Small Business (SMB) stories

Gamma launches International Operator Connect, letting UK partners sell Teams voice across Europe while offloading regulatory burdens.

Australia will impose mandatory cybersecurity standards on smart devices from March 2026, forcing stronger passwords and update guarantees.

Access Group is investing £1.5m of Apprenticeship Levy funds to train 115 staff on new AI programmes across roles and skill levels.

Telecoms Supermarket India unveils AI-driven marketplace to simplify how businesses and households compare and buy telecoms services.

Meaningful Planet secures seed backing from SFC Capital to tackle GBP £1 billion in wasted UK corporate mobile spend with its MILO platform.

Orient Technologies’ Q3 margins slump on chip shortages and a lost cloud client, even as fresh digital contracts and a new centre lift outlook.

Sabre, PayPal and Mindtrip are teaming up on an AI travel assistant that lets users discover, book and pay for trips in one chat-based flow.

Stop wasting budget on grunt work: use agentic automation to handle competitor intel, reporting, SEO and lead routing so marketers drive revenue.

Canopy to launch AI-powered bookkeeping module in 2026, unifying ledger visibility, month-end workflows and client collaboration tools.

Intuit launches its AI-native Accountant Suite in Australia, promising to ease capacity strain and turn automation into a growth driver.

Manchester’s GBP £1.7bn Sister hub and Galway’s Platform94 sign a 12-month pact to ease cross-Irish Sea expansion for start-ups.

UK scale-up founders warn staff lack AI skills, with most slowing hiring and a third expecting job cuts within a year, Helm survey finds.

ECI opens registration for its 2026 Connect conference in Las Vegas, promising hands-on, practical AI guidance for everyday business use.

Global tech firms say Singapore’s Budget 2026 marks a shift from pilot projects to large-scale AI rollout and workforce-wide skills upgrades.

Tailor Brands now lets founders open business bank accounts as they form US LLCs, promising faster launches and integrated money tools.

UK refurbished PC sales nearly double as price-conscious buyers spur fastest growth in Europe and push second-life tech into the mainstream.

AI-fuelled ransomware hit record levels in 2025, with BlackFog warning that around 86% of attacks worldwide are never publicly disclosed.

Most Britons have never heard of new AI and marketing roles, with many dismissing titles like Belonging Manager and Empathy Engineer as fake.

Manchester’s mid-sized firms are stalling investment and expansion, citing volatile costs, policy shifts and tougher access to finance.

SOUTHSTART 2026 will bring OpenAI, Canva, Derek Sivers and Peter Helliar to Adelaide for a three-day tech, climate and culture forum.