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Hedging Against Currency Volatility in a Shifting Global Market

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Trade body launches £1.1 million voucher fund to push export drive

For British exporters, the era of predictable margins is effectively over. As we settle into 2026, the compounding pressures of new trans-Atlantic trade tariffs and the erratic fluctuation of Sterling are forcing Finance Directors to tear up their old operational playbooks.

In this unforgiving environment, relying on legacy banking infrastructure to handle cross-border payments is no longer just an inefficiency—it is an active threat to profitability. To maintain competitiveness in non-traditional markets, switching to a dedicated multi currency business account is becoming the first line of defence for forward-thinking SMEs.

The “Hidden Tax” on British Exports

The core problem facing UK businesses isn’t just the exchange rate headline figure; it is the friction and opacity involved in moving money through the traditional banking system. For decades, High Street banks have treated foreign exchange (FX) as a profit centre rather than a utility.

Consider a Nottingham-based manufacturer importing components from Shenzhen or exporting services to Berlin. The “standard” bank spread of 2.5% to 3.5% on every transaction acts as a hidden tax on growth. On a £50,000 invoice, a 3% spread erases £1,500 from the bottom line—often wiping out the net margin gain from a hard-won contract negotiation.

In 2026, when supply chain inflation is already squeezing profits, donating percentage points to banking intermediaries is unjustifiable. The disparity between the interbank rate and what an SME actually pays often determines whether a growing export division is profitable or merely breaking even.

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The Strategy of Natural Hedging

The most effective strategy for the coming year is operational diversification. With the US market facing potential protectionist hurdles, UK firms are aggressively pivoting East—towards the UAE, Singapore, and emerging Asian markets. However, venturing into these territories brings complex currency headaches that simple spot-transfers cannot solve.

This is where the concept of “natural hedging” becomes critical. Instead of constantly converting revenue back into Sterling, smart businesses are keeping funds in their native currency to pay local suppliers later.

To execute this, the operational agility of a modern multi currency business account becomes the differentiator. By holding balances in local currencies—be it AED, SGD, or EUR—businesses can pay suppliers like a local entity. For instance, revenue earned in Euros from a client in France can be held in a Euro-denominated IBAN and used directly to pay a logistics partner in Germany three weeks later. This completely eliminates the FX risk and conversion fees on those funds, a tactic that was previously available only to large multinationals with complex treasury departments.

Speed as a Supply Chain Currency

Beyond the mathematics of exchange rates, there is the issue of velocity. Cash flow remains king, but in the volatile climate of 2026, liquidity speed is queen.

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Waiting three to five days for a SWIFT transfer to clear is an operational lag that modern supply chains can no longer tolerate. If your competitor in Germany can settle an invoice with a supplier in Vietnam instantly using fintech rails, and you are stuck waiting for a correspondent bank in New York to approve a wire transfer, you are at a disadvantage. Suppliers in high-demand markets prioritise buyers who pay fast and in the correct currency.

Modern fintech solutions have normalised instant or same-day settlement, even across borders. A payment that arrives instantly, in the supplier’s local currency, without intermediary bank deductions, builds immense trust. In a supply chain disrupted by geopolitical tension, being the “easy-to-work-with” partner often secures priority status for inventory and shipping.

The CFO’s Audit Checklist for 2026

If your business is still operating with a single GBP-denominated account for international trade, your infrastructure is likely leaking value. It is time to audit your banking stack against the realities of the current market:

  • Audit Your Real Effective Rate: Don’t just look at the fee per transfer. Compare the exchange rate your bank gives you against the live market mid-market rate. Calculate the annualised cost of that spread across your total export volume.
  • Capability to Hold Foreign Revenue: If you receive payment in US Dollars or Euros, does your bank force an immediate auto-conversion to Sterling? If so, you are losing the ability to hedge naturally.
  • Deployment Speed: If a sudden opportunity arises in a new market—say, Brazil or Saudi Arabia—can you generate local account details instantly to receive funds, or does it require weeks of paperwork?

The economy of 2026 rewards precision and speed. While British SMEs cannot control global tariffs or the whims of the forex market, they can control their financial infrastructure. Moving away from rigid legacy banking towards flexible fintech solutions is the smartest, most cost-effective hedge a business can make this year.

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A hit of Doughpamine

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A hit of Doughpamine

Jessica Entzel Nolan, a former Michelin Guide inspector, is formulating gourmet cookie dough in resealable packaging. 

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Verley Series A raises $38 million

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Verley Series A raises $38 million

Company is expanding into the United States in second half of 2026.

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Raymond James reiterates Scholar Rock stock Strong Buy on debt facility

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Raymond James reiterates Scholar Rock stock Strong Buy on debt facility

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Kongsberg Automotive ASA 2025 Q4 – Results – Earnings Call Presentation (OTCMKTS:KGAUF) 2026-03-03

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OneWater Marine Inc. (ONEW) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

This article was written by

Seeking Alpha’s transcripts team is responsible for the development of all of our transcript-related projects. We currently publish thousands of quarterly earnings calls per quarter on our site and are continuing to grow and expand our coverage. The purpose of this profile is to allow us to share with our readers new transcript-related developments. Thanks, SA Transcripts Team

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The 5 White Label CBD Brands Helping Entrepreneurs Launch Faster

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The 5 White Label CBD Brands Helping Entrepreneurs Launch Faster

Breaking into the CBD market does not have to involve months of product development, complex compliance preparation, or large upfront manufacturing costs. For many entrepreneurs, the quickest route to market is partnering with a dependable white-label supplier who can manage formulation, testing, and production while you focus on branding and sales.

The white label CBD sector has expanded rapidly across Europe, giving startups access to professional-grade products that are ready to sell under their own brand. From high-quality oils to gummies, creams, and capsules, the right manufacturing partner can significantly reduce time to launch.

In this list, we explore five standout white-label CBD partners helping founders launch faster.

Essentia Pura

Essentia Pura

occupies a leading position in the white-label CBD market for entrepreneurs seeking speed without compromising on quality.

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The company offers a comprehensive service model that allows founders to move from idea to market-ready product efficiently. Their product range includes CBD oils, capsules, topical products, and gummies suitable for private labelling.

Key advantages include:

  • Regulatory-ready formulations for UK and EU markets
  • Third-party laboratory testing and Certificates of Analysis
  • Competitive minimum order quantities
  • Branding, packaging, and compliance guidance
  • Proven, consumer-tested product formulations

For entrepreneurs who want to launch a CBD brand with minimal technical complexity, Essentia Pura operates as a practical production partner rather than simply a supplier.

Greenmotiv

Greenmotiv is particularly popular with smaller start-ups and boutique wellness brands.

The company focuses on flexibility, allowing entrepreneurs to begin with smaller production batches. This approach is useful for founders who wish to test market response before scaling inventory.

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Highlights include:

  • Low minimum order quantities
  • Broad-spectrum and full-spectrum CBD options
  • Assistance with design and regulatory documentation
  • Wellness-focused product positioning

Greenmotiv is well-suited to niche CBD brands and businesses experimenting with market positioning.

Nordic Oil

As one of Europe’s well-known CBD consumer brands, Nordic Oil also offers white-label manufacturing services.

Their advantage lies in retail experience. Since they operate a successful CBD brand themselves, their formulations are developed with consumer usability and product consistency in mind.

Entrepreneurs often choose Nordic Oil for:

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  • Retail-tested product formulations
  • Optional marketing and design assistance
  • Efficient production workflows
  • Starter-friendly order volumes

Nordic Oil is a strong option for founders who value credibility and established product performance.

BRITISHCANNABIS

BRITISHCANNABIS focuses on high-quality manufacturing tailored specifically to the United Kingdom’s regulatory landscape.

For businesses targeting British consumers, regulatory alignment is particularly valuable. Their production standards are designed to reduce compliance uncertainty when entering the UK CBD market.

Strengths include:

  • Premium product positioning suitable for retail distribution
  • Recognition for manufacturing quality within the industry
  • Strong emphasis on safety and regulatory standards
  • Professional-grade production facilities

BRITISHCANNABIS is especially suitable for brands planning to sell through physical retailers or premium wellness channels.

HexaPartners

HexaPartners offers one of the more flexible product development approaches within the white-label CBD sector.

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Entrepreneurs looking to build a broad wellness brand rather than focus on a single product line may find their service model particularly useful.

They provide:

  • Multiple product formats, including oils, capsules, and creams
  • Custom formulation options
  • Support for niche brand concepts
  • Flexible manufacturing arrangements

HexaPartners works well for businesses planning long-term product portfolio expansion.

Rounding It All Up

Launching a CBD brand is considerably easier when working with a reliable manufacturing partner. White-label suppliers remove many of the technical and operational challenges, allowing entrepreneurs to concentrate on marketing, customer acquisition, and brand development.

Ultimately, choosing the right partner involves balancing product quality, compliance support, manufacturing flexibility, and long-term business objectives.

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Uncertainty remains the primal force impacting ingredients markets

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Uncertainty remains the primal force impacting ingredients markets

Geopolitical events, domestic policy disruptions keep food industry in flux.

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Dollar, Swiss Franc Rally as Middle East Conflict Boosts Safe Havens

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Dollar, Swiss Franc Rally as Middle East Conflict Boosts Safe Havens

The dollar and Swiss franc rose sharply Monday as strikes across the Middle East encouraged investors to seek safe-haven assets.

President Trump and Israel launched military attacks on Iran at the weekend, killing a large number of Iran’s top leaders including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In response, Iran launched strikes across the Middle East.

Copyright ©2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

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OoMee scaling seaweed-powered beverage portfolio

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OoMee scaling seaweed-powered beverage portfolio

Aqua Theon raises $13 million, dedicating $5 million to its brand, OoMee.

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Papa John’s to shutter 300 ‘underperforming’ restaurants across North America by 2027

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Papa John's to shutter 300 'underperforming' restaurants across North America by 2027

Pizza chain Papa John’s said it plans to close hundreds of underperforming restaurants in North America by the end of next year.

“We have identified approximately 300 underperforming restaurants across North America that are not meeting brand expectations or lack a clear path to sustainable financial improvement, as well as locations where we can effectively transfer sales to a nearby restaurant,” Papa John’s Chief Financial Officer Ravi Thanawala said last week during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call.

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Thanawala described the locations as being primarily franchise-owned, more than a decade old and generating less than $600,000 in annual sales (AUVs). He said the majority of the restaurants will shutter by the end of 2027, with about 200 closures happening this year.

BAHAMA BREEZE TO CLOSE ALL ITS RESTAURANTS

pizza

The locations expected to close are mostly franchise-owned and more than a decade old. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“We believe these closures will further strengthen the system, increasing AUVs by at least 3% and improve franchisee health by allowing franchisees to reallocate resources towards operational excellence in their remaining restaurants and open units in priority markets,” Thanawala said.

WENDY’S TO CLOSE HUNDREDS OF RESTAURANTS AS COMPANY LOOKS TO FOCUS ON VALUE TO BOOST SALES

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Ticker Security Last Change Change %
PZZA PAPA JOHN’S INTERNATIONAL INC. 31.94 +0.59 +1.88%

He also said that the majority of the company’s restaurants worldwide have “performed well over the years and delivered strong returns for both corporate and franchise owners,” and that the strategic closure of underperforming restaurants are “among the most impactful actions we can take to improve restaurant profitability and fleet health.”

Inside of a Papa John's restaurant.

Papa John’s operated more than 3,500 restaurants in North America as of the fourth quarter of 2025. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

The company reported a 5.4% decline in same-store sales in the fourth quarter, which CEO Todd Penegor said “reflected a weak consumer backdrop and elevated promotional environment.”

THIS FAST-GROWING CHAIN SAYS ‘NO DISCOUNTS’ – AND IT’S PAYING OFF

Papa John’s operated 3,523 restaurants in North America as of the fourth quarter of 2025. It opened 96 new locations in its latest fiscal year.

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Rival pizza chain Pizza Hut also recently announced that it will close 250 locations in the U.S. through June.

pizza hut location in nyc

The closures will affect “underperforming” Pizza Hut restaurants. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Ranjith Roy, the chief financial officer of Pizza Hut’s corporate parent Yum! Brands, said during an earnings call that the closures will primarily target weaker-performing Pizza Hut restaurants as part of a broader effort to modernize the chain.

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Wall Street Lunch: Dow Plunges 1,200 Points Before Dip-Buyers Pitch In

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Wall Street Lunch: Dow Plunges 1,200 Points Before Dip-Buyers Pitch In

Abstract digital chart with arrow sign, stock market crash and trading collapse, financial crisis and economic downturn. Closing positions on exchanges. Margin call. Business concept

MF3d/iStock via Getty Images

Listen below or on the go on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

Bulls and bears battle as oil, dollar rally. (0:15) Paramount debt cut to junk. (2:39) Amazon buys George Washington University satellite campus. (2:52)

This is an abridged transcript of the podcast:

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Our top story so far, the dip-buyers and the froth-fighters are trading blows on Wall Street today.

Stocks sank at the opening bell on a global tech selloff sparked by a 7% plunge in South Korea’s Kospi — driven by double-digit declines in Samsung and SK Hynix.

The selloff deepened, and the Dow Jones (DJI) shed 1,200 points — on pace for its worst drop since Liberation Day — while the S&P 500 (SP500) hit its lowest level of 2026.

Treasury yields shot higher, with the 10-year (US10) topping 4.1%. The VIX (VIX) — the fear gauge — hit a three-month high. And gold (GLD) and silver (SLV) sank.

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That move in metals looked counterintuitive — gold usually gets a safe-haven bid.

But former J.P. Morgan strategist Marko Kolanovic has pointed out that the silver ETF (SLV), along with the South Korea equity ETF (EWY), has been acting more like a meme stock lately.

But the bears couldn’t keep up the momentum. Stocks caught a bid about an hour into trading.

At the time of recording, the major averages are down less than 1.5% at their highs of the day.

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A couple of assets, though, are trading with more conviction.

The greenback keeps catching a bid — hitting its highest level since mid-January and on pace for its strongest two-day rally in about a year. The dollar index (DXY) moved back above its 200-day moving average.

And oil prices are going parabolic — with Brent (CO1:COM) and WTI (CL1:COM) up another 7%.

Iraq has cut production by nearly 1.5M barrels per day, and that could rise to 3M if disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz continue.

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Robert Brooks, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, says there’s “a weird tendency in markets to downplay unexpected shocks when they happen.

People don’t like to look like they didn’t see it coming, so they downplay the shock and the impact, he said.

What’s happening now in oil “is absolutely massive.”

Among active stocks, Cigna (CI) slipped after the company said CEO David Cordani is retiring. He’ll be replaced by President and COO Brian Evanko on July 1.

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Evanko currently oversees Cigna’s Evernorth Health Services unit, which includes its pharmacy benefit manager, Express Scripts.

Best Buy (BBY) is up after boosting profit despite soft sales.

“Moving forward to FY27, we are excited about the momentum in our business,” CFO Matt Bilunas said. “We also expect to continue to navigate a mixed macro environment.”

Credo Technology (CRDO) is getting slammed after its Q3 beat wasn’t enough to satisfy investors given valuation.

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Needham came to the company’s defense, with analyst N. Quinn Bolton — who really does sound like a Sherlock Holmes character — saying revenue growth is being driven by Active Electrical Cable proliferation and customer diversification.

And Fitch Ratings cut Paramount Skydance’s (PSKY) corporate and long-term debt ratings to junk after the company agreed to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).

The deal is expected to leave the combined entity with roughly $79B in net debt.

In other news of notes, tired: educating humans. Wired (quite literally): powering AI bots.

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Amazon (AMZN) has struck a deal to acquire George Washington University’s Virginia Science and Technology Campus in Ashburn, Va., for about $427M.

The deal was executed through Amazon Data Services, and the price comes out to roughly $3.5M an acre for the 120-acre site.

It’s in Loudoun County — a major U.S. data center hub — and the deed allows Amazon to develop the property into a data or IT center to support its expanding cloud and AI infrastructure.

GW has the option to keep programs and services at the site for up to five years.

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And in the Wall Street Research Corner, on Monday, we told you about the Jefferies AI Risk Basket.

On the flip side, Jefferies has now updated its AI Beneficiaries Basket.

The quant team says the bullish AI basket is broadly flat this year — with trading shifting toward risks from AI disintermediation. That’s analyst speak for cutting out the middleman.

They built the basket by using AI to identify about 30 stocks with market caps above $20B that are “direct beneficiaries of the AI boom.”

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You know the big names. So here are a few that may not be on your radar: Digital Realty Trust (DLR), Monolithic Power Systems (MPWR), CoreWeave (CRWV), Microchip Technology (MCHP) and Iron Mountain (IRM).

Check out the full list here.

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