Business News Round Up (07/07/2026)
BGF marks 15 years of backing ambitious Scottish businesses
Fifteen years after it was established to address a structural funding gap in the UK mid-market, BGF has completed £419 million in Scottish investments, as part of its mission to support the regional growth economy. This figure has reached £5bn across the UK and Ireland. Founded in 2011, BGF provides long-term, flexible capital to small and mid-sized businesses. Investing through minority stakes, the firm partners with entrepreneurs and management teams while enabling them to retain ownership and control. BGF supports businesses at all stages of growth – from earlier-stage companies to established and family-owned firms – helping them scale in a way that suits them. Today, BGF is the UK and Ireland’s most active growth investor and has backed more than 650 companies across a network of 15 offices. 74% of capital has been deployed outside of London and the South East, reflecting BGF’s longstanding regional focus.
UK businesses commit to new government cyber resilience pledge
More than 60 businesses including M&S, Nationwide, ITV, Microsoft UK and Cloudflare have committed to strengthen their cyber defences by signing up to the government’s new cyber resilience pledge. The voluntary pledge, aimed at medium and large organisations but open to all sizes and sectors, asks signatories to take three concrete steps to improve cyber security. These include making cyber security a board-level responsibility by implementing the cyber governance code of practice and ensuring all board members complete the National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC’s) cyber governance training; and registering for the NCSC’s early warning service, a tool that alerts organisations to potentially suspicious activity on their networks. It also includes taking a risk-based approach to requiring the government-backed cyber essentials certification across their supply chain. the new pledge comes as businesses face an increasingly urgent threat environment, with over five million cyber-crimes committed against UK firms last year.
Greater Manchester equity and loan fund for advanced manufacturing and materials
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has launched a £10m investment fund to support the growth of companies in the advanced manufacturing and materials sector in Greater Manchester. The fund, GM Advance, offers a range of subsidised financial products, helping to retain, grow and attract new businesses into the region. Advanced manufacturing and materials companies in Greater Manchester lack ‘gateway’ funding for innovation and product development. GM Advance’s suite of products has been designed to bridge this gap in the market, helping businesses grow stronger, quicker. GM Advance is central part of Greater Manchester’s Investment Zone, which is providing £160m over 10 years to support the development of the city-region’s advanced manufacturing and materials sector. The Fund is open to companies ranging from new start-ups to small and medium sized enterprises.
https://ukft.org/news/greater-manc-advanced-manufacturing-fund
UK financial services M&A deal value up eight-fold in H1 2026
M&A transactions in the UK financial services sector rose significantly in the first half of 2026, with a 25% year-on-year increase in announced or completed deals, and a marked eight-fold increase in deal value, according to the latest EY financial services M&A analysis. UK banks, insurers and asset managers publicly disclosed 135 transactions between January and the end of June 2026, compared to 108 deals in H1 2025. Total disclosed value for UK financial services deals rose significantly from £4.2bn in H1 2025 to £33.7bn in H1 2026. Seven deals exceeded £1bn in value (including two megadeals between £8-10bn), representing approximately 93% of total deal value, up from two deals above £1bn in H1 2025. Over the past decade, dealmaking in the UK’s financial services sector has fluctuated annually, with overall volume trending up.