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Half of adults want more effort from partners on Valentine’s Day

Helen Greaney
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Half of adults want more effort from partners on Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day has been dubbed a waste of money with novelty mugs and cheap underwear amongst the worst presents.

More than half of the 2,015 adults polled, said their partner should make more effort, rather than splurge on presents they don’t even want.

Respondents reported the rubbish gifts they had received included ‘wrong’ perfume, socks, candles and even, a car mat.

But while most said the day of lovers is a waste of time, one in three said they’d be gutted if their better half did nothing to celebrate.

Travel together

The research by Railcard.co.uk, found that one in five said a trip away would be the best romantic gesture with the Lake District top destination in the UK.

Relationship expert and coach, Sarah Louise Ryan, said: “Couples who travel together often end up more fulfilled and happier in their relationship.

“There are many reasons for this; inclusive of the fact it encourages communication and can deepen feelings of commitment as they plan their trips ahead of time, looking towards the future.

“Travel allows more opportunities for romance and time outside of the day-to-day routine, meaning romantic sparks can be reignited.

“Where flowers and chocolates can play a part, this Valentine’s Day I’d encourage all couples to carve out some time to book and experience a romantic getaway, whether for a day trip or a long weekend.”

The study also found 36% had considered a trip together as a way to rekindle a floundering relationship.

BroadShield Brings Accredex into MyrusBuild Following Acquisition

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BroadShield Brings Accredex into MyrusBuild Following Acquisition

Accredex will join MyrusBuild, adding established construction learning and assessment expertise to the wider BroadShield group and expanding its ability to support competence, compliance and workforce assurance across the built environment.

STEVENAGE, UK. September 24th, 2026 – BroadShield has acquired Accredex, an established provider of construction learning and assessment that has supported more than 8,000 professionals across the UK built environment.

The acquisition brings Accredex into a growing group focused on helping organisations understand, develop and evidence the capability of their people. It also represents BroadShield’s continued investment in sectors where competence, safety, assurance and workforce visibility play an important role in organisational performance.

Accredex will become part of MyrusBuild, BroadShield’s Construction and Built Environment business. Its established learning and assessment expertise will complement MyrusBuild’s broader approach to workforce capability, competence and assurance.

For employers, contractors and professional bodies operating across construction and the wider built environment, demonstrating competence increasingly involves more than simply completing training. Organisations need to connect learning outcomes with role requirements, assessment, evidence, development planning and ongoing review.

Accredex delivers the Construction Industry Council Health & Safety Certification, an online course and assessment that provides eligible built-environment professionals with an approved route to relevant CSCS and SKILLcard cards.

The certification helps professionals demonstrate an appropriate understanding of health and safety requirements when accessing recognised industry card schemes. Accredex has established a reputation for providing an accessible online route that is practical for individuals and organisations while remaining aligned with recognised industry requirements.

The acquisition further develops MyrusBuild’s construction-specific learning and assessment capability at a time when competence and organisational assurance are becoming increasingly important across the sector.

As part of MyrusBuild, Accredex will sit within a broader construction-focused proposition spanning consultancy, competence framework development, assessment design, evidence management and technology-enabled reporting. This will allow the business to build on its existing strengths while providing customers with access to wider support as expectations around competence continue to develop.

Training, qualifications and certification remain important components of workforce capability and can provide valuable evidence of competence. However, organisations also need to establish what competence means for individual roles, assess people against those requirements, maintain appropriate evidence, identify development gaps and ensure competence remains current.

MyrusBuild brings these elements together through Myrus, its technology platform, alongside specialist competence expertise and consultancy.

This approach enables organisations to move beyond individual training records towards a more comprehensive and up-to-date view of workforce capability. This is particularly relevant in construction, where multiple roles, contractors, standards, sites and regulatory requirements can make it challenging to maintain consistent evidence of who is competent to perform particular activities and where further development may be needed.

Emma Perry [pictured], Chief Executive Officer of BroadShield, said: “Accredex is a great fit for what we are building with MyrusBuild. It has an established reputation, strong construction expertise and has already supported more than 8,000 professionals across the industry.

“Learning and assessment are important parts of developing and demonstrating competence, but organisations increasingly need to connect them with the wider picture of workforce capability.

“Bringing Accredex into MyrusBuild allows us to build on what is already working well while creating a broader offer for the construction industry. It strengthens what we can provide today and gives us an exciting platform for future growth.

“This is not about changing the fundamentals of what Accredex does well. It is about protecting that value, investing in its continued development and connecting it with the wider resources, technology and experience of the BroadShield group.”

Across the BroadShield group, more than one million learning and assessment interventions are delivered annually, bringing significant experience in workforce development, learning, assessment and competence to the next stage of Accredex’s growth.

At the centre of the group is Myrus, BroadShield’s cloud-based workforce development platform, which brings learning, competence, compliance, performance and reporting together within one integrated system.

Myrus helps organisations consolidate workforce information, making it easier to plan learning, monitor progress, evidence competence and provide insight to managers and leaders. Within MyrusBuild, this technology is combined with construction-specific expertise to help organisations translate standards and requirements into clear and practical competence arrangements.

MyrusBuild sits alongside MyrusCare, BroadShield’s Health and Social Care business. Together, the businesses apply BroadShield’s experience in workforce development and competence to sectors where understanding, developing and evidencing workforce capability is critical.

Garreth O’Connell, Head of Strategy and Innovation at MyrusBuild, said: “The construction industry already has extensive training, qualifications, standards and competence frameworks. The challenge is bringing them together to create a clear and current understanding of workforce competence.

“Accredex gives us an established learning and assessment capability with deep construction experience. Combined with MyrusBuild and the Myrus platform, we can connect learning and assessment with the wider process of defining, assessing, evidencing and developing competence.

“For individuals, that means accessible learning and assessment that supports progression. For organisations, it means better visibility, stronger evidence and a clearer way to manage competence at scale.”

Accredex’s existing services will continue as the business becomes part of MyrusBuild, with continuity for existing customers and partners remaining a priority throughout the transition.

BroadShield will invest in the continued development of Accredex and explore opportunities to connect its learning and assessment services with the wider capabilities available through MyrusBuild.

The immediate priority will be maintaining service continuity while identifying practical opportunities to improve the customer experience, expand the offer and align Accredex’s services with MyrusBuild’s wider competence management capability.

Paul Jenkinson, Director of Accredex, said: “Accredex has always focused on making construction learning and assessment accessible, practical and relevant.

“Joining MyrusBuild gives us the opportunity to build on what we have achieved and take Accredex into its next stage of development. We can retain the strengths of the existing service while becoming part of a much broader approach to learning, competence and workforce capability.

“The combination gives Accredex a strong home for the future. It allows us to continue supporting construction professionals while opening up new ways to help employers and industry stakeholders connect learning, assessment and competence more effectively.”

HIPER Global Introduces Configurable Rugged Edge AI Servers for Demanding Mission-Critical Deployments

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HIPER Global Introduces Configurable Rugged Edge AI Servers for Demanding Mission-Critical Deployments

The new HIPER Rugged Edge AI Server Series combines Dell PowerEdge XR-Series platforms with HIPER Global’s proprietary ruggedised infrastructure, delivering high-performance computing, AI capability and enterprise reliability in challenging edge environments.

WOKINGHAM, UK. September 25th, 2026 – HIPER Global, a provider of application-specific computing solutions, has launched its new HIPER Rugged Edge AI Server Series, designed to bring configurable enterprise computing and AI capabilities to demanding environments where conventional infrastructure may not be suitable.

Developed through a strategic engineering relationship with Dell Technologies, the new product line delivers enterprise performance and mission-critical reliability for high-performance computing and AI workloads across defence, industrial IoT and extreme-edge deployments. Each platform undergoes rigorous environmental qualification testing to ensure compliance with demanding MIL-STD-810H environmental and regulatory requirements.

Designed for the intense demands of rugged field deployment, the HIPER Rugged Edge AI Server Series remains a high-performance, general-purpose platform capable of supporting a wide range of workloads at the edge, while retaining the native Dell quality, stability and cyber-resilient architecture associated with Dell’s PowerEdge XR Series servers.

“The HIPER Rugged Edge AI Server Series brings together proven enterprise-class technology with HIPER Global’s application-specific engineering and ruggedisation expertise,” said Mark Turner, Chief Executive Officer of HIPER Global UK.

“It enables customers to deploy highly configurable, high-performance systems in demanding mission-critical environments, supported by local engineering, integration and manufacturing options here in the UK.”

By leveraging the foundation of Dell PowerEdge XR Series servers and combining it with HIPER Global’s proprietary high-durability architecture, the series enables customers to deploy mission-critical, general-purpose applications in environments that were previously difficult or impractical to reach.

The series has been engineered to address the logistical challenges faced by deployed teams. Externally accessible components support rapid in-field servicing, while versatile mounting options enable straightforward integration across a range of platforms. These features are combined with thermal management designed to maintain performance in extreme operating conditions.

Interested parties can contact their local HIPER Global or Dell representative for more information.

In Venice, Liberatum asks whether film can bring humanity back to online conversation

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In Venice, Liberatum asks whether film can bring humanity back to online conversation

Bruno Wang brought Lee Daniels, Nadine Labaki and Marisa Berenson together for a Liberatum discussion on the human stories that disappear when people are reduced to digital snapshots

At a time when online platforms can turn a single image, phrase or comment into a lasting judgment, filmmakers Lee Daniels and Nadine Labaki argued in Venice that cinema can create space for greater understanding. Their conversation explored the ability of film to restore context, complexity and empathy to stories that might otherwise be reduced to a single public impression.

Held at Palazzina Grassi on 7 September as Liberatum marked its 25th anniversary, the programme brought film, performance and public dialogue together around the theme of human dignity. Pure Land Foundation founder Bruno Wang hosted Daniels, Labaki and actor Marisa Berenson in a discussion about the consequences of reducing a complicated person to one photograph, comment or label.

Labaki described the speed at which people can be judged online. “It takes a moment, it takes a situation, it takes a phrase, it takes a comma, it takes a word to completely judge somebody,” she said. “And then it becomes like a verdict.” Film, by contrast, gives audiences time to understand a character through their motivations, history and contradictions. “You start seeing their contradictions,” she said, and may ultimately “fall in love with that person, even if you don’t agree with them.”

For Daniels, the question of visibility is deeply connected to his own career. “Precious was just representative of me not being seen as a Black queer man in the ’80s when I wanted to be seen,” he said. “So many of us are invisible to people. We don’t fit the norm, then we are not significant.” He said his work is intended “to give voice to people that don’t have voices and a face for people that aren’t seen.”

The panel also addressed whether art can create meaningful change beyond the screen. Labaki recalled creating Capernaum with the hope that it might help influence legislation concerning children’s rights, while recognising that films cannot easily change institutions. Daniels described a personal response that offered another measure of impact, recalling an abuser who approached him after seeing Precious and said, “Thank you. I will stop doing this to my daughter.” Berenson emphasised the significance of these individual moments, saying that “change starts on an individual level”.

A representative of the Pure Land Foundation said: “The Pure Land Foundation is increasingly interested in what happens when a person is misunderstood, judged or reduced to one public moment, and in what it takes to recover a fuller account of who they are. Cinema asks an audience to stay with a life long enough for the fuller person to emerge. Supporting Liberatum Art & Cinema allowed the Pure Land Foundation to place those questions at the heart of a public cultural programme.”

The wider programme included a poetry recital by Iranian singer and songwriter Sevdaliza and the 2026 Liberatum Pioneer Awards. Marina Abramović, Daniels and Labaki were recognised for their work in performance art and cinema, with tributes delivered by Rossy de Palma, Debi Mazar and Berenson.

In his closing remarks, Bruno Wang linked the discussion to the Buddhist teaching of right speech. “Language is not always neutral,” he said. “The words that we use actually could shape perception, shape relationships and shape the reality.” He called for “a more humane culture of communication” where accountability, compassion and complexity can coexist alongside the possibility of transformation and growth.

In an AI-Saturated Web, Trusted Curation Could Become the Key to Discovery

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In an AI-Saturated Web, Trusted Curation Could Become the Key to Discovery

As AI dramatically increases the volume of content and digital products available online, web entrepreneur Miles Noble argues that people may increasingly rely on trusted curators to identify what is genuinely useful, relevant and worth their attention.

For years, the internet has become better at connecting people with information. The arrival of increasingly capable AI tools is accelerating that process while also making it far easier to produce new content. According to web entrepreneur Miles Noble, this creates a different problem: helping people identify which of the growing number of available resources are actually worth their time.

That challenge is already visible in specialist digital ecosystems. SquareLocator, Miles’ curated discovery platform for the Squarespace community, now lists more than 1,300 products created by almost 80 independent creators, reflecting the growing number of resources competing to be noticed.

For independent developers, designers and creators, the problem is particularly relevant. Thousands of specialist digital products are being created every day, but producing a strong product does not necessarily mean that its intended audience will find it.

Miles believes the internet has unintentionally built an environment in which visibility can become disconnected from product quality.

“We spent 20 years optimising the internet to help people find information,” says Miles. “We now need to optimise it to help people make choices.”

For some independent creators, the importance of careful selection is already clear. Hannah Shaw, founder of Studio Founded, trained in museum curating before launching a full-service studio and template library. Her experience has shaped her belief that the strength of a collection depends on the judgement used to build it, rather than simply its size.

“We keep our collection small, with art-directed designs that carry a point of view,” says Hannah. “I prefer a curated collection of templates that can form part of a customer’s brand for years to come.”

That principle has particular relevance for independent creators. A developer may produce an excellent plugin. A designer might create a highly effective template. A small software business can build a tool that solves a genuine problem.

However, quality alone does not ensure that any of these products will be discovered. Larger businesses can spend heavily on SEO, paid advertising, content marketing and sophisticated digital campaigns. Independent creators often have considerably fewer resources available to compete for attention.

Roland van den Hout, co-founder of Squarespace plugin developer SQSMODS, says this challenge can continue even once a product has demonstrated its usefulness. “We’re living in an attention economy where the real problem isn’t access; it’s overload. More tools, more choices, and more noise compete for the same limited attention. That makes curation incredibly valuable.”

Roland continues: “SquareLocator helps people cut through that noise and find the Squarespace tools worth discovering. For us at SQSMODS, it means being found in the right context, by people already looking for ways to make Squarespace better.”

“The internet has become very good at rewarding visibility,” says Miles. “But visibility and quality aren’t necessarily the same thing.”

This becomes even more important in specialist ecosystems, where people frequently search for very particular solutions. A designer may need a specific Squarespace integration, while a business owner could be looking for a specialist template. A developer might need a tool designed around a very specific technical requirement.

The relevant resource may already be available, but discovering it can require navigating search results, social platforms, community conversations and individual websites. SquareLocator was created by Miles to address this issue. Launched in June 2026, the platform brings Squarespace templates, plugins, tools and courses from independent creators together in one curated discovery environment.

Rather than seeking to become an all-inclusive directory, SquareLocator puts greater emphasis on selected resources and clear ways to explore them. Miles sees this as an exercise in improving the filter rather than simply expanding the database.

“There’s a misconception that discovery means giving people more options,” he says. “Sometimes the most useful thing you can do is remove 90 per cent of the options and help someone understand why the remaining 10 per cent are worth looking at.”

Miles believes the importance of this approach could increase as AI makes digital creation faster and more accessible. An increase in products and content could give users more choice while simultaneously making it harder for individual creators to attract attention. Platforms that help people distinguish between visibility and genuine value could therefore play a larger role.

“AI is going to make it easier to create,” says Miles. “But if everyone can create more, the ability to discover the right things becomes even more important.”

While SquareLocator currently concentrates on Squarespace, Miles believes the underlying approach could work across other specialist communities. He sees an opportunity for niche ecosystems to develop smaller, focused platforms based on expertise, trust and recommendations rather than relying entirely on vast, indiscriminate directories.

“The creator economy doesn’t necessarily have an ideas problem,” he concludes. “It has a discoverability problem. There are incredible people building incredible things. The challenge is making sure the right people can find them.”

Engage Customer Summit set to bring 3,000 customer leaders together in London

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Engage Customer Summit set to bring 3,000 customer leaders together in London

The two-day event takes place at Evolution London on 7 and 8 October, bringing together senior leaders and 250 case studies from some of the world’s biggest brands around a joined-up approach to customer experience

LONDON, UK. September 23rd, 2026 – Customer engagement leaders from across the UK and beyond will gather at Evolution London on 7 and 8 October 2026 for the return of the Engage Customer Summit. Free to attend for senior customer engagement professionals, the two-day event is expected to welcome around 3,000 senior delegates for a programme focused on how organisations can connect every function involved in the customer journey.

Seven stages will run simultaneously across the summit: the Main Stage, Future of the Contact Centre, Customer Contact, Customer Experience Management, Marketing and CRM, Loyalty, Retention & Growth, and Data, Insight & Analytics.

Rather than remaining within their individual disciplines, delegates are encouraged to explore the different stages and hear perspectives from across the customer journey. Several sessions will directly examine the challenge of organisational silos, including Breaking Down the Walls: How Cross-Functional Teams Are Transforming CX, Breaking Down the Silos: Uniting Sales, Marketing & Service Around the Customer, and From First Click to Loyal Customer: Leading the End-to-End Experience.

The two-day programme is centred on one practical question: what is actually working? Day one, The Customer Reality, explores the impact of rising customer expectations, economic pressures and fast-moving technology through case studies, panel discussions and open conversations between peers.

Day two, The Engagement Benchmark: Where Do You Stand?, is designed to help delegates understand how their organisation compares, what other businesses are prioritising and where they should focus their attention next.

Katie Browne, Head of Events at Engage Business Media said: “Customers do not experience an organisation department by department, yet most organisations are still built that way. Sales, service and marketing each own a stretch of the journey, each measure their own success, and the customer feels the seams.

“The 2026 summit puts all three audiences on one agenda for the first time, so the people responsible for the whole journey are in the same building, in the same conversations, for two days.”

Agenda highlights

The UK CX Report 2026. Engage Customer & Ipsos launch The Opportunity for Delight: Rising Above the Mediocre, a nationally representative study examining the rise of “nothing notable” experiences and making the case for looking at Voice of the Customer through a fresh lens.

250 Case studies from household names. Speakers include DHL Express, HSBC, Barclays, NatWest, Sky, Virgin Media O2, Specsavers, The Economist, the Financial Times, The Telegraph, Auto Trader, Xero, Experian, Depop, Anglian Water, HM Revenue & Customs, the NHS, Transport for Wales, the Open University and Cambridge University Press & Assessment.

Voice of the Room, a new format. Live audience polling will explore some of the biggest issues facing CX leaders, with responses from delegates compared against national data in real time. The format will run across seven breakout sessions throughout the two days.

An honest look at AI. The programme examines what organisations are actually experiencing with AI rather than simply focusing on promised outcomes. Sessions include The AI Reality Check: Why Investment Isn’t Delivering and What CX Leaders Need to Change, Why AI Automation Projects Stall (And How to Get Them Moving Again), and a roundtable exploring AI agent washing and how much of what organisations have purchased is genuinely agentic.

Day two headliner. Inside Out: Brand Building and Customer Engagement Starts With Your People. The session will be presented by Edelman following its recent Trust Barometer research.

Senior leadership focus groups and roundtables. Two 90-minute C-suite focus groups will take place on the mezzanine, alongside roundtable discussions covering customer outcome improvements, the transition from proof of concept to production, and the evolving relationship between people and automation.

Summit After-Party. Day one will conclude with drinks and networking from 5pm.

Registration is free for senior customer engagement professionals, with the last remaining tickets available at EngageCustomer.com. The full agenda can be found at www.engagecustomer.com/engage-customer-summit-agenda.

Charles Dowding takes Q3 title in UK Compost Championship

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Charles Dowding takes Q3 title in UK Compost Championship

HAMPSHIRE, UK. September 23rd, 2026 – No-dig gardening pioneer and garden influencer Charles Dowding has been announced as the Quarter 3 winner of the UK Compost Championship, following laboratory testing of his compost’s biological activity and nutrient profile.

Charles, widely recognised for his work championing no-dig gardening, came out on top in the latest round of the competition, which celebrates the production of biologically active, nutrient-rich compost across Britain.

The Compost Championship, organised by the Soil Ecology Laboratory, is running across four seasonal rounds over 12 months, with participants submitting compost samples for independent laboratory analysis of their biology and nutrient profile. A winner is selected in each quarter before the overall UK Compost Champion is crowned at the end of the year.

Charles Dowding, whose work has helped popularise no-dig gardening among growers and home gardeners, has spent decades demonstrating the importance of healthy soil and organic matter. He established an organic no-dig market garden in Somerset in the 1980s and has since written several books about soil, compost and growing without digging.

Commenting on his Quarter 3 victory, Charles Dowding said: “I enjoyed participating in the Compost Championship. It’s a wonderful way of gaining insights to the quality of my compost, and learning how it compares with others that people are making. The Soil Ecology Lab is doing a fantastic job in promoting this.”

The championship aims to broaden the conversation around compost, moving beyond its role as a source of organic matter to focus on the living biology that can make compost valuable to soil and plants. The competition gives participants access to laboratory analysis, allowing them to compare the biological and nutritional characteristics of their compost.

According to the Soil Ecology Laboratory, healthy compost can provide fertility, support soil life and offer an alternative to peat.

Daniel Tyrkiel, founder of Soil Ecology Laboratory, said the result reflected growing interest in understanding compost in greater depth.

“Charles has been talking about the importance of compost for many years, so it is particularly fitting to see his work recognised in a competition that looks beyond what compost looks like and asks what is actually happening biologically within it.

“We have been thrilled by the level of interest and participation since we set up the competition in 2025. The quality of compost matters, and we want the championship to encourage more people to understand, measure and improve it.”

The Soil Ecology Laboratory has made compost biology an important part of its wider work to help farmers, growers and gardeners understand and improve the health of their soils. The company supplies the world’s first and only living soil food web inoculant which can be shipped and stored, helping restore key functions in soils.

The laboratory provides soil and compost testing, including Soil Food Web microscopy, nutritional analysis and functional DNA analysis. Its testing is designed to help identify the organisms present in soil and compost and understand whether the biological community is providing the functions needed for healthy plant growth.

The Compost Championship extends this approach to a wider audience by giving compost makers comparable data about their material while building a community around the practical science of composting.

Daniel Tyrkiel added: “Britain has an enormous amount of organic material that can be turned into something valuable for our soils, but not all compost is equal and there is a lot of poor quality compost being sold across the UK.

“Our aim is to help people understand the difference and give them the tools to make better compost, whether they are managing a small garden, allotment, market garden or a farmer running a commercial growing operation.”

With three quarters of the competition now completed, attention turns to the final round and the search for the overall UK Compost Champion.

Daniel said: “The ultimate aim is not simply to crown a winner, but to help raise the standard of compost being made and used across the UK by putting its biological quality under greater scrutiny.”

For more information about the UK Compost Championship and how to enter, visit soilsmiths.co.uk/compost-championship.

Luxury assets fuel surge in pawnbroking as Prestige profits jump 115%

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Luxury assets fuel surge in pawnbroking as Prestige profits jump 115%

LONDON, UK. September 23rd, 2026: Valuable watches, jewellery and designer accessories are increasingly being used as a source of short-term finance, as Prestige Pawnbrokers reports a 115% rise in pre-tax profits over two years.

Prestige Pawnbrokers has seen pre-tax profits soar by approximately 115% in just two years, while revenue increased by 54% to more than £15 million.

James Constantinou, founder of Prestige Pawnbrokers, who shot to fame on Channel 4’s Posh Pawn, said more people are using watches, jewellery, handbags and other luxury possessions to access money.

He said: “We’re seeing more people looking around their homes and realising they have thousands of pounds sitting in watches, jewellery and handbags.

“People need access to money for all sorts of reasons, and pawnbroking gives them the option of raising it against something they already own without having to sell it.

“Once the loan is repaid, they get their item back.

“With the cost of everything going up, people are becoming much more aware of what their possessions are worth and how they can use them.”

Prestige’s live loan book has grown by almost 50% in two years, with annual interest income now surpassing £5.3m.

The company has also recorded its strongest year in history, generating more than £15m in annual revenue for the first time.

James said: “Pawnbroking has changed enormously. There used to be a perception that you only walked into a pawnbroker if you were desperate for money, but that isn’t the case anymore.

“We’ve customers with assets worth tens of thousands of pounds who might need money quickly and don’t want to sell something they’ve spent years owning or collecting.

“For them, it can be a straightforward way of accessing money from an asset they already have.”

Prestige recorded nine months with revenues exceeding £1m during FY26, compared with just one £1m-plus month two years earlier.

Its highest-performing month brought in approximately £2m in revenue.

James said: “Two years ago, we had one month where revenue went over £1m. This year we’ve had nine.

“That shows just how much demand has grown and we’re now dealing with more high-value items than ever before.”

It isn’t just pawnbroking that’s growing, with second-hand luxury sales also soaring.

Second-hand luxury sales at Prestige have increased by more than 60% in two years to £10m annually.

James said: “The other side of the business has exploded as well.

“People still want beautiful watches, jewellery and handbags, but they’re becoming more careful about how they buy them.

“Buying pre-loved can mean getting the same Rolex, Cartier or Hermès piece for less than buying new, and people are far more comfortable doing that than they were a few years ago.

“We’re seeing people use the pre-owned market at both ends. Some are getting money from the luxury items they already own, while others are coming through the doors looking to buy them.”

Prestige’s profits have grown considerably faster than turnover, with pre-tax profit rising by approximately 115% compared with a 54% increase in revenue over two years.

James said: “These are the strongest figures we’ve ever had.

“Pawnbroking is one of the oldest businesses in the world, but the way people use it is changing.

“People are much more aware of what their possessions are worth and, with household finances being squeezed, I think more are going to look at what they already own.”

Constantinou currently runs eight Prestige Pawnbrokers stores across the country, with branches in Hatton Garden, Gracechurch Street in the City of London, Chelsea, Richmond, Weybridge, Guildford, Loughton and Manchester.

The business, which brought a premium approach to the traditional pawnbroking industry, has become a multi-million-pound enterprise.

Historic Asbestos Exposure Remains a Major Health Threat, Shield Services Group Warns

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Historic Asbestos Exposure Remains a Major Health Threat, Shield Services Group Warns

BRISTOL, UK. September 23rd, 2026 – Decades after asbestos use was prohibited, its effects continue to be felt across Great Britain, with asbestos-related disease accounting for thousands of deaths each year. Shield Services Group is urging organisations responsible for older buildings to remain vigilant about the risks posed by asbestos-containing materials.

Around 5,000 people die from asbestos-related diseases every year in Great Britain, according to HSE estimates. By comparison, 126 workers were killed in work-related accidents in 2025/26. The figures underline the scale of occupational diseases that can remain hidden for many years. In 2024, 2,146 people died from mesothelioma, a cancer closely linked to asbestos exposure, with many cases connected to exposure that took place decades earlier.

Asbestos was banned in the UK in 1999, yet asbestos-containing materials can still be found throughout older commercial, industrial and public buildings. They can become hazardous when damaged or disturbed during maintenance, refurbishment and demolition projects.

The statistics cover different periods and categories, but the disparity highlights the extensive and long-lasting consequences of historic asbestos exposure.

Paul Lillis, Asbestos Managing Director at Shield Services Group, said: “The fact that thousands of people continue to lose their lives to asbestos-related disease every year shows why we cannot afford to become complacent. Asbestos may have been banned decades ago, but it remains within buildings across the country and must continue to be identified and managed properly.”

HSE figures demonstrate how dramatically Britain has improved its record on fatal workplace accidents over the longer term. The 126 worker deaths recorded in 2025/26 compared with 217 twenty years earlier and 495 in 1981. However, occupational diseases caused by historic exposure remain a major challenge.

Asbestos is a particularly difficult legacy because diseases associated with exposure typically take many years to develop. HSE says widespread historical use of asbestos-containing products, particularly within the post-war building industry, contributed to the substantial number of asbestos-related disease deaths seen in Britain today.

Evlo recognised as finalist for technology-led collections innovation

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Evlo recognised as finalist for technology-led collections innovation

UK consumer lender shortlisted after using AI to turn thousands of customer journeys into practical standards for frontline collections

LONDON, UK. September 22nd, 2026: Evlo, the UK consumer lender specialising in personal loans for people underserved by mainstream credit, has been shortlisted for Best Use of Technology at the Collections and Vulnerability Awards 2026, organised by Credit Strategy. The recognition follows Evlo’s work with CourtCorrect to use AI analysis of customer journeys to identify opportunities for stronger collections practices and translate those insights into frontline tools.

The awards celebrate the organisations, teams and individuals raising standards across collections and customer vulnerability. This year’s shortlist showcases the breadth of work taking place across the sector, from teams delivering better outcomes for vulnerable customers to organisations embracing new approaches, technology and best practice in collections.

The winners will be announced on 8 October 2026 in Manchester, where professionals from financial services, utilities and telecoms will gather to recognise the resilience, innovation and leadership making a meaningful difference for customers.

Evlo’s shortlisted entry recognises its work with CourtCorrect, the AI-powered compliance and complaints platform. Together they analysed around 2,100 complete customer journeys across two months, connecting calls, notes, customer history, affordability data, payments, arrangements, correspondence and outcomes into a single evidence base. Rather than asking the technology to confirm that existing processes were working, Evlo used it to challenge assumptions, surface patterns that were not visible through manual review and identify what needed to be asked next.

The analysis revealed that customer engagement on its own did not always translate into controlled account progression, and that the strongest outcomes shared clear characteristics: specific commitments on amount, date and method, arrangements aligned to income cycles, and a clearly owned next step. Evlo converted these findings into a pocket-sized collections playbook now carried by every collector, supported by aligned coaching cards for supervisors, refreshed training and first-line assurance checks against the same standard. The approach has been rolled out across Evlo’s collections operations in the UK and South Africa.

Sam Foster, Head of Marketing and Communications at Evlo, said: “Being shortlisted alongside some of the most respected names in the industry is a real credit to our collections team and to CourtCorrect. What made this project different was that we did not use AI to tick boxes. We used it to ask better questions of our own data and then put the answers directly into the hands of the people talking to our customers every day. That is where technology earns its place, when it changes what happens on the frontline.”

The full shortlist is available at: www.creditstrategy.co.uk.

Cirrus Assessment and Examplary Bring AI-Powered Exam Authoring Directly into Cirrus

News Team
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Cirrus Assessment and Examplary Bring AI-Powered Exam Authoring Directly into Cirrus

Existing course materials can now be transformed into a complete draft exam for authors to review, refine and approve within the familiar Cirrus workflow.

UTRECHT, NETHERLANDS. September 22nd, 2026 – Cirrus Assessment has partnered with Examplary, an EU-based company specialising in education and assessment, to integrate Examplary’s AI-powered authoring technology directly into the Cirrus platform. The integration enables assessment authors to use existing course and learning materials as the basis for generating draft exam content without leaving their established Cirrus workflow.

Creating assessment items is often one of the most demanding stages of exam development, requiring both significant time and input from subject matter experts. With the new integration, authors can upload existing course or learning materials and use Examplary to produce a complete first draft within Cirrus. The generated questions are based on the supplied source material, while authors can define the scale and taxonomy appropriate to the assessment. For open-ended questions, the technology can also produce rubrics, scoring criteria and marking guidance. Material uploaded through the integration remains within the EU and is not used to train AI models.

Generated questions are added to Cirrus as standard assessment items, meaning the platform retains the full record of their creation, editing and approval. Assessment teams can therefore continue using their existing review and approval procedures without transferring content between different systems or adopting a separate authoring process. Subject matter experts retain responsibility for the final assessment while being able to concentrate their time on evaluating accuracy, relevance and quality.

“Our customers run exams that decide careers and qualifications, so authoring cannot come at the cost of oversight. There are plenty of AI tools that will generate questions. We chose Examplary because it is built for education and assessment, and because it works from your own syllabus and source materials. Think of it as an assistant that prepares a first draft. Everything it produces is transparent and editable on Cirrus, which keeps authors’ judgement and subject expertise at the centre of the process,” said Jeroen Fransen, Head of Product at Cirrus Assessment.

“Institutions see the potential of AI-assisted authoring immediately. Their first question is always what happens to the material they upload. It stays in their own workspace, encrypted, in Europe, and none of it is ever used to train models. For us, building for education means building for trust,” said Tobias de Graaf, co-founder of Examplary.

For certification providers, universities, awarding bodies and other organisations managing large assessment programmes, the integration provides a way to move more quickly from source material to content that is ready for expert review. The size of an item bank has traditionally limited approaches such as linear on-the-fly testing, where candidates receive different exam forms assembled from a substantial pool of questions. The ability to generate items at scale could make this approach more practical for assessment teams that previously lacked the resources to maintain sufficiently large item banks.

The integration is now available to Cirrus customers, with setup coordinated through their existing Cirrus contact.

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