Features

When I founded Game Insight in 2009, I often felt like a newcomer in a room full of seasoned professionals. Despite growing up in a post-Soviet environment where women worked alongside men and gender inequality wasn’t as pronounced, I still felt I had to work twice as hard as my male counterparts to achieve the same level of success.

What a few weeks it has been for the new Government – a Labour Party conference that fell flat, weaker GDP figures, and Keir Starmer’s “clothes gate”.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is perhaps one of the fastest evolving technologies in business today. For SMEs, it can be hard to keep up with these developments and sift through what’s simply noise, and what will deliver tangible business benefits. 

As the clock ticks down to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Autumn Budget announcement on 30th October, the entrepreneurial community across the UK is holding its breath. The tax changes unveiled on that day have the power to either ignite a new wave of innovation and growth or extinguish the entrepreneurial spirit that has long been a hallmark of the British economy.

Thinking about who will inherit your personal wealth and assets is one thing. Thinking about who will inherit your business interests is another. But both are of equal importance.

It’s not a sector that has ever stood still, but the next few years will bring some particularly big changes in manufacturing. From the rollout of AI for everything from machinery monitoring to material design to an increasingly urgent push towards sustainability, revolutionary new ways of operating will require major software-system adjustments. So what issues do companies face when moving to new technology and how do they deal with them?

Gone are the days of manual data entry and cumbersome spreadsheets! Digital accounting is sharply becoming an essential tool for modern-day startups seeking to streamline their operations and improve financial management. It offers a more efficient and accurate approach, leveraging technology to automate tasks, centralise information, and enhance decision-making.

The startup ecosystem is seeing a distinctive shift in its mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity. Traditionally, it was the tech giants that led the charge in acquiring promising startups. However, a growing trend is emerging: startups are acquiring other startups.

What happens when technological possibilities and state offerings drift too far apart? Anders Indset explores the possibility of a network state.

When it comes to going from startup beginner to startup success, setting actionable targets from the beginning is actually crucial for steering your business in the right direction.

For decades, business startups were classified as for-profit companies and charities as nonprofit. However, in recent years, some startups are turning to the nonprofit sector to meet the needs of their stakeholders better. Which you choose depends on your goals for the brand and how you intend to raise capital. The structure you settle on can shape operations for years to come.

Understandably, many companies are keen to use AI to help with hiring – 42% of companies use AI in recruitment and HR, according to IBM research. The right tools can help to accurately identify top candidates faster.

As a technology founder, I’ve realised the immense importance of navigating the digital landscape effectively to ensure the success and growth of my business. The challenges we face in technology and digital product development are monumental, but they also present opportunities for strategic growth.

Chris Buckley – founder of digital agency Pixel Kicks – shares his insights into starting an ecommerce business in the UK.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most transformational technologies of our generation, tackling some of humanity’s most challenging problems, augmenting human performance, and maximising productivity. A research study from Strand Partners and commissioned by Amazon Web Services, showed that the number of UK companies adopting AI has increased by 31% from 2022 to 2023. Thanks to the acceleration in AI adoption, digital technology could add £520 billion to the UK economy by 2030, up from £413 billion in 2022.

Starting a business is exciting, but it comes with its fair share of responsibilities. One of those is something that is easy to overlook, which is premises liability.

A year ago, I transitioned my fortnightly newsletter The Conversation’s to Substack. I invest a lot of time and energy in my newsletter, on thoughtful marketing, PR and creative business, and I wanted to give it a life beyond inboxes – to offer it a place it could breathe and grow.

The American poet Emily Dickinson wrote that “the truth must dazzle gradually, or every man be blind.” When it comes to startups harnessing technology and the future of work, however, there is no time for gradual discovery.

The UK is home to a thriving startup ecosystem, with innovative companies across sectors like technology and life sciences making a real global impact. While the UK offers strong support for early-stage businesses, the sheer scale and resources available across the Atlantic can open new doors for global ambitions.

The past few years have pushed many small businesses across the UK to breaking point. A harmful combination of rising costs, reduced funding, and increasingly delayed payments has made cash flow management a more pressing concern than it has been in recent memory.