News

Freeths has reported an 8.2% rise in profits and a rise in turnover of more than 12% to £187.6m for the year ending March 31, 2026. The law firm said the results mark the firm's "fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth, with turnover increasing by 83% over the past five years", despite

The UK association for restructuring, turnaround and insolvency professionals has welcomed the Insolvency Service's new five-year strategy promising to crack down on abusive business practices and resolve insolvencies faster. Chief executive of R3, Caroline Summers, said the group welcomed the focus

Lending to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) has almost halved as a proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) since 2011, new research from Allica Bank has revealed. The challenger fintech revealed that the UK's 592,500 established SMEs employ around 10.7m people and generate 37% of private

Lloyds Banking Group has poached Coutts Veteran Franklin Asante to strengthen its private banking team. Mr Asante joins Lloyds as head of entrepreneurs at its Mayfair office following more than 18 years at private bank Coutts.

AJ Bell Investcentre has launched a new offshore bond in partnership with Standard Life to broaden its suite of tax planning solutions for clients and advisers. Advisers can now offer clients the new Standard Life International Bond through AJ Bell's platform, giving clients a flexible investment st

Chancellor John Healey has promised to restore hope to the UK through "fiscal discipline," supporting "good work" and "strong industries," in a major speech ahead of the Budget. Mr Healey used his speech at the Labour Party Conference to focus on fiscal policy, stating that it was "not progressive"

Columbia Threadneedle Investments has appointed Gianluca Di Mascio as portfolio manager and Karan Bhanot as associate portfolio manager. The duo will work within the firms research enhanced strategies team, based in London reporting to Christopher Lo, who is based in Boston, the firm's head of resea

Commercial finance broker Bryant & Bell has appointed former Lloyds Banking Group director, George Grierson to its team, as it marks £10m milestone in its first year. The Edinburgh headquartered firm was launched by Cameron Bryant and Jack Bell last year following more than a decade o

FirstGroup has announced the completion of its £90m group section pension liabilities buy-in.  The Aberdeen-headquartered company said around £22m of its group section escrow had been utilised to complete the transaction. The group said that £17.5m had been returned to the gro

AMS Accountants Group has revealed plans to create around 25 jobs in Aberdeen as it builds towards a £5m audit business in the city within the next three years. The move is part of a wider ambition to turn over more than £20m and have around 200 staff within the next five years. The firm

Aegon Asset Management has expanded into European collateralised loan obligations (CLOs) through the launch of three new funds. The funds will invest across the full credit spectrum from AAA to sub-investment grade. The new Aegon High Grade CLO, European CLO and European CLO Opportunities Funds prov

Takeover talks for Monzo have heated up as private equity group Advent International held separate talks about buying a minority stake, alongside other buyout firms, in the challenger fintech, it has been reported. It comes after reports that the board of the bank was in early-stage talks over a sal

Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE) is set to host Scotland's first-ever Global Investment Scale-Up Summit, in a bid to drive focus and investment in domestic scale-up companies. The business-led summit will take place in January 2027, building on last year's flagship global investment summit hosted

Baillie Gifford's Schiehallion Fund saw its shares move from a small premium to a steep discount to net asset value (NAV) in the six months to July 2026. Shares at the investment trust, which backs later-stage private growth companies, traded at a discount of 14.4% at the period end, reversing a 0.4

Lloyds Banking Group has completed its £1.75bn share buyback programme, purchasing 1,712,662,647 ordinary shares ahead of the year-end 2026 deadline originally set out when the programme was announced. The buyback was managed by Goldman Sachs International between 30 January 2026 and 24 Septem