UK newspaper, ‘The Guardian’ reported last month that hospital trusts across England urgently need more equipment to prepare for an upcoming wave of operations and procedures deferred by COVID-19. The article highlighted that hospitals need 'staff and space to deal with a huge backlog of scans for cancer and other conditions, as more than 600,000 people await CT, MRI and other scans amid the coronavirus crisis.'

The company behind the first FDA-cleared direct-from-fingerstick Complete Blood Count (CBC) analyser, Sight Diagnostics has announced it has raised $71m in Series D funding with participation from Koch Disruptive Technologies, Longliv Ventures and OurCrowd.

Economic recoveries from crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic come in many shapes. The hope everywhere is always that they will be V-shaped, but U shapes are the next best thing. A volatile W and the dreaded L are worst-case scenarios.

A Birmingham-based serial entrepreneur has ‘pivoted’ the strategy for his fresh-produce business to the supply of high grade Protective Personal Equipment (PPE), to support the fight against COVID-19.

Global technology company, Zoho that offers the most extensive suite of business software applications, has announced BackToWork, a fully comprehensive modular solution enabling businesses and organisations to safely transition back into the workplace. Free for the remainder of 2020, BackToWork, powered by Zoho Creator, is the latest programme to be introduced as part of the company's ongoing relief efforts, which support businesses impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.

Global pollution levels continue to be an issue that needs addressing. While the worldwide lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic may have lowered our air pollutants, before the outbreak there were seven million deaths each year due to pollution.

Business bank, Allica Bank has combined data and insight from over 1,000 UK SMEs with a multiple regression analysis to determine what factors most closely aligned with an SMEs’ chances of success and separated the highest performing businesses from their peers. These ‘rules for success’ have been compiled from the research data to support British businesses as they look to chart a course to post-COVID-19 recovery.

FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corporation, has awarded its signature FedEx Access Award to student-run company Echooo, from Belgium at the JA Europe Company of the Year Competition, hosted as a virtual event for the first time on 22nd-24th July 2020.

Of those who graduated between 2000 and 2019, the University of Oxford counts more tech founder graduates who started their business aged 35 or younger than any other university in the UK.

With productivity and profits affected, businesses might not be considering wellbeing as much as how to move fast and regain ground, from a quarter that was terrible for much of the economy. There are some under-used but patently obvious wellbeing tips that will help boost productivity, reduce employee turnover and increase engagement that are well worth looking into.

TaxScouts, the company making tax preparation effortless for the UK market, has announced a Series A investment round of £5m to further its mission to build a Pan-European Tax Service. The company is expanding into its first market outside the UK and is establishing a team in Spain, following the appointment of a Country Manager.

From the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme to Eat Out to Help Out, small businesses in the UK have received a significant amount of Government support during the Coronavirus pandemic. Another important area of support has come from consumers themselves, many of whom have taken it upon themselves to seek out local small businesses instead of global entities likely to survive anyway.

As employers embrace video call tools such as Zoom and Skype for day to day work communication, recruitment is no different as recruiters turn to virtual interview processes to source out the best talent. For recruiters looking for a way to build a more engaging recruitment process video, Laura Webster, Global Marketing Manager at HAYS Talent Solutions shares tips and advice into how employers can build a seamless virtual recruitment process through video.

Between 2000 and 2019, the London School of Economics and Political Science has seen 18 female graduates found a tech company after studying at the university. That's more than any other UK university.

ClearBank and Tide have announced that they are working together again to help UK SMEs turn recovery from the coronavirus crisis into a growth opportunity. In collaboration with Tide, ClearBank has applied for two grants from Pool E of the Capability and Innovation Fund, worth £25m and £35m, that form part of the £775m RBS Alternative Remedies Package.

Innovation has never been more important, and in the current climate it is great to see six more startups join the latest CRL (Central Research Laboratory) accelerator programme, which, for the first time has attracted a major sponsor, Mouser Electronics.

As businesses worldwide begin coming out of lockdown into uncharted territory, adapting and surviving the economic and social impacts of COVID-19 is imperative as consumer behaviour, namely spending habits, continue to rapidly change. Alongside a 200% rise in 'first-time' online purchases in April, Econsultancy recently reported a 33% increase in 'online banking or use of mobile apps and payment methods'.

As the government’s furlough scheme comes to an end, many businesses are looking at their staff returning to work in the forthcoming months. This is at a time when anxiety remains high about a second wave of infection and we're seeing reports of rising infection rates across the country and globe.

So I was listening to a podcast this morning - I listened to loads of podcasts so that's not unusual - but there was something about this podcast and the messaging within the podcast that rang a moderate alarm bell. The conversation was one of those that I estimate actually holds a lot of people back.

RESOLV, a Saas platform that aims to provide seamless and remote access to Online Dispute Resolution services to commercial lawyers and mediators recently caught up with Startups Magazine and told us a bit about their journey so far...