The Digital Commerce M&A sector registered 1,037 deals in the first half of 2021 – a 25 per cent increase from 787 deals in the same period last year – according to the latest market report from Hampleton Partners, the international technology mergers and acquisitions advisors.

For those thinking about starting a business in the UK, research from Bruntwood Group has found 

Leading cash handling supplier Volumatic has released a new white paper 

New Office for National Statistics (ONS) statistics show the number of UK workers on payrolls rose by 182,000 between June and July, but UK universities and business warn that the battle is not yet won.

BVA BDRC has published its latest quarterly SME Finance Monitor findings. The largest and most frequent study of its kind in the UK, research findings have been gathered across 40 waves of interviews since 2011 and are based on more than 170,000 interviews with SMEs.

The corporate team at leading UK law firm Shoosmiths have made a record-breaking start to the year, 

Despite seeing growth significantly impacted during the pandemic, the vast majority of UK startups are now confident about the next 12 months. This was a key finding of a survey of startup opinion, conducted by Angel Investment Network (AIN), the UK’s largest online angel investment platform.

Purchases of investment companies on adviser platforms reached £368m in the first quarter of 2021, setting a new quarterly record, according to data compiled by Matrix Financial Clarity.

BGF – the UK and Ireland’s most active investor – is reporting a strong outlook for 2021. Throughout the last six months, the investment team for Scotland has invested close to £33 million across 10 Scottish growth businesses, including a cornerstone investment which marked BGF’s second investment in a Scottish IPO in 12 months.

eFront has released its Fourth Annual Global Private Equity Performance Series showing the top-performing regions globally for private equity in 2020. The new report uses deal-level benchmarks for the first time, providing a detailed analysis of performance and deal activity across all regions and sectors at portfolio company level.

New data released by Tech Nation, the UK’s tech scaleup experts, and Dealroom analyses the UK’s position on the global tech stage in comparison to the US and China. Analysis finds that the UK ranks third in the world for its number of tech businesses valued above $10bn.

The number of first-time funding rounds into UK seed-stage startups declined for a second consecutive year in 2020, to 36 per cent below the 2018 peak for such deals, according to new research commissioned by SFC Capital.