But, Roy added, the Treasury and the Department of Work and Pensions are coming back to perceived unaffordability of Westminster’s welfare budget, so we can expect new approaches to cuts and reduced entitlement. If that goes ahead, Holyrood will find itself facing further cuts in block grant.

The wavy hair products company has struck a major deal with the retail giant

An innovative haircare company launched in lockdown by a North Tyneside couple has sealed a deal that will see its products stocked by high street giant Boots. Merwave was established by Abi and Tom Reid, of Whitley Bay, five years ago after they spotted a gap in the market for hair products for people with wavy hair.

Keen to care properly for her tresses, Abi worked with teams of experts to create the formulas for products she hadn’t been able to find anywhere else. The resulting Merwave kit comprises five separate products to “help women awaken their natural waves”.

They became an instant hit, buoyed by successful online marketing and viral videos of women using the products. New products have been added to the original five-step shampoo, conditioner, wave cream, cast foam and gel kit, and all of the products are silicone, sulphate and paraben‑free, and cruelty free.

The couple gave up different careers to launch the business, with Abi leaving a marketing position at a North East housebuilder, and e-commerce specialist Tim putting his consultancy skills to use with Merwave’s viral advertising. The company now has a fulfilment centre in Gateshead shipping out orders across the UK, and it also setting up an EU warehouse.

At the moment it employs three full-time staff members as well as six freelancers. Since launch the firm has seen huge growth, from first year turnover of £1m to current sales of around £5m. And that figure is set to increase on the back of a huge deal that will see its products stocked in scores of Boots stores around the UK.

Merwave is now stocked in 215 UK Boots stores, including Eldon Square and the Metrocentre, and the pair describe the deal as a “huge pinch-me moment”. Tom initiated the deal by contacting Boots to point out that, while its shelved were well-stocked with products for curly hair, there was nothing for wavy hair – and the two hair types require different products.

Boots soon entered into talks, and the deal was struck. Abi said: “It’s a massive opportunity for us. Our big goal is to grow the number of stores we launch in, after the initial 215 stores. A key goal is for us to define the category, create it and be the leader of wavy hair.”

Tom said: “Our goal here is to really grow that. So that’s one big focus. The next big focus is expanding to the European marketplaces – hence why we’ve got a warehouse in Europe, I’m distributing around there. And then we also want to keep growing in the UK as well.”

Abi added: “This is a really big step for us. We don’t have experience in this. This isn’t our background as we’ve never been in retail. We positively avoided it for the four to five years. It only launched on Monday but we will make it work. Obviously you can see Merwave on our website, but it just feels different seeing it in Boots.”

In 2022 Abi was named as one of the UK’s most inspirational female founders. Her story impressed judges at the national Everywoman Awards which single out female entrepreneurs. She collected the Artemis Award – a category that singles out the most inspirational woman running a business trading from 18 months to three years. Sara Davies of Crafter’s Companion is a previous winner of the Artemis award.

The chief executive of PizzaExpress, the founder of MOBO Awards and the co-founder of one of Europe’s fastest-growing matcha brands are among the finalists for the 2026 Veuve Clicquot Bold Awards.

Now in its 54th year, the awards are the longest-running international honours dedicated to celebrating women in business. Founded in tribute to Madame Clicquot — who took over the Champagne house at 27 and defied the conventions of her era — the programme recognises women who combine commercial success with bold, transformative leadership.

The awards are split into two categories: the Bold Woman Award, honouring established leaders, and the Bold Future Award, spotlighting emerging entrepreneurs shaping the next generation of enterprise.

Among this year’s senior leaders is Paula MacKenzie, chief executive of PizzaExpress. Since taking the helm, MacKenzie has overseen a nationwide refurbishment programme, introduced new concepts including the PizzaExpress Pod, and expanded the brand both domestically and internationally. Under her leadership, the company has achieved record customer satisfaction levels and launched PX Records, its own record label, while raising more than £1m for charity.

Kanya King CBE, founder and CEO of the MOBO Group, is also shortlisted. Over three decades, she has grown the MOBO Awards from a niche celebration into a globally recognised cultural platform. In recent years she launched House of MOBO in South London and introduced MOBOLISE, a UK-first initiative aimed at equipping 100,000 Black talents with AI literacy and career development opportunities. The MOBO Awards mark their 30th anniversary in 2026.

Completing the trio is Smruti Sriram OBE, CEO of Bags of Ethics under parent company Supreme Creations. Sriram has positioned the business as a global leader in reusable packaging, working with brands including Dior, Harrods and Nike. Her vertically integrated supply chain model, which employs an 80% female workforce, has helped eliminate more than 30 billion single-use items worldwide while delivering consistent double-digit growth.

The Bold Future Award highlights ambitious founders building high-impact ventures.

Alisha Fredriksson, co-founder and CEO of Seabound, has developed a modular carbon capture system that can retrofit existing ships and reduce CO₂ emissions by up to 95%. In under four years, she has taken the business from concept to commercial deployment with major shipping operators, building a specialist team and securing £8.5m in funding.

Josephine Philips, founder of SOJO, has modernised the clothing repair sector by integrating proprietary technology, logistics and in-house operations. The platform now partners with brands including Ralph Lauren, Selfridges and Marks & Spencer.

Marisa Poster, co-founder of PerfectTed, rounds out the shortlist. At 28, she has helped scale the matcha-based drinks brand to a reported £50m in annual recurring revenue, with distribution in more than 30,000 retail and café locations across over 50 countries.

Previous winners of the awards include Julia Hoggett, Professor Sarah Gilbert and Anne Pitcher, reflecting the breadth of sectors represented, from finance and science to retail and culture.

Thomas Mulliez, president of Veuve Clicquot, said this year’s shortlist reflects the pioneering spirit of Madame Clicquot. “They are redefining what business can be — from tackling plastic pollution and fashion waste to cementing Black music at the heart of British culture.”

Sian Westerman, board member of the British Fashion Council and a judge for the awards, said the finalists exemplify resilience in the face of structural barriers that continue to challenge women in leadership and entrepreneurship.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony in London on 20 May, bringing together senior figures from across business, culture and industry to celebrate audacious female leadership.

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Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) shares rose 0.64% to close at $312.90 on Feb. 25, 2026, extending a strong recovery as the Google parent company continues to demonstrate accelerating revenue growth fueled by artificial intelligence advancements and surging demand for Google Cloud, even as massive capital expenditures raise questions about near-term returns.

The modest daily gain came amid elevated trading volume of nearly 30 million shares and followed a period of consolidation after the stock hit a 52-week high near $349 earlier in February. Year-to-date, Alphabet has lagged the broader market slightly but remains up more than 70% over the past 12 months, reflecting sustained investor enthusiasm for its AI leadership despite a recent pullback from peaks.

The primary catalyst remains Alphabet’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings reported Feb. 4, 2026, which showcased record performance. Consolidated revenues jumped 18% year over year to $113.8 billion, surpassing expectations, while net income rose 30% to $34.5 billion and diluted earnings per share climbed 31% to $2.82, beating consensus estimates of around $2.61. Google Services revenues increased 14% to $95.9 billion, driven by 17% growth in Search & other and strong contributions from subscriptions and devices. YouTube ads and subscriptions pushed the platform’s full-year revenue above $60 billion for the first time.

Google Cloud delivered standout results, with revenues surging 48% to $17.7 billion amid booming demand for AI infrastructure and enterprise solutions. The segment’s operating income turned sharply positive, highlighting improved profitability as AI tools like Gemini integrate deeply into customer workflows. CEO Sundar Pichai highlighted that the Gemini app now exceeds 750 million monthly active users, with first-party models processing over 10 billion tokens per minute via API.

To fuel this momentum, Alphabet guided 2026 capital expenditures to $175 billion-$185 billion — nearly double the $91.4 billion spent in 2025 — primarily for AI data centers, compute capacity and infrastructure to meet exploding demand. The forecast, announced alongside earnings, initially pressured shares due to concerns over elevated spending and uncertain monetization timelines in a competitive AI landscape. However, analysts have increasingly viewed the investment as a moat-widening move, positioning Alphabet ahead in the race against rivals like Microsoft and Amazon.

Recent developments reinforce this narrative. On Feb. 25, Alphabet announced that its robotics software company Intrinsic, formerly an “Other Bets” moonshot, would fold into Google to accelerate physical AI integration. The move streamlines operations and aligns robotics efforts with broader AI ambitions. Alphabet has also secured major clean energy deals, including partnerships with Xcel Energy in Minnesota and AES in Texas, to power new data centers sustainably amid regulatory and grid constraints.

The company raised over $30 billion in a global debt offering earlier in February to support these expenditures, underscoring confidence in long-term cash flows despite higher leverage. Alphabet maintains a robust balance sheet with significant net cash and initiated or increased dividends, including a $0.21 quarterly payout (ex-date March 9, 2026).

Regulatory and competitive dynamics persist as risks. Antitrust scrutiny continues following prior rulings, though favorable outcomes — such as avoiding severe remedies like divesting Chrome or Android — have eased overhangs and boosted sentiment. Ongoing cases in the U.S. and EU could influence future operations, but analysts note Alphabet’s data advantages and scale provide resilience.

Institutional activity reflects mixed but generally positive views. Some funds trimmed positions modestly, while others added significantly; Stratos Wealth Partners increased holdings by millions. Consensus analyst targets hover around $366-$376, implying 17-20% upside from current levels, with a “Moderate Buy” rating. Valuation stands at a forward P/E near 28x based on projected 2026 earnings, elevated from historical averages but justified by accelerating growth.

Broader market context includes AI sector enthusiasm, with peers facing similar capex pressures. Bond investors have flagged AI spending bubbles as a top risk, yet Alphabet’s execution — including Gemini integrations with partners like Apple for Siri enhancements and Walmart for shopping — demonstrates tangible progress toward monetization.

As the company prepares for Q1 2026 earnings in late April, focus will remain on cloud backlog (nearing $240 billion), AI-driven search expansions like AI Overviews, and capex deployment efficiency. With annual revenues surpassing $400 billion for the first time in 2025 and clear paths to higher margins, Alphabet appears well-positioned to capitalize on the AI era despite short-term spending headwinds.

Investors continue monitoring geopolitical factors, energy costs for data centers and competitive AI model releases. For now, the stock’s resilience amid heavy investment signals market belief in Alphabet’s ability to convert scale and innovation into sustained leadership and shareholder value.

At a time when India’s banking system is witnessing a steady recovery in credit growth, concerns around the loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) have resurfaced. The debate has centred on whether rising credit growth relative to deposits could become a structural headwind, particularly for public sector banks.

Speaking to ET Now, Yuvraj Choudhary from Anand Rathi Institutional offered a data-backed perspective, arguing that the issue may be less severe for PSU banks than widely perceived.

Responding to concerns that the industry’s loan-to-deposit ratio has been climbing in recent quarters, Choudhary said, “So basically, loan to deposit. So, if we look at the broad data, so the loan to deposit has been going up in the last few quarters because credit growth has been faster than the deposit growth. However, for PSU banks, if you look at the overall data, for PSU banks the credit to deposit ratio is almost 10% lower than the private banks. So, there has been lot of talks around PSU bank struggling in the LDR ratio. However, if we look at the recent trends, say for example for SBI, the credit to deposit ratio for SBI is close to 73-74%, which is much lower than what the industry is at. So, although credit to deposit ratio has been going up, but it is less of a problem for PSU banks compared to private banks.”

The example of State Bank of India (SBI) underscores the point. With a credit-to-deposit ratio in the low-70% range, SBI appears to have significant headroom compared with several private peers operating at tighter levels.

Deposit Growth Catching Up

While PSU banks have faced questions around deposit mobilisation, Choudhary noted that the gap between credit and deposit growth is beginning to narrow.
“See, if you look at the overall deposit for the PSU banks, obviously it was lower than the credit growth; however, in the last few quarters deposit growth has started to pick up. So, obviously going forward, deposits it is a very key matrix, so deposit growth would be very important for PSU banks to sustain their credit growth; however, again I would like to reiterate, it is lesser of a problem for PSU banks compared to private banks.”
On system-wide credit expansion, he added that PSU banks have actually been leading the charge in recent quarters. “See, if you look at the recent credit growth, so PSU banks have been outperforming private banks now for multiple quarters on the credit growth side. So, if you look at the balance sheet structure the CD ratio has been increasing for PSU banks because essentially now they are lending, so the lending has increased. So, we expect this trend to continue because firstly, PSU banks has better deposit franchise compared to private banks and secondly, if you look at the investment book, they have higher liquidity which means higher SLR compared to private banks.”
In other words, rising CD ratios for PSU banks reflect a revival in lending activity rather than a liquidity squeeze.

Microfinance: Signs of a Turnaround
Beyond mainstream banking, Choudhary also addressed the microfinance segment, which has undergone a prolonged stress cycle over the past year to 18 months. With valuations correcting sharply, investors are watching closely for signs of stabilisation.

“See, if we look at microfinance, it has gone through a difficult cycle in last one, one-and-a-half years. So, if you look at the recent trends, say specifically the collections and disbursements, so in last couple of quarters so there has been a significant improvement in collections. So, it is close to the normalised levels and if you look at the disbursements, it has started to pick up across the sector. So, fundamentally if you look at the MFI sector, it is starting to normalise. So, if this continues, the rerating might come.”

Improving collections and a pickup in fresh disbursements suggest that the worst of the asset-quality stress may be behind the sector, opening the door for potential rerating over the coming quarters.

PSUs Outperforming on Key Metrics
When asked about broader banking preferences, Choudhary highlighted three parameters — asset quality, loan growth and return on equity — where PSU banks are currently ahead.

“So, if you look at the last few quarters, even if you look at this quarter, so if you look at broadly three parameters, asset quality, loan growth, and ROEs, so PSU banks have clearly outperformed private banks on three parameters. If you look at asset quality, their gross slippages on an aggregate basis is 60 basis points for PSU banks, it is 100 basis point lower than private banks. So, that is a very healthy asset quality for them. So, it has been now for few quarters now that they have been outperforming private banks on asset quality. Secondly, even if you look at the loan growth number, the outperformance is there and lastly, on the ROE side, so on an aggregate basis PSU banks are generating an ROE closer to 15%, so that is 200 to 300 basis points higher than private banks. So clearly, the performance is there. So, we expect PSU banks to outperform private banks at least in the near term.”

Are Earnings Too Dependent on Non-Core Income?
A lingering concern among some analysts is whether PSU bank profitability is being flattered by non-core income — including treasury gains and recoveries — rather than sustainable core operations.

Addressing this, Choudhary said, “So, that is a very good question. So, if you look at, so obviously treasury and recoveries are part of the normal operations for any of the bank. So, let us take an example of SBI. So, for SBI even if we remove the whole income from recovery part, income from treasury parts, so they are generating an ROA which is closer to 80 basis point on a normalised level and it has been for last multiple quarters. And if you talk about say again taking an example for SBI, so in the last 10 years on an average they have…, so their income from recovery pool is closer to 10 basis point and if you look at the treasury for last 25 years for SBI on a normalised basis, so they have generated an income of 10 to 15 basis point from their treasury pool. So, the point here is that it is a part of their operations. So, 80 to 90 basis point they are generating without treasury and recovery and if we add that, so the ROA numbers come close to 1 to 1.1%.”

His argument suggests that while treasury gains and recoveries do support earnings, the underlying return metrics remain reasonably healthy even after stripping out these components.

Near-Term Bias Favors PSUs
Taken together, the data points to a shift in momentum within the banking pack. PSU banks, once seen as laggards, are currently delivering stronger credit growth, cleaner asset quality trends and superior return ratios.

If deposit growth continues to improve and the microfinance cycle stabilises as expected, the near-term performance gap between public and private sector lenders could persist — reshaping investor preferences in India’s banking landscape.