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If your business holds Cyber Essentials certification — or is planning to get it — something important changes on Monday...
23/04/2026

If your business holds Cyber Essentials certification — or is planning to get it — something important changes on Monday 27 April.

The NCSC and IASME have updated the scheme to v3.3. From that date, failing to enable multi-factor authentication on any cloud service that supports it is an automatic certification failure. No exceptions.

That means Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, your accounting software, your project tool, your CRM — if MFA is available and you haven't turned it on, you fail. Even if everything else is compliant.
There are also tighter rules on how quickly security updates must be applied, and the definition of which cloud services count as "in scope" has been expanded significantly.

For UK businesses that need Cyber Essentials to bid for government contracts or work with larger clients, this is worth checking before Monday.

We've published a full breakdown of what changed and why. Link in the first comment.

If you run a limited company in the UK, two things changed in the last few weeks that are easy to confuse — and getting ...
23/04/2026

If you run a limited company in the UK, two things changed in the last few weeks that are easy to confuse — and getting them wrong is costly.

First: the free HMRC and Companies House online portal for filing Corporation Tax returns closed on 31 March 2026. From 1 April, commercial software is mandatory for every UK limited company filing a CT600. Not optional. Not MTD. Just gone.

Second: Making Tax Digital for Income Tax started on 6 April 2026 for individuals with qualifying income above £50,000. Director salary and dividends don't count — but rental income does. If you're a director with a buy-to-let portfolio in your personal name, you may already be in scope.

We've published a full guide covering both changes, who is affected, key dates through to 2028, and what you need to do.
Link in the first comment.

If your business uses AI to screen job applicants, the ICO has something to say about it — and it published a report las...
21/04/2026

If your business uses AI to screen job applicants, the ICO has something to say about it — and it published a report last month making clear that most UK employers aren't meeting the standard.

The issue isn't the tools. It's the process around them.

Under UK data protection law, if AI is making substantive hiring decisions, candidates have the right to know, the right to challenge, and the right to a genuine human review. "A person looked at the AI's shortlist" doesn't count as meaningful oversight.

The rules changed in February 2026 under the Data (Use and Access) Act — there's more flexibility now, but only if proper safeguards are in place.

We've broken down what the ICO now requires, which AI recruitment tools work within the rules, and the four questions to ask any vendor before you sign.

Link in the first comment.

If your finance team is still chasing receipts at month-end, you're not alone — and there are tools built specifically t...
20/04/2026

If your finance team is still chasing receipts at month-end, you're not alone — and there are tools built specifically to fix that.
The challenge is picking the right one.

Expense management software splits into two models. Card-first platforms like Pleo and Soldo give finance control before spend happens — limits set per employee, receipts captured at the point of purchase, no chasing required.

Receipt-based platforms like Zoho Expense, Expensify, and Webexpenses handle the other side — automating submission, approval, and reimbursement for teams that already spend but struggle with claim admin.

We reviewed five platforms for UK teams: HMRC mileage compliance, VAT receipt capture, GBP pricing, and Xero/QuickBooks/Sage integration all checked.

Full guide in the first comment.

If you run a UK startup or scale-up, or you invest in early-stage UK companies, there are some significant tax relief ch...
17/04/2026

If you run a UK startup or scale-up, or you invest in early-stage UK companies, there are some significant tax relief changes that came into force earlier this month.

From 6 April 2026, the EMI share option scheme expanded significantly — the gross assets threshold quadrupled from £30m to £120m, meaning around 1,800 more UK companies can now offer employees tax-advantaged share options.

The EIS and VCT investment limits also doubled, and the UK Listings Relief gives newly listed companies a three-year exemption from Stamp Duty Reserve Tax.

One change that drew criticism: VCT income tax relief was cut from 30% to 20%, while EIS stays at 30%. Worth reviewing if you hold VCT investments.

Full breakdown of every change, who it affects, and our assessment of whether the package delivers — link in the first comment.

If your business uses AI tools — whether that's a writing assistant, a data tool, or anything built on a large language ...
16/04/2026

If your business uses AI tools — whether that's a writing assistant, a data tool, or anything built on a large language model — there's a UK legal development you need to be aware of.

The government published a major report on AI and copyright law in March 2026. After a year of consultation, it concluded... nothing. No new law was passed. The legal position for AI training in the UK is unchanged. There's no clear framework for when AI companies can legally use copyrighted material, and no deadline for when one will arrive.

For businesses buying AI tools, that means the risk doesn't sit only with the vendor. It can flow through to you via contracts and indemnity terms.

We broke down what happened, what it means in practice, and what to watch before May 2026 — link in the first comment.

If you're running a UK business on Microsoft 365, you're going to be asked about Copilot soon — either by your IT provid...
16/04/2026

If you're running a UK business on Microsoft 365, you're going to be asked about Copilot soon — either by your IT provider trying to upsell you, or by a staff member who's already using it unofficially.

Here's the honest picture.

Copilot costs around £13.80/user/month on top of your existing M365 plan — and that rate goes away on 1 July 2026 when Microsoft restructures its pricing. After that, costs rise.

Google Gemini, on the other hand, is already included in Google Workspace Business Standard at no extra charge.

For a 10-person team: Google costs roughly £1,416 per year. Microsoft with Copilot costs roughly £2,784 at current rates. Different budgets, different decisions.

The real question is which platform your team already uses. If you're a Microsoft house, Copilot is worth serious consideration before the July deadline. If you're on Google Workspace, Gemini is already paid for — start using it.

We broke down the full comparison — UK pricing, data residency, and a plain verdict — in the first comment.

If you're self-employed or a landlord in the UK, there's a new tax requirement that started this month you need to know ...
16/04/2026

If you're self-employed or a landlord in the UK, there's a new tax requirement that started this month you need to know about.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax went live on 6 April 2026. If your income from self-employment or property is above £50,000, you now need to file quarterly updates to HMRC using approved accounting software.

The good news: some of the best options are free or very affordable.

If you bank with NatWest, RBS, or Mettle — FreeAgent is completely free for you. Full compliance, no monthly fee.

If you need something on a budget, Zoho Books has a free plan that covers the quarterly filing requirement.

We compared five HMRC-approved tools on UK pricing and real-world suitability — Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent, Zoho Books, and Sage. Full comparison, plain verdict, no jargon — link in the first comment.

If your team is still sharing passwords over email — or reusing the same login across multiple business tools — that's a...
13/04/2026

If your team is still sharing passwords over email — or reusing the same login across multiple business tools — that's a breach waiting to happen. And it's one of the cheapest security problems to fix.

We put together a plain-English guide comparing five business password managers for UK companies: 1Password, NordPass, Bitwarden, Keeper, and RoboForm. All reviewed on real GBP pricing, UK GDPR compliance, and which type of business each one actually suits.

Quick summary:

1Password — strongest for teams using Okta or Microsoft Entra ID

NordPass — best value for SMEs that don't need enterprise SSO

Bitwarden — open-source with a self-hosting option for data sovereignty

Keeper — built for regulated sectors (finance, legal, healthcare)

RoboForm — most affordable for very small teams

Also worth knowing: from 27 April 2026, Cyber Essentials v3.3 requires MFA switched on across all cloud services — it's an automatic fail if it's not. A business password manager with MFA support makes that much easier to manage.

Full guide — pricing, data residency, and our recommendation for each business type — is in the first comment.

If you invest in Venture Capital Trusts — or have been considering it — there is a significant change from 6 April to be...
10/04/2026

If you invest in Venture Capital Trusts — or have been considering it — there is a significant change from 6 April to be aware of.

VCT income tax relief has dropped from 30% to 20%. It is the first cut to the rate in nearly two decades, and it reduces the maximum upfront tax saving on a £200,000 investment from £60,000 to £40,000.

EIS income tax relief remains unchanged at 30% — meaning the two schemes now sit at different rates for the first time.

We have put together a full breakdown covering what changed, who is affected, and what the VCT vs EIS relief gap means for investors in the 2026/27 tax year — link in the first comment.

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