and Salesforce. New partners will include Multiverse, public sector bodies such as the NHS and the Local Government Association, alongside techUK, the Federation of Small Businesses and the British Chambers of Commerce.

Kendall also announced £27 million for TechLocal, a new programme designed to help people,  particularly women,  move into entry-level tech roles through targeted skills training and work experience.

The initiative aims to bridge the gap between existing skills and industry demand, addressing persistent diversity and entry-barrier challenges in the tech sector.

In her speech, Kendall highlighted progress made under the government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, published a year ago. She said three-quarters of its commitments had already been delivered, including the launch of four AI Growth Zones and plans for a national supercomputer in Edinburgh.

She reiterated the government’s focus on making Britain the fastest-adopting AI economy in the G7, rather than trying to outbuild the US or China on data centres. “The race we can and should win is on adoption — getting AI to actually work for people and the economy,” she said.

Kendall acknowledged concerns about AI’s impact on jobs, particularly entry-level roles in finance, law, retail and hospitality, and warned that while AI would create new jobs, some roles would disappear.

“Change is inevitable. The consequences are not,” she said, pledging that the government would protect communities from the mistakes of past industrial transitions and help people move into “better jobs in a more productive economy”.

She concluded by calling optimism the UK’s most valuable asset. “When we unleash Britain’s greatest strength,  the talents of our people,  there is nothing we cannot achieve,” she said.

The speech marks the clearest signal yet that AI skills, workforce transition and adoption across the economy will sit at the heart of the government’s technology strategy in the years ahead.

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Liz Kendall unveils AI ‘Future of Work’ unit and pledge to upskill 10 million workers by 2030

Litestream Ventures recorded $78.1 million (£61.5m) in non-binding investor pledges during World Economic Forum week in Davos, after hosting its fourth annual Family Office & Venture Capital Forum.

The closed-door event, held during the World Economic Forum, brought together more than 120 investors, founders, venture funds and philanthropic partners. Pledges were signalled in support of 12 companies focused on addressing major global challenges, alongside backing for the charitable initiative Star for Life.

The pledges were facilitated through Litestream Ventures’ newly launched proprietary pledge-based signalling technology, which was debuted at the forum. Delivered via a private app used by attending investors, the system allows participants to confidentially signal non-binding expressions of interest, indicate philanthropic support, split indicative pledges with peers and share opportunities within trusted networks.

Cassandra Harris, founder and chief executive of Litestream Ventures, said the forum aimed to highlight the substance behind Davos week beyond the headlines.

“Much of the coverage that comes out of Davos can obscure the real work that takes place during World Economic Forum week,  particularly the capital and dialogue that emerges around companies solving real-world problems,” she said. “The Davos Manifesto was built on the idea that businesses should act as stewards of long-term value, not just short-term profit. At Litestream Ventures, we operate at the intersection of venture, media and convening to support that long-term thinking.”

She added that the investor interest shown in Davos reflected the original spirit of the forum. “The 12 hand-picked companies that presented engaged directly with investors, resulting in meaningful expressions of interest that align with the principles on which the World Economic Forum was founded.”

Dan Olofsson, founder of Star for Life and principal of Danir Group, said the platform provided valuable exposure for impact-driven initiatives.

“Most people want to live in a better world where children everywhere have better opportunities,” he said. “That is where Star for Life plays a key role in uplifting the next generation.”

Alongside the investment activity, Litestream Ventures introduced a first-of-its-kind virtual reality experience at Davos, delivered in partnership with Dayholi. The VR activation allowed investors to virtually explore factories, headquarters and laboratories of participating companies in real time as founders presented live.

Manuel E. Gonzalez, managing partner at AgFunder, said the quality of companies and investors in attendance stood out.

“As a VC investing in critical sectors such as agrifood and human health, it was encouraging to see such high-calibre founders and investors engaged in this space,” he said. “Too often, promising technologies fail to find the right backing. Thanks to Litestream Ventures, many of these companies now have a clearer path to scale.”

The forum also featured panel discussions with global investors and an immersive cultural performance, The Brave New Earth, which was brought to Davos by Litestream Ventures for the first time.

Litestream said the results demonstrated growing investor appetite for ventures that combine commercial potential with measurable social and environmental impact, as capital increasingly shifts towards long-term, purpose-led growth.

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Litestream Ventures secures $78m in investor pledges at Davos forum

Almost £162 billion of British exports are at heightened risk because UK firms are shipping goods to markets where collecting payment is most difficult, according to new analysis.

Research from Allianz Trade shows that nearly a quarter (24%) of all UK exports are destined for three countries, the United States, China and India, which pose the greatest challenges for debt collection among the UK’s top 20 export markets.

Together, exports to these three destinations account for £162bn ($221bn) worth of goods leaving the UK, exposing exporters to risks ranging from prolonged payment delays and complex legal systems to insolvency-related write-offs where debts become difficult or impossible to recover.

The US alone accounts for 12% of all UK exports and has been assigned a collection complexity score of 56 out of 100, placing it in the “very high” risk category. Allianz Trade said payment collection in the US has become riskier since 2022, as domestic payment culture has grown increasingly uncertain.

The absence of a harmonised framework governing late payments means payment terms are largely contractual, while average Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) remain elevated. These issues are compounded by the country’s fragmented legal system, split across county, state and federal jurisdictions, which can significantly complicate even straightforward debt recovery cases.

China, which represents 10% of UK exports, carries a “severe” collection complexity score of 66, while India, accounting for a further 2%, has a “very high” score of 57. Although Allianz Trade noted that complexity scores in both markets have eased slightly over the past four years, payment delays remain far longer than in the UK.

Average DSO in China stands at 94 days and 75 days in India, compared with 51 days in the UK. Allianz Trade said exporters continue to face opaque legal systems, weak regulation of late payments, lengthy court delays and high legal costs, all of which make enforcing foreign debt rulings difficult.

The findings underline the growing importance of credit risk management for UK exporters, particularly as businesses seek growth in large international markets.

Allianz Trade warned that without robust safeguards — such as trade credit insurance, tighter payment terms or improved due diligence, exporters risk seeing a significant share of overseas revenues tied up in overdue invoices or written off entirely as bad debt.

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£162bn of UK exports at risk as firms struggle to collect payments from US, China and India

Modern Milkman has secured a £10 million investment to accelerate growth across the UK, expand its US footprint and develop new sustainable doorstep services, taking its total funding to more than £60 million.

The Manchester-based business said the funding will support the continued evolution of its doorstep delivery model, as it builds out a broader logistics platform designed to make sustainable grocery shopping easier and more convenient for households.

The investment comes from Salica Investments, marking the first direct-to-consumer business backed by Salica’s Growth Debt Fund. Modern Milkman said the backing reflects growing investor confidence in circular-economy models that combine sustainability with scalable infrastructure.

Founded in 2019 by Simon Mellin, Modern Milkman now delivers to more than 100,000 households across the UK, supplying milk and groceries in reusable packaging. The company expanded into the US in January 2024 through a strategic acquisition and currently operates in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Ohio and New York.

Mellin said the investment would allow the business to move beyond its original milk round concept and introduce a new generation of integrated services.

“Modern Milkman has built a strong, distinctive and convenient offering for households across the UK,” he said. “This timely investment from Salica enables us to go beyond customer expectations and unlock a broader range of integrated doorstep services.

“Our growth and customer satisfaction show there is clear demand for sustainable alternatives. With this backing, we’re well positioned to scale while helping households reduce their environmental impact.”

The company plans to leverage its existing delivery infrastructure to introduce additional services that fit within its circular economy approach, reducing waste and emissions while improving customer convenience.

Usman Ali, partner in Salica’s Growth Debt Fund, said Modern Milkman stood out for both its leadership and long-term vision.

“Modern Milkman is a business with exceptional leadership and a clear strategy,” he said. “Its commitment to sustainability and the circular economy creates long-term value while addressing global environmental challenges.”

The latest funding round represents a significant milestone for Modern Milkman as it seeks to establish itself as a global leader in sustainable doorstep delivery, at a time when consumers and investors alike are increasingly focused on environmental impact and low-waste living.

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Modern Milkman raises £10m to scale sustainable doorstep delivery

Disappointing full-year results from LVMH suggest that the global luxury sector is facing more than a short-term slowdown, with challenges likely to persist into 2026, according to new analysis.

Commenting on the figures for the year ending 31 December 2025, Sharon Iles, senior apparel analyst at GlobalData, said the performance underlined “persistent struggles within the overall luxury market”.

LVMH reported a 4.6% fall in full-year revenue to €80.8bn, while fourth-quarter sales declined by 5.1%, marking a deterioration compared with the third quarter. Investor concerns over the outlook sent the group’s share price down by around 7% in early trading.

Chief executive Bernard Arnault struck a cautious tone, warning that 2026 would be challenging and signalling tighter controls on costs and expenses.

Regional performance remained uneven. Asia excluding Japan saw organic sales fall 4%, underperforming the group average as consumer spending in China remained subdued amid ongoing economic headwinds. Despite this, LVMH continued to invest heavily in the region, including the opening of a ship-shaped Louis Vuitton flagship in Shanghai in June 2025 and a new Dior store in Beijing in December, both of which have begun to gain traction.

Japan was the weakest-performing market, with organic revenue down 12%, reflecting tough year-on-year comparisons and volatility in the yen. By contrast, the US held up relatively well, with flat organic growth driven by resilient spending from ultra-high-net-worth consumers. Europe’s organic sales fell by just 1%, but Iles noted that momentum weakened as the year progressed, partly due to reduced US tourism and softer consumer confidence.

By division, the Fashion and Leather Goods segment, LVMH’s largest,  saw revenue fall 8%, although the rate of decline eased over the course of the year. Creative initiatives have helped restore cultural momentum, with high-profile collaborations under Pharrell Williams at Louis Vuitton menswear and Jonathan Anderson’s first Dior collection generating strong buzz and positive critical reception. According to GlobalData, these creative successes are now beginning to translate into commercial gains, albeit gradually.

Selective Retailing was the group’s strongest-performing division, with sales flat year on year. Growth was supported by Sephora, which has continued to attract younger consumers and strengthen its position as a leading prestige beauty destination.

The Wines & Spirits division faced the most acute challenges, with sales down 9.4%. Weak demand in China and the US, combined with tariff-related operational issues, weighed heavily on performance.

Iles concluded that while pockets of resilience remain, LVMH’s results highlight broader structural pressures on the luxury sector. Slowing demand in key markets, shifting consumer behaviour and geopolitical uncertainty suggest that the industry’s recovery is likely to be uneven and prolonged, rather than a rapid rebound.

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LVMH results point to prolonged pressure across the luxury market, says GlobalData

Rogo has opened its first international office in London, marking a major step in the company’s global expansion as demand for enterprise-grade artificial intelligence accelerates across the financial sector.

The move positions Rogo in Europe’s leading financial centre, allowing the AI platform to deepen relationships with major European banks, support hands-on deployment of its technology, and tap into London’s finance and technology talent pool.

Rogo’s European expansion is underpinned by a $75 million Series C funding round led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from Henry Kravis and Wells Fargo. Existing backers including Thrive Capital, Khosla Ventures, Tiger Global and J.P. Morgan also participated. The latest raise takes Rogo’s total funding to more than $165 million.

The company said the new capital will accelerate its European growth, expand research and development capabilities, and support North American clients with cross-border operations.

Rogo’s platform is designed specifically for financial institutions, enabling secure, compliant AI deployment at scale. The company said its expansion into Europe comes as banks and asset managers move beyond pilot projects and begin rolling out AI across core business functions.

London was chosen as the company’s European base due to its status as a global financial hub and its deep pool of regulatory, financial and technical expertise. Rogo said it is integrating local regulatory requirements and data standards into its platform to help European institutions deploy AI securely and at scale.

The company now employs more than 100 people across offices in New York and London.

John Willett, Rogo’s co-founder and chief operating officer, will relocate to London full-time to lead the company’s European operations.

“We’re seeing European financial institutions shift beyond AI pilots to scaled, enterprise-grade deployments,” Willett said. “Our London office represents a long-term investment to meet that moment. We’re building a team of AI and finance experts to help firms navigate complex regulatory frameworks and deploy AI in a bespoke and secure way.”

Rogo said its goal is to support European institutions as they play a more active role in shaping the next generation of autonomous financial agents, as AI becomes increasingly embedded in global financial markets.

The expansion reflects broader momentum in financial AI adoption, with banks and investment firms under pressure to improve efficiency, risk management and decision-making while maintaining strict regulatory compliance.

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Rogo opens London office following $75 million Series C funding as AI demand surges across European finance

Amazon has announced a further 16,000 job cuts worldwide as it presses ahead with plans to slim down management layers and “remove bureaucracy”, putting an unspecified number of UK roles at risk.

The latest round of layoffs follows the elimination of 14,000 white-collar jobs in October and forms part of Amazon’s broader ambition to shed around 30,000 corporate roles. While the majority of the new cuts will fall in the United States, teams in the UK and India are also affected. Amazon employs around 75,000 people in Britain but has not disclosed how many UK positions could be lost.

The cuts are expected to hit white-collar roles across Amazon Web Services, Prime Video, retail operations and human resources, also known internally as people experience and technology.

In a blog post to staff, Beth Galetti, Amazon’s senior vice president of people experience and technology, said the company was continuing a restructuring programme first outlined last autumn.

“As I shared in October, we’ve been working to strengthen our organisation by reducing layers, increasing ownership and removing bureaucracy,” she said.

US-based employees affected by the cuts will generally be given 90 days to seek alternative roles within the business, while the timing for staff in other countries will depend on local employment rules, Galetti added.

Amazon has previously linked job reductions to the growing use of artificial intelligence, describing the current wave of AI as the most transformative technology since the internet. However, Andy Jassy has downplayed the role of AI in the decision, telling analysts that the layoffs were primarily cultural rather than financial.

“You end up with a lot more people than what you had before, and you end up with a lot more layers,” Jassy said during a recent earnings call.

The company dramatically expanded its workforce during the Covid-19 pandemic to cope with surging demand for online shopping and digital services. Amazon now employs around 1.58 million people globally, the vast majority of whom work in warehouses and fulfilment centres rather than corporate roles.

The current round of cuts is the largest in Amazon’s three-decade history, surpassing the 27,000 jobs eliminated in 2022. Amazon was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos, who remains executive chairman and the company’s largest individual shareholder.

The announcement has drawn criticism from trade unions. Rachel Fagan, organiser at the GMB, said the decision would have serious consequences for workers and communities.

“Amazon is showing itself for what it is — a company that cannot be trusted to do the right thing by working people in the UK,” she said. “Thousands of job losses will cause huge damage in towns and cities across the country.

“Decision-makers must recognise Amazon as a business fixated on eye-watering profits at the expense of workers and local people.”

The latest layoffs underline the growing pressure on big tech companies to balance efficiency, automation and cost-cutting with mounting scrutiny over their impact on employment and local economies.

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Amazon axes 16,000 more jobs worldwide to ‘remove bureaucracy’

Nearly 600 hospitality jobs have been lost following the rescue of the Revel Collective, after administrators confirmed the closure of 21 bars across the UK.

Around 590 roles have been cut after the group, which trades under the Revolution Bars and Revolución de Cuba brands, fell into administration, with the remainder of the business sold off in a break-up deal.

Administrators FTI Consulting said the closures were unavoidable given sustained pressure on trading. They cited higher employers’ national insurance contributions, increases to the national minimum wage and rising duties on spirits as having a “detrimental” impact on the group’s financial performance.

The collapse and partial rescue of Revel Collective came just as the chancellor unveiled a long-awaited support package for pubs, following warnings of widespread closures and job losses driven by rising business rates.

Under the revised measures, pubs and music venues in England will receive a 15 per cent discount on their business rates bills from April and will be protected from further increases for two years. However, other parts of the hospitality sector, including restaurants and hotels, have been excluded from the relief, prompting frustration among industry leaders.

Kate Nicholls, chair of UKHospitality, said the support did not go far enough.

“The reality remains that restaurants and hotels are still facing severe challenges from successive budgets,” she said, warning that many businesses would be forced into “increasingly tough decisions on viability, jobs and prices”.

Revel Collective had repeatedly warned about the impact of higher employment costs following Rachel Reeves’s first Budget in 2024. The group said increases to employers’ national insurance and the national minimum wage would add more than £4 million a year to its cost base, undermining efforts to stabilise performance despite cost-cutting and margin improvement measures.

As part of the administration process, FTI Consulting confirmed two transactions that will preserve the future of 41 sites and safeguard 1,582 jobs.

Late-night operator Neos Hospitality Group, chaired by industry veteran Peter Marks, has acquired 20 venues from the estate, saving around 800 jobs. Meanwhile, the group’s Peach Pubs business has been sold to Coral Pub Company, a newly formed vehicle led by pub entrepreneur Ted Kennedy.

While the deals have secured a significant proportion of the business and workforce, the loss of nearly 600 roles underlines the ongoing strain facing the UK hospitality sector, particularly as cost pressures continue to bite unevenly across pubs, bars, restaurants and hotels.

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Revolution bar group rescued but nearly 600 jobs lost as 21 sites close