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Greater adoption of agentic artificial intelligence could help rejuvenate Britain’s sluggish economy, according to business and technology leaders speaking at an AI summit held at the House of Lords.
The event, chaired by Steven George-Hilley, founder of Centropy PR, brought together senior figures from the technology, legal, financial services and cybersecurity sectors to examine how AI is reshaping economic growth, jobs and boardroom decision-making.
A central theme of the summit was the role of agentic AI systems, autonomous tools capable of acting on goals with minimal human intervention, in helping small and medium-sized enterprises access advanced capabilities that were previously out of reach. Speakers argued that AI-driven sales, customer management and decision-support systems could level the playing field for SMEs and unlock productivity gains across the economy.
Participants also warned of a looming “skills cliff edge” as AI adoption accelerates, particularly among smaller businesses that lack the resources to retrain staff at pace. Without targeted support, the UK risks widening the gap between large enterprises and the SME sector that underpins much of the economy, the summit heard.
Rupert Osborne, UK chief executive of Capital.com, said AI could play a crucial role in improving financial decision-making by making complex market data easier to understand.
“Used responsibly, AI can organise data, explain market movements and make uncertainty more visible, so decisions are informed by context and risk, not just price,” he said. “Many people default to traditional savings products because investing feels opaque or intimidating. AI can help form the building blocks of a more practical approach to financial literacy in the UK.”
Cybersecurity was also high on the agenda, with speakers stressing that AI-led transformation must be matched by robust safeguards.
Graeme Stewart, head of public sector at Check Point Software, said AI had the potential to transform public services such as healthcare and local government, but warned that security could not be an afterthought.
“We’ve already seen how ruthless hackers can be when it comes to targeting vulnerable organisations,” he said. “Cyber resilience must be built into AI strategies from the outset to ensure public trust and protect sensitive data as adoption accelerates.”
From a financial services perspective, Jan Tlaskal, chief data engineer at Galytix, argued that domain-specific, high-trust AI systems were becoming a strategic necessity.
“With geopolitical fragmentation, rising regulatory complexity and mounting compliance demands, agentic AI is not something to shy away from,” he said. “It is a strategic risk-management advantage that can improve data accuracy, enable faster investment decisions and support sustainable growth.”
The summit concluded that while AI will inevitably reshape jobs and workflows, agentic AI offers a significant opportunity to boost productivity and competitiveness, provided skills, security and responsible deployment are treated as core priorities rather than secondary concerns.
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House of Lords AI summit urges agentic AI to ‘rejuvenate’ UK economy

The billionaire brothers behind Betfred have topped the Sunday Times 2026 Tax List, after paying an estimated £400.1 million to the UK Treasury, making them the country’s biggest individual taxpayers.
Fred and Peter Done, founders of the betting empire, took the top spot in the annual rankings, with around half of their contribution linked to gambling duties generated by Betfred’s nationwide chain of betting shops.
The list, now in its eighth year, highlights the scale of tax paid by Britain’s wealthiest business figures and celebrities, even as concerns grow over a steady migration of high-net-worth individuals overseas.
Pub tycoon Tim Martin ranked eighth, with a personal tax contribution just under £200 million. His company, JD Wetherspoon, operates 794 pubs and paid a total of £837.1 million in taxes last year, averaging more than £1 million per pub across corporation tax, VAT, business rates and gaming duties.
Martin, who owns 26.7% of the group, said he had no complaints about his personal tax bill, describing taxation as a political choice for voters rather than a personal grievance.
Other leading contributors in the top ten included financiers Alex Gerko, Chris Rokos and Peter Hargreaves, alongside retail figures such as Mike Ashley of Sports Direct, Tom Morris of Home Bargains, the Perkins family behind Specsavers, and Stephen Rubin, a major shareholder in JD Sports and owner of Speedo.
Among public figures, Harry Styles emerged as the highest-contributing celebrity, ranked 54th overall, with an estimated £24.7 million tax bill. Most of his contribution stems from touring and merchandise income generated through his company, Erskine Records.
He finished ahead of fellow singer Ed Sheeran, who paid just under £20 million in tax after receiving a £41 million dividend last year.
At 72nd on the list, Erling Haaland became the youngest entrant. The Manchester City striker, whose earnings exceed £500,000 a week before bonuses and image rights, is estimated to have paid £16.9 million in UK tax.
Other notable names included JK Rowling, the Timpson family, Dyson founder James Dyson, and Douglas and Iain Anderson of the GAP Group, which supplies infrastructure for festivals and major events.
The 2026 list coincides with what the Sunday Times describes as an ongoing exodus of wealthy individuals from the UK. Fourteen of those featured are now resident overseas, with several based in Monaco, Jersey, Guernsey, Portugal, Cyprus, Dubai and the United States.
Despite the trend, Peter Done, 78, said he had no intention of leaving Britain. “We owe this country,” he told the newspaper, adding that successful entrepreneurs have a responsibility to pay tax where their wealth was created.
According to HMRC data, the top 1% of earners in the UK — those earning more than £219,000 before tax — currently contribute around 26.6% of all income tax receipts. While still significant, that share has fallen from 30.7% in 2021–22, partly due to frozen income tax thresholds and the relocation of some high earners abroad.
The Sunday Times Tax List is compiled using the most recent company accounts filed up to 10 January and includes a broad range of levies, from corporation and dividend tax to capital gains, income tax and sector-specific duties such as gambling and alcohol taxes.
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Betfred brothers top Sunday Times tax list with £400m bill as stars and entrepreneurs pay record sums

Donald Trump has described it as “very dangerous” for the UK to do business with China, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Shanghai on the third day of his official visit to the country.
Trump’s comments followed the announcement of several agreements aimed at boosting trade and investment between the UK and China, reached after Starmer met Chinese president Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Speaking to reporters at the premiere of a documentary about his wife Melania, Trump said: “It’s very dangerous” for the UK to engage economically with China, although he went on to describe Xi as “a friend” and said he knew the Chinese leader “very well”.
Beyond those remarks, the US president did not expand further on the UK’s engagement with China, instead pivoting his criticism towards Canada, which he described as being in an “even more dangerous” position. Trump recently threatened tariffs on Canada following economic discussions between Ottawa and Beijing.
In response, Downing Street indicated that Washington had been aware of Starmer’s visit and its objectives in advance, and noted that Trump himself is expected to visit China in April.
Starmer said the UK–China relationship was in a “good, strong place” following talks with Xi at the Great Hall of the People. Speaking on Friday at a UK–China Business Forum hosted at the Bank of China in Beijing, the prime minister said the meetings had delivered “just the level of engagement that we hoped for”.
“We warmly engaged and made some real progress,” Starmer said. “The UK has a huge amount to offer.”
Among the outcomes of the visit were an agreement to introduce visa-free travel for British visitors to China, a reduction in Chinese tariffs on UK whisky, and a £10.9 billion investment by AstraZeneca to build new manufacturing facilities in China. The two sides also announced further co-operation on issues including organised crime and illegal immigration.
According to the UK Department for Business and Trade, the US was Britain’s largest single-country trading partner in 2025, with China ranking fourth.
Chris Torrens, chair of the British Chamber of Commerce in China, described Starmer’s visit as “successful”, saying it made sense for the UK to engage with one of its major trading partners. He added that several Western leaders had visited Beijing recently or were planning to do so, including Trump.
Opposition MPs have criticised the prime minister’s visit, citing concerns over national security and China’s human rights record. China has faced accusations from the UN of serious human rights violations against Uyghur and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups, and international criticism over the treatment of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp accused the government of “trading national security for economic crumbs”, while ministers have insisted that intelligence agencies are closely involved in assessing and managing any associated risks.
Starmer’s visit to China, the first by a UK prime minister since 2018, concludes in Shanghai before he travels on to Tokyo for talks with Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, underscoring the government’s broader push to rebalance economic and diplomatic ties across Asia.
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Trump warns UK it is ‘very dangerous’ to do business with China as Starmer visits Shanghai

Tens of thousands of so-called “zombie” businesses could collapse this year as mounting cost pressures and weak demand push companies to breaking point, insolvency specialists have warned.
New research from Begbies Traynor shows a sharp rise in businesses experiencing severe financial strain, with a 44 per cent increase in companies classed as being in “critical financial distress” in the final three months of last year compared with the same period in 2024.
In total, 67,369 companies were identified as facing critical distress, according to Begbies’ latest Red Flag Alert report. The long-running study analyses public filings such as county court judgments and company accounts, alongside Begbies’ own financial stress scoring, to assess sustained deterioration in key financial indicators.
The hospitality sector was among the hardest hit, following a difficult Christmas trading period marked by weaker consumer spending. Hotels saw a 54 per cent increase in businesses showing signs of critical distress over the past year, while bars and restaurants recorded a 39 per cent rise.
Begbies said companies across the economy were continuing to “grapple with a prolonged period of economic uncertainty”, compounded by rising operating costs from higher wages, elevated interest rates, increased tax burdens and subdued consumer demand.
Julie Palmer, partner at Begbies Traynor, said the current environment was creating a growing pool of zombie businesses, firms able to service the interest on their debts but unable to invest, grow or meaningfully reduce what they owe.
“While many of these organisations have struggled along for years, we see a new catalyst in 2026 that could push some over the edge,” Palmer said. “That catalyst is HMRC beginning to call in a portion of the £27 billion in overdue corporation tax, PAYE and VAT that built up during the pandemic.”
She added that unless these businesses could secure fresh investment or be acquired by “more agile companies”, many were likely to fail.
Predictions of a mass clear-out of zombie firms have been made repeatedly since the 2008 financial crisis, yet a dramatic spike in insolvencies has not materialised outside specific categories. In 2025, there were 23,938 registered company insolvencies, broadly in line with 2024 levels.
However, creditors’ voluntary liquidations, where shareholders wind up insolvent companies that can no longer pay their debts, have hit their highest levels since records began in 1960, with the past four years accounting for the four biggest annual totals.
These liquidations are often used by small businesses and have risen as the cost of voluntary liquidation has fallen and pandemic support measures have been withdrawn. Insolvency professionals have raised concerns that the process can be abused as a relatively low-scrutiny route to walk away from debts.
By contrast, company administrations, where an insolvency practitioner takes control in an attempt to rescue the business or achieve a better outcome for creditors, fell by 6 per cent last year compared with 2024. Administrations are often viewed as a better barometer of wider economic conditions.
Although insolvency numbers in 2024 and 2025 were similar to those seen during the 2008-09 recession, the overall corporate insolvency rate remains well below that peak. Analysts note this is largely because the UK now has far more companies on the register than it did during the financial crisis.
Begbies warned, however, that the combination of higher taxes, rising employment costs and the gradual withdrawal of pandemic-era forbearance could still trigger a delayed reckoning for thousands of financially fragile firms over the coming year.
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New wave of ‘zombie’ companies faces collapse as financial distress surges

Amazon is in early-stage talks to invest as much as $50 billion (£40bn) in OpenAI, in what would be one of the largest private technology investments ever made.
According to reports, discussions remain preliminary and the final size and structure of any deal have yet to be agreed. If completed at the upper end, the investment would make Amazon the single largest backer in OpenAI’s latest fundraising round.
The talks come as OpenAI looks to raise up to $100 billion, which would value the company at around $830 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The funding drive underlines the extraordinary demand for exposure to frontier AI companies as they pour billions into data centres, chips and computing infrastructure.
Big Tech groups and global investors are scrambling to deepen their ties with OpenAI, betting that closer partnerships with the ChatGPT-maker will deliver a strategic edge in the intensifying AI race.
Japan’s SoftBank Group is also in discussions to invest up to $30 billion in OpenAI, while the company continues to lay the groundwork for a potential stock market flotation that could eventually value it at close to $1 trillion.
The negotiations are being led by Andy Jassy and Sam Altman (pictured), highlighting how central AI has become to Amazon’s long-term strategy, particularly through its cloud computing arm.
Amazon already has significant exposure to the AI sector. It has invested around $8 billion in Anthropic, a fast-growing OpenAI rival whose services have gained strong traction with enterprise customers. Anthropic was recently valued at $183 billion and has forecast that its annualised revenue run rate could nearly triple in 2026 to around $26 billion.
OpenAI, meanwhile, continues to expand its computing partnerships. This month it signed a $10 billion deal with Cerebras, an emerging competitor to Nvidia, whose chips currently power much of OpenAI’s AI infrastructure.
The potential Amazon investment is part of a wider funding scramble. Reports suggest Microsoft, OpenAI’s long-standing strategic partner, and Nvidia are also in talks to participate in the round. Nvidia is said to be considering an investment of up to $30 billion, while Microsoft’s contribution would likely be below $10 billion.
Amazon declined to comment on the reports, and OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
If finalised, a $50bn commitment from Amazon would represent a dramatic escalation in the battle between the world’s largest technology companies to secure influence over the future direction of artificial intelligence, and the infrastructure that will underpin it.
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Amazon in talks over $50bn investment in OpenAI as AI arms race accelerates

Driverless taxis could begin operating in the UK as soon as September, according to Waymo, the US self-driving car firm owned by Alphabet.
Waymo said it plans to launch a pilot robotaxi service in London in April, with the ambition of carrying paying passengers later in the year once regulations allow. The UK government has said it intends to introduce new rules in the second half of 2026 to permit fully autonomous taxi services, though it has yet to confirm a specific start date.
Local transport minister Lilian Greenwood said the government was actively supporting trials.
“We’re supporting Waymo and other operators through our passenger pilots, and pro-innovation regulations to make self-driving cars a reality on British roads,” she said.
Waymo showcased a fleet of its autonomous vehicles at London’s Transport Museum this week. The cars are currently being driven by safety drivers while mapping London’s streets, but when the service opens to the public there will be no human behind the wheel.
Greenwood said autonomous vehicles had the potential to improve road safety. “Unlike human drivers, automated vehicles don’t get tired, don’t get distracted and don’t drive under the influence,” she said, adding that strict standards would still apply, including safeguards against hacking and cyber threats.
The government estimates the autonomous vehicle sector could add £42bn to the UK economy by 2035 and create close to 40,000 jobs.
Waymo’s robotaxis will be hailed via an app, although the initial service will not include airport drop-offs. The company said pricing would be “competitive but premium”, with fares rising during peak demand.
Waymo vehicles use a combination of lidar, cameras, radar and microphones to build a 360-degree view of their surroundings, with the firm claiming they can detect hazards up to three football fields away, even in poor weather. A high-powered computer processes the data in real time to control the vehicle’s movements.
Waymo’s UK plans come amid growing competition. Uber and Lyft have also signalled they are ready to launch robotaxi services once UK regulations change, both partnering with Chinese technology firm Baidu.
Waymo says its vehicles have driven more than 173 million miles fully autonomously, primarily in the US, where it already operates around 1,000 robotaxis in San Francisco and 700 in Los Angeles. However, isolated reports have emerged of technical glitches, including rare cases where passengers were temporarily unable to exit vehicles.
If approved, a London launch would mark one of the most significant steps yet in bringing large-scale autonomous transport to UK roads.
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Driverless taxis could hit UK roads as early as September, Waymo says

The UK’s advertising watchdog has banned a series of adverts by Coinbase, ruling that they implied cryptocurrency could help ease cost-of-living pressures and downplayed the risks associated with crypto investing.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld complaints from members of the public after the adverts ran in August, depicting Britain in various states of decline alongside a satirical slogan and the Coinbase logo.
The campaign included three poster adverts and a video which portrayed families, businesses and communities struggling amid economic hardship. Scenes highlighted by the ASA included a family home “in a state of disrepair”, a high street with shuttered shops “littered with binbags and rats”, and supermarket shelves marked with signs showing rising prices.
These images were paired with a satirical refrain suggesting everything was “just fine”, followed by the slogan “if everything’s fine don’t change anything”, displayed alongside Coinbase’s branding.
In its ruling, published on Wednesday, the ASA said 35 people had complained that the adverts were irresponsible and trivialised the risks of cryptocurrency, which remains largely unregulated in the UK.
“By presenting the country as failing in areas such as the cost of living and home ownership, the ads implied that consumers should make a financial change,” the watchdog said. It added that the combination of the slogan and Coinbase’s logo suggested the crypto exchange “could be part of the solution to the financial problems stated in the ads”.
The ASA concluded that the adverts breached UK advertising rules and ordered that they must not appear again in their current form.
Coinbase said it disagreed with the decision. In a statement, the company said: “While we respect the ASA’s decision, we fundamentally disagree with the characterisation of a campaign that critically reflects widely reported economic conditions as socially irresponsible.
“The advert was intended to provoke discussion about the state of the financial system and the need to consider better futures, not to offer simplistic solutions or minimise risk.”
The ruling follows repeated warnings from the Financial Conduct Authority, which has told people considering cryptocurrency investments that they should be “prepared to lose all their money” if values collapse.
The ASA has previously taken action against crypto advertising that failed to clearly communicate risk. It has stressed that crypto products are “complex” and “volatile”, and that adverts must make clear when products are not regulated by the FCA and that investors may have no protection if things go wrong.
Responding to the ban, Coinbase acknowledged that digital assets were “not a panacea” for economic challenges, but said it believed “responsible adoption can play a constructive role in a more efficient and freer financial system”.
The decision underscores the UK regulator’s increasingly tough stance on crypto marketing, particularly where advertising is seen to exploit economic anxiety or blur the line between social commentary and financial advice.
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UK bans Coinbase adverts that suggested crypto could ease cost-of-living pressures

Apple has reported its strongest-ever quarterly iPhone sales, helping to lift overall revenues despite weaker performance in other parts of the business.
In results published on Thursday, the US technology giant said total revenue rose to $144bn (£82.5bn) in the final three months of last year, driven by record sales of the iPhone.
Apple said iPhone demand reached an all-time high during the quarter, supported by improved sales in China, as well as continued strength across Europe, the Americas and Japan.
The strong iPhone performance offset slower growth elsewhere in the business. Revenue from wearables and accessories, including products such as the Apple Watch and wireless earbuds, fell by around 3 per cent year on year.
Sales of Mac computers declined by just over 7 per cent over the same period, reflecting softer demand for personal computers as consumers and businesses continue to delay hardware upgrades.
The mixed performance highlights Apple’s ongoing reliance on the iPhone as its primary growth engine, even as it looks to diversify revenues across services, hardware and emerging technologies.
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Apple posts record iPhone sales as Mac revenues fall

The struggling British fashion brand LK Bennett has been bought out of administration by US restructuring specialist Gordon Brothers, raising the prospect that its remaining nine UK shops could close with the loss of around 380 jobs.
Gordon Brothers, which acquired Poundland for £1 last year, confirmed it has purchased LK Bennett’s global brand and intellectual property assets for an undisclosed sum after the retailer collapsed for the second time in six years.
The Boston-based firm said the womenswear label would move to an “asset-light” model, fuelling speculation that LK Bennett could become an online-only business. The future of its physical estate and workforce remains uncertain.
Tobias Nanda, head of brands at Gordon Brothers, said LK Bennett remained a “beloved heritage brand” with strong international appeal.
“We are excited to add LK Bennett to our portfolio and proud to steward the brand into its next phase of growth, bringing its modern luxury to both long-time followers and new customers around the world,” he said.
Founded in the early 1990s by Linda Bennett with a single store in Wimbledon, LK Bennett became known for its signature shoes, handbags and occasionwear. At its peak, the brand operated more than 200 stores globally, but has since shrunk to just nine standalone UK shops and 13 concessions.
The business has struggled for more than a decade following private equity ownership. Bennett sold a majority stake to Phoenix Equity Partners in 2008 for an estimated £80m to £100m, before later returning as a consultant as profits collapsed. She bought the company back in 2017 after it posted a £48m loss.
In 2019, LK Bennett entered administration for the first time and was acquired by Rebecca Feng, its Chinese franchise partner, leading to the closure of 15 stores. More recent accounts revealed the business had recorded a £3.5m loss in 2024 and carried almost £22m of debt, prompting auditors to warn of “material uncertainty” over its future.
Nimit Shah, managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Gordon Brothers, said the firm believed LK Bennett was “capable of reinvigoration under a new asset-light model”, suggesting a sharp pivot away from the traditional high street.
The acquisition comes amid sustained pressure on the premium fashion sector, which has struggled with weaker consumer demand and rising costs. While some rivals, such as Reiss and Me+Em, have successfully adapted their offer, LK Bennett has been hampered by what analysts describe as a dated business model and slower response to changing tastes.
The wider UK retail sector has also seen a wave of restructurings. Footwear brand Russell & Bromley was bought out of administration by Next earlier this month, a deal that will result in the closure of most of its stores.
LK Bennett reported revenues of £42.1m in the year to January 2024, down from £48.8m the previous year, swinging from a £2.3m profit in 2023 to a £3.5m post-tax loss. The company employs around 380 people.
Gordon Brothers’ takeover now leaves staff and customers waiting for clarity on whether LK Bennett’s physical presence on the UK high street will survive its latest rescue.
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Poundland owner Gordon Brothers buys LK Bennett out of administration