UK households face second record energy bill rise

Analysts predict a further 14% jump for spring 2022 on top of next month’s scheduled £139 riseMillions of households could face a second record jump in energy bills next spring, on top of the £139 increase due next month, as the global gas crisis conti…

UK’s MarketFinance scores $383M to fuel its online loans platform for SMBs

Small and medium businesses regularly face cashflow problems. But if that’s an already-inconvenient predicament, it has been exacerbated to the breaking point for too many during the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, a UK startup called MarketFinance — which has built a loans platform to help SMBs stay afloat through those leaner times — is announcing a […]

Kwarteng admits ‘difficult winter’ ahead as energy bills soar

Business secretary says vulnerable customers will be protected, as he distances himself from universal credit cutKwasi Kwarteng has said it “could be a very difficult winter”, with families facing rising energy bills, as he sought to distance himself f…

TrueLayer nabs $130M at a $1B+ valuation as open banking rises as a viable option to card networks

Open banking — a disruptive technology that seeks to bypass the dominance of card networks and other traditional financial rails by letting banks open their systems directly to developers (and new services) by way of APIs — continues to gain ground in the world of financial services. As a mark of that traction, a startup […]

British ‘baby shortage’ could lead to economic decline, says thinktank

Social Market Foundation suggests measures including better childcare provision to increase birthrate Britain is facing a “baby shortage” that could lead to “long-term economic stagnation”, a thinktank has said.The Social Market Foundation (SMF) said t…