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Pathfinders, an UK executive search and board advisory firms led by Bruce and Penelope Wright is reported to have suffered a significant cyberattack in which intruders accessed and exfiltrated confidential candidate records, including succession plans and compensation data tied to some of its largest corporate clients.

The breach is notable less for its scale than for the sensitivity of what was taken. Executive search firms sit on some of the most closely guarded information in corporate life — confidential dossiers on who might next run a major company, what they are paid, and which directors are quietly being moved on. A leak of that material strikes directly at the discretion these firms sell.

What is known

Although significant amounts of data from Pathfinder has been published on the darkweb, the company has done no disclosure of the breach and none of the affected clients and individuals have been notified.

People familiar with the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss it, said the intrusion appeared to have begun with compromised credentials which were then used to reach the firm’s candidate-management system. The attackers are believed to have had access for several weeks before detection — a dwell time the firm has not publicly confirmed.

A ransomware group operating under the name “BlackVellum” has claimed responsibility on the dark web. Whether a ransom had been demanded or paid is not known. The claim could not be independently verified, and attribution at this stage remains tentative.

Whose data was exposed

The exposed material include candidate CVs, references, psychometric and leadership assessments, interview notes, and compensation details, as well as confidential board succession plans prepared for client companies.

For candidates, the exposure carries a particular sting: there is more than one senior cybersecurity executive whose personal data is now in circulation on the dark web and several other candidates had off-market conversations their current employers do not know about. For client companies, the leak risks revealing internal succession thinking — including which incumbents are being lined up to replace, and on what terms.

Regulatory and legal exposure

There is no indication that Pathfinder had notified the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK’s data protection regulator. Under UK GDPR, organisations must report a qualifying personal-data breach within 72 hours of becoming aware of it, and can face fines of up to 4 percent of global annual turnover for serious failings. Legal specialists said the firm could also face claims from affected individuals and contractual disputes with clients whose data-handling expectations were not met.

The incident is likely to draw scrutiny of what security assurances Pathfinder gave clients in its engagement contracts, and whether its actual controls matched them — a gap that has proven costly for other professional-services firms.

What the experts say

Security analysts said the case fits a wider pattern in which attackers increasingly target professional-services firms not for their own sake but as a route to their high-value clients. “A search firm is a concentration point,” one cyber risk consultant said. “Compromise one boutique and you potentially gain intelligence on dozens of major companies at once.”

Others pointed to the supply-chain entry point as the recurring weak link. Smaller advisory firms often hold exceptionally sensitive data while running leaner security operations than the corporations they serve, making them an attractive target.

What remains unresolved

Key questions are still open: how the credentials were obtained, exactly how long the attackers were inside, the full list of affected clients, and whether the stolen files will be published.

Manchester has been named the leading UK city outside London to start a business, according to new research from National Women’s Enterprise Week, in findings that point to the growing pull of regional “hidden hubs” for women building companies away from the capital.

The survey of 1,000 female entrepreneurs found that 41 per cent named Manchester as either the best or second-best UK city outside London to launch a venture, with one in four (27 per cent) putting it in top spot. Birmingham followed on 14 per cent, with Liverpool on 5 per cent.

The picture that emerges is of women-led enterprise increasingly being built beyond the M25, with founders citing lower costs, greater flexibility and stronger regional opportunity as reasons to stay put. It is a trend already visible elsewhere in the country, with female entrepreneurship booming in the North East as well as across the North West.

National Women’s Enterprise Week was founded by Alison Cork MBE as a UK-wide campaign to help close the gender gap in business ownership. Around one in five UK businesses is currently woman-led, a figure that has climbed from 16 per cent in 2018 but still lags well behind the ambition set out in the government-backed Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship, which set a target of nearly 600,000 more women founders by 2030.

The research, carried out by Sapio Research, set out to test whether funding, visibility and networks are keeping pace with where women-led businesses are actually being built. While London remains a critical centre for finance and dealmaking, the findings suggest that London-centric assumptions about growth risk disadvantaging founders who are choosing, deliberately, to build viable businesses elsewhere.

More than half (52 per cent) of women entrepreneurs agree that building a business outside London offers greater opportunity, while the same proportion say lower costs are among the top benefits of basing a company beyond the capital.

Yet the old hierarchy has not gone away. Nearly six in ten (58 per cent) agree that businesses based in London are taken more seriously than those outside it, and 61 per cent believe a London address signals that a business is well-established or successful. Perception, in other words, has not caught up with practice.

If anything, that bias runs deeper among those writing the cheques. A separate survey of 200 business investors who have backed UK firms found that 78 per cent agree London-based businesses are taken more seriously, while 80 per cent say a London address signals success. More than half (52 per cent) have at some point required or encouraged a company they invest in to relocate to the capital.

Among women founders based outside London, more than a third (37 per cent) say they have felt pressure to move in order to grow. The majority, though, have no wish to leave: 76 per cent say that, if funding, visibility and opportunity were equal across the UK, they would still choose to base their business exactly where it is today.

That tension, between where capital expects success to happen and where founders are choosing to build it, sits at the heart of the funding debate. It is a theme that runs through wider concerns about the gender finance gap, including evidence that women founders secure 25 per cent less than men at exit.

Alison Cork, founder of National Women’s Enterprise Week, said Manchester topping the list was significant, but that the bigger story lay in what it revealed about the changing geography of British enterprise.

“Women are building ambitious businesses in cities, towns and communities across the country, not just in London,” she said. “The opportunity is already there, but visibility, networks and investment have not always kept pace.

“What this research reveals is a tension between where founders see opportunity and where many people still believe success is supposed to happen. We need to stop thinking of regional growth as an alternative to London and start recognising it as a major driver of the UK’s entrepreneurial economy.”

That argument aligns with the direction of national policy. The government’s Women-Led High-Growth Enterprise Taskforce has likewise pressed for investment and support to reach female founders wherever they are based, rather than concentrating opportunity in the South East.

The research also underlines how much support remains out of reach. Only 35 per cent of women entrepreneurs say they have all the access and backing they need, while 42 per cent say they have some but could do with more. A lack of funding and low visibility are the joint top challenges founders face in growing a business from their current location, each cited by 27 per cent, echoing the squeeze that has seen some female entrepreneurs take on second jobs as 2025 pressures grow.

The findings are being released to coincide with National Women’s Enterprise Week’s Own It: Speed Mentoring for Female Founders event on 19 June 2026, which is built around improving access to practical support, mentoring, networks and visibility for women founders across the UK.

Amy Ingham

Amy is a newly qualified journalist specialising in business journalism at Business Matters with responsibility for news content for what is now the UK’s largest print and online source of current business news.

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Americans’ contributions to their 401(k) savings accounts hit record highs in 2025, according to a new report from Vanguard. 

Among employees with active 401(k) accounts in both December 2024 and December 2025, median account balances increased by 27%, according to the report, titled How America Saves 2026. 

Of those same participants, 94% saw an increase in their account balances, reflecting both a rise in contributions and strong returns from markets, according to the report. 

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People review tax forms on a laptop computer. (iStock)

The average account balance for a Vanguard 401(k) was $167,970 in 2025, a near $20,000 increase from the 2024 average of $148,153. The median account balance, meanwhile, also increased year over year, rising from $38,176 in 2024 to $44,115 in 2025. 

One factor the report cites as a potential impact on the higher contributions is a shift in automatic employee enrollment. 

BEWARE THE TICKING TIME BOMB HIDING IN YOUR 401(K)

Some employers have shifted to automatically enrolling employees in 401k plans, with the share of Vanguard-defined contribution plans using automatic enrollment sitting at 61% in 2025 compared with just 10% in 2006. 

By reframing an employee’s decision into opting out, rather than voluntarily opting in, employers encourage significantly stronger participation in retirement plans, according to the report. 

“With an autopilot design, individuals are automatically enrolled into the plan, their deferral rates are automatically increased each year, and their contributions are automatically invested in a balanced investment strategy. In such a plan, the decision to save is framed negatively: ‘Quit the plan if you’d like.’ And ’doing nothing; leads to participation in the plan and investment of assets in a long-term retirement portfolio,” the report states.

American flags on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, on Aug. 18, 2025. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Employees deferred a similar percentage of their total incomes into plans in 2025 when compared with 2024, though deferral rates have broadly trended up in the last decade.

LABOR DEPARTMENT’S PROPOSAL IS A ‘HUGE STEP’ FOR YOUR 401(K), BLACKROCK’S NEFOUSE SAYS

The average deferral was 7.6% of an employee’s income in 2025, the same as it was in 2024, per the report. The median rate was 6.6% in 2025 compared with 6.7% in 2024. 

A quarter of all participants had a deferral rate of over 10% of their incomes. That compared with just 20% of participants deferring more than a tenth of their income in 2016, the report noted.  

A younger person reviews bills on their desk and inputs them into a computer. (Getty Images)

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The report wasn’t all positive. Hardship withdrawals increased for the fourth straight year, rising to 6% in 2025 from 5% the previous year. While the report cited potential pressures from inflation and other economic challenges, it also noted that a recent streamlining in the process to apply for hardship withdrawals has “made retirement assets more accessible in times of need.”

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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Scotland will bid to make World Cup history Friday night when they face Morocco at Gillette Stadium. Never before has Scotland reached the knockout stages of a major tournament, but Steve Clarke’s side will progress to the last 32 with a victory over a Moroccan team many consider among the tournament’s most dangerous dark horses.

The Stakes for Scotland

Scotland’s first game was certainly their easiest on paper, against the 83rd-ranked Haiti. John McGinn scored the only goal of the game, taking Scotland to the top of the group. That result has set up arguably the most significant 90 minutes in the modern history of Scottish football, with a win Friday capable of securing a knockout-stage berth the nation has never previously achieved at a major tournament.

A Dangerous Opponent

Morocco enters this match as one of the most respected sides in the tournament, having reached the semifinals of the previous World Cup. Morocco, now eighth in the world, are dark horses for the tournament after reaching the semifinals four years ago. Even a point from this game would be a bonus for Clarke and his squad.

That assessment reflects the scale of the challenge facing Scotland, even with the considerable confidence the team carries after its opening win. Steve Clarke has been candid about embracing Scotland’s position as the underdog against a side widely regarded as one of the tournament’s most complete teams.

A Test Against a Familiar Foe From the Past

While Friday’s meeting represents new territory in terms of the stakes involved, it is not the first time these nations have crossed paths on the world stage, with both having figured in the same group during Scotland’s previous World Cup appearance. Scotland’s run through this group stage continues a pattern of facing storied opposition; their final group match will pit them against Brazil, another side they faced in their last World Cup group stage, back in 1998. Back then, Brazil won 2-1 to kick off their tournament.

Broadcast Details

Scotland’s World Cup opener against Haiti and blockbuster final group-stage clash against Brazil will be broadcast on the BBC, while their game against Morocco in Boston will be shown on ITV. The match kicks off at Gillette Stadium at 11 p.m. GMT on Friday.

Should Scotland progress from the group stage, the BBC will have three of the top four picks in the round of 16 and three of the top five picks in the round of 32, reflecting the broadcaster’s significant rights investment in following the team’s potential knockout-stage journey.

Betting Markets Lean Toward Morocco

Oddsmakers have installed Morocco as the favorite heading into the match, reflecting both the side’s pedigree and its run to the semifinals in the previous tournament. A bet of $100 would win $522 total if Scotland wins, while a bet of $138 would win $238 total if Morocco wins, underlining the gap in perceived favoritism between the two sides despite Scotland’s perfect start to the tournament.

Group C Standings Entering the Match

Scotland entered the match with a record of one win, no draws, no losses, and three points, while Morocco sat with no wins, one draw, no losses, and one point. The betting line for the match had Morocco as a 1.5-goal favorite, with the over/under set at 2.5 total goals.

A Squad Built Around Continuity

Scotland heads into the match with a roster constructed around continuity from their World Cup qualifying campaign and a clear identity established under Clarke’s management. The squad includes Scott McTominay, Ross Stewart, and Craig Gordon among the 26 players selected, giving the team a blend of Premier League and continental experience to call upon against a technically gifted Moroccan side.

Concerns Beyond the Pitch

Off the field, Scottish supporters have faced their own set of challenges navigating the logistics of following the team across the United States during this expanded, 48-team tournament. Reports have highlighted growing concerns among traveling fans over the cost of domestic transport between World Cup host cities, prompting Clarke himself to publicly caution supporters against taking on excessive debt simply to attend matches in person.

In a lighter footnote tied to the team’s presence in New England, Massachusetts officials moved to formally “legalize” haggis ahead of the tournament, a symbolic nod to the thousands of Scottish supporters expected to descend on the region for the match.

The Broader Context for Group C

Friday’s meeting in Boston represents the clash between the top two sides currently positioned in Group C, following each team’s opening result earlier in the tournament. With Brazil having played to a draw against Morocco in their own opener, and Haiti having pushed Scotland closer than many expected before ultimately falling 1-0, the group has already demonstrated a level of competitiveness that makes Friday’s result difficult to project with full confidence.

A victory for Scotland would not only deliver the country’s first-ever appearance in a major tournament knockout stage, but would also place significant pressure on both Morocco and Brazil heading into the final round of group matches. For Morocco, even a draw would keep the team’s own knockout-stage path firmly intact, given the side’s status as one of the pre-tournament dark horses to watch.

Regardless of Friday’s outcome, Scotland’s campaign will be decided in its final group match against Brazil in Miami on June 24 — a fixture that, depending on how Friday’s result unfolds, could end up determining not just Scotland’s fate, but the final composition of the entire group heading into the round of 32.