The UK Government’s announcement of increased restrictions will drive many companies to the brink, according to the latest ‘Coronavirus - The Impact on Business’ from the Data & Marketing Association (DMA).

Every business needs to constantly assess what it sells, to whom, and how it sells it. It also needs to constantly assess the market and its competitors, as well as attempting to forecast future trends in demand and technology. All of this is quite a task in normal times when events move in a predictable way and in a linear timescale.

More than 11 million UK working adults have taken time off work for poor mental wellbeing, costing businesses an estimated 40 million working days each year, according to new research from not-for-profit healthcare provider, Benenden Health.

Many business people and career professionals are consulting business and career coaches these days. One of the reasons why this trend is gaining prevalence is because just like in the normal world, people in the business world need a shoulder to lean on whenever the going gets tough.

UK-based social media and creative boutique for women, WE ARE F is celebrating the launch of its sister agency, WE ARE FEMALE ATHLETES. This powerhouse of female talent and global stars will represent, manage, and fight for, the underrepresented athletes at the forefront of the women’s sporting movement.

An organisation supporting underrepresented Founders in London and connecting them with opportunities in tech called OneTech is expanding its efforts to support and diversify London’s entrepreneurial community. Addressing systemic racial and economic barriers to entrepreneurship highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, in collaboration with JPMorgan Chase.

In 2013, four years after having my first child, I finally waved farewell to the prospect of high value, full-time employment in the digital advertising sector. Juggling a client in Asia (early mornings), a client in North America (late nights), a workplace culture dominated by presenteeism, the needs of a pre-schooler and a four hour round trip commute, something had to give. And that something was me.

Online payment orchestration innovator, BRIDGE, has been shortlisted in four award categories, including Payment Startup of the Year and Most Disruptive Payments Technology, at the highly regarded, international annual Payment Awards.

Israel’s Touchless.ai has started to deploy a voice solution that turns any interactive kiosk into a voice-activated touch-free interface. The solution was specifically designed to overcome the problems of commercial environments: accuracy in noisy conditions, complexity for users, and significant cost and time needed to adapt for each business.

Ziglu, the challenger and fully FCA authorised Electronic Money Institution, have opened their crowdfunding round to the public today.

I set up SimplyHair in 2013. I was working alongside my husband, Pip, to grow digital marketing agency, digitalbeans and also juggling a role in customer services and a side business as a mobile hair extension stylist when I realised how poor online purchasing experiences were in the hairdressing trade.

Written by Amy Filippaios, Founder of ecommerce wholesaler, SimplyHair and Creative Director at digitalbeans

As we carry on focusing on female founders and women in tech ahead of our next issue, we decided to catch up with Lindsay Gledhill, a partner at UK law firm, Harper James Solicitors. Lindsay heads up the Intellectual Property (IP) team. She has specialised in IP exploitation and dispute resolution since 1997. It has made Lindsay the go-to lawyer for IP-rich firms who wish to protect and exploit their proprietary technology in fast-growing and international markets.

A post-COVID-19 Great Digital Catch Up - to support 4.5 million people to cross the digital divide - is presented as the solution to fix the UK’s digital divide in a new report by digital inclusion charity, Good Things Foundation. 

The Government’s furlough scheme has saved an estimated two million jobs and helped protect tens of thousands of startups and SMEs from closure. However as the clock ticks down to the end of October, the point at which the scheme will end, many businesses are now understandably concerned about what will come next once this provision is taken away.

Alternative SME credit specialist, Caple has helped Cloudbooking, a cloud-based room, desk and visitor booking software firm, to access multimillion-pound unsecured funding, contributing to an estimated 50% growth for Cloudbooking.

Aiways has started taking online orders for its U5 all-electric SUV. German customers can now order a U5 from the Aiways website, and become among the first in Europe to own an all-electric 410km range SUV from Aiways.

Minecraft has signed up to use a spatial simulation engine that is so powerful it is also being used in the fight against COVID-19. Created by supercomputing startup, Hadean, Aether Engine is being made publicly available for game studios of all sizes, from independent developers to AAA game studios, with Minecraft developer Mojang Studios as its first global partner.

Here Ramya Sriram, Digital Content Manager at Kolabtree, the freelance platform for scientists, gives five steps to ensure that you protect your Intellectual Property (IP) while working with a freelancer or remote worker.

Business bank, Allica Bank is launching a £100m funding round to help it meet the current high levels of demand for finance it is experiencing from British businesses, and continue broadening services and product lines.

Boris Johnson and his government have been pushing for employees to return to their offices in a bid to get the economy back up and running; but figures from the Office for National Statistics show that in the last week of August, only 50% of workers are back in the office.