Josh Payne, the 32-year-old founder of British data centre start-up Nscale, is in line for performance-related share payments worth up to $350m (£260m) after the company floats in New York, according to its prospectus.

The document, released on Friday night, said the package was designed to ensure Payne’s “continued long-term alignment” with shareholders. Nscale is targeting a valuation of about $35bn (£26bn) as demand grows for the computing power that underpins artificial intelligence.

How the award is structured

The potential share-based payments account for about 2.5 per cent of Nscale’s share capital, according to the prospectus. They will vest in stages between 2028 and 2032 if the company hits various targets.

The company said 40 per cent of the shares will be linked to stock price targets and a further 40 per cent to the deployment of computing capacity. The remaining 20 per cent relates to “other operational targets”.

The prospectus said: “Our compensation committee and board of directors believe that Mr Payne’s continued leadership is critical to our ability to successfully execute our long-term strategy, capitalise on emerging market opportunities and create substantial shareholder value.”

Payne’s compensation in 2025, including share awards, was £17.2m. That was just below the £17.7m paid to Pascal Soriot at AstraZeneca, the highest in the FTSE 100.

Payne was born and raised in New South Wales, on Australia’s east coast. He worked in a coal mine and as a manual labourer before setting up a bitcoin-focused company, Arkon Mining, in 2019. Nscale was spun out of that business, since renamed Arkon Energy, in 2024.

Revenue, losses and contracts

The company has grown on the back of contracts with US technology groups and backing from industry figures. It was valued at about $14.6bn in a funding round in March led by Aker, the Norwegian industrial investment company, and 8090 Industries, a US investment firm.

Nvidia also took part in that round. The chipmaker has invested more than $2bn in Nscale, including $1bn in convertible notes, and Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s chief executive, has described the company as a “national champion for the UK”. Nscale is a major customer of Nvidia and also has a $1.2bn contract to supply it with computing capacity.

The prospectus showed revenue of $140.6m in the six months to June, up from $10.4m a year earlier. Net losses widened over the same period from $368.9m to $1.02bn.

Nscale said it expects losses to continue because of the “substantial upfront capital expenditure” needed to expand its data centre capacity and buy the hardware required to deliver its contracts.

At the end of August, the company said it had 55 megawatts of active capacity: 7MW from its own data centres and 48MW rented from third parties. That capacity is tied to $2.6bn in contracted revenue. A further 1.3 gigawatts is in the pipeline, tied to $101bn of contracts that have not yet started. One megawatt can support about 600 to 1,000 homes.

Nscale has signed a six-year contract worth $45bn with Anthropic, under which the AI lab will lease capacity at Nscale’s site in West Virginia from next year. It has also signed long-term agreements with Microsoft running until 2033 and worth $44bn, building on an earlier arrangement to supply the Microsoft UK supercomputer project.

The company, which raised £750m last year for its UK data centre plans, claims to have “line of sight” to 10GW of capacity.

The prospectus also set out risks. It said: “Our limited operating history, including our limited history of selling our AI cloud infrastructure offering, the dynamic and rapidly evolving market in which we sell our platform, and the concentration of our revenue from a limited number of customers, as well as numerous other factors beyond our control, may make it difficult to evaluate our current business, future prospects and other trends.”

About the author

Jamie Young

Jamie Young is Senior Reporter at Business Matters, covering SME finance, employment law and Westminster policy since 2016. He has reported on every Budget and Autumn Statement since 2018, helped make sense of the ‘covid era’ and the bounce-back loan scheme from launch through the fraud investigations, and broke the magazine’s coverage of the 2024 late-payment reforms. He joined Business Matters straight from completing his BA in Administration from Exeter University and is NCTJ-qualified. Reach him at jyoung@cbmeg.co.uk

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Social Security beneficiaries are expected to see a larger cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in 2027 than they received for this year, according to new estimates that follow the release of August inflation data.

By law, the annual Social Security COLA is calculated using the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index (CPI) inflation data for the months of July, August and September based on a variant of the dataset known as CPI-W. The COLA boosts beneficiaries’ payments to account for a rise in the cost of living, and the COLA for 2026 amounted to a 2.8% increase.

The BLS released the August CPI inflation data that showed consumer prices were up 3.4% from a year ago, while the CPI-W was up 3.5% over the last year.

Several groups have released estimates for the 2027 COLA based on the data from the last two months and estimates for September’s data, which have the COLA landing in a range from 3.4% to 3.6%.

CONSUMER PRICES REMAIN ELEVATED IN AUGUST AHEAD OF FED’S NEXT MEETING

Social Security’s annual COLA will be officially announced after the release of the September CPI inflation data next month. (Getty Images/stock)

The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) estimated that based on the latest data, the 2027 COLA will be 3.4%.

AARP projected that the 2027 COLA will be 3.6%, based on its analysis of recent inflation readings and projections for the coming weeks.

Rich Johnson, vice president of financial security at the AARP Public Policy Institute, noted that many older adults rely on Social Security for the bulk of their income and that the group’s forecast aims to help them plan based on how the COLA may affect their finances.

“Family budgets have been under increasing pressure because of rising prices. The sooner that we can give them reliable information as to how much their benefits might [increase next year], the sooner they can start planning,” Johnson said.

ONE TYPE OF SOCIAL SECURITY ADJUSTMENT COULD CUT THE 75-YEAR SHORTFALL IN HALF

Johnson said that the AARP’s estimate incorporates the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland’s inflation projections for September and that while those figures aren’t “set in stone,” the data helps compile the estimate.

“With only one month of inflation data to go until the 2027 COLA is finalized, there’s less uncertainty about what that increase will be,” he added. “Unless prices change dramatically in September, we’re confident that the COLA will be in the mid-3% range.”

The Senior Citizens League predicted the 2027 COLA will be 3.5% following the release of the August CPI inflation data, down slightly from its estimate of 3.6% the prior month. A 3.5% COLA would increase average benefit checks by $67.90 and would boost the monthly benefit from $1,940.08 to $2,007.98, TSCL reported.

AMERICA’S $40T NATIONAL DEBT IS ‘STEALING FROM OUR NEXT GENERATION,’ ECONOMIST WARNS

Social Security’s COLA is expected to be larger in 2027 than in 2026 due to higher inflation. (Mark Felix/The Washington Post)

“The biggest thing we’re watching with the COLA announcement coming are short-term shocks to the economy that push inflation way up or down in the next 30 days,” said TSCL executive director Shannon Benton.

“No matter if the COLA announcement comes in slightly higher or slightly lower than our prediction, seniors will probably end up disappointed in the long run. The reality is that older Americans allocate their budgets differently than people still in the workforce, so inflation hits them differently. The CPI-W captures the experience of urban wage earners, which doesn’t represent the average senior’s budget,” Benton added.

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The final piece of data for the 2027 COLA will be released on Oct. 14, when the BLS releases the September CPI inflation data.

This article was written by

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Meritage Hospitality Group, one of the largest Wendy’s franchisees in the U.S., has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection following a high-stakes dispute with the fast-food chain’s corporate parent.

The bankruptcy filing comes amid severe financial pressures at the franchisee, which has struggled with soaring beef costs and weak customer traffic, while Meritage has also blamed aggressive promotional discounting for squeezing margins.

The Michigan-based operator runs 314 Wendy’s locations across 15 states. The company filed its voluntary petition Thursday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan, according to court documents.

THE FAST-FOOD CHAIN WHERE MANAGERS AVERAGE MORE THAN $200K A YEAR

Meritage Hospitality Group, one of the largest Wendy’s franchisees in the U.S., has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. (Mike Campbell/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The bankruptcy filing came one day after Wendy’s franchising unit delivered a Sept. 16 notice seeking to terminate Meritage’s franchise rights and lease occupancy “effective immediately,” according to court documents. Meritage filed for Chapter 11 the following day, putting the termination effort on hold while the case proceeds. Meritage disputes Wendy’s attempt to terminate the agreements and says its franchise rights remain intact.

In a recent report to investors, Meritage CEO Bob Schermer Jr. said store-level earnings declined 48% in 2025. Court filings separately show the company reported a $31.5 million net loss that year, compared with net income of $8 million in 2024, while revenue fell 7.6% to $617.7 million.

The Michigan-based operator runs 314 Wendy’s locations across 15 states. (USA Today Network via Reuters Connect)

In an effort to stem the losses, the franchisee began closing approximately 60 underperforming Wendy’s locations in late 2025 and has eliminated or altered breakfast service at numerous locations. The company said those measures are expected to provide approximately $11.2 million in combined annual EBITDA benefits.

Court records show Meritage had approximately $725.9 million in assets and $651.2 million in total liabilities as of summer 2026. The Wendy’s franchising unit is asserting claims totaling $146.9 million against the company, including $27.4 million in past-due royalties and fees and $119.5 million in Continuous Operations Fees. Meritage also had approximately $137 million outstanding under its primary credit facility as of the bankruptcy filing. 

In a press release, Meritage’s board of directors said the court-supervised restructuring was the “most effective and proactive path to strengthen Meritage’s finances, address these headwinds directly, and protect the long-term interests of its stakeholders, team members, guests, and communities.”

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Despite the bankruptcy, Meritage said it intends to keep its dining rooms open and maintain normal restaurant operations. The company has asked the court for permission to continue paying its roughly 9,000 employees without disruption. Court filings put its workforce at approximately 8,850 employees as of the bankruptcy filing.

Alastair Mackie is the founder and managing director of WasteSync, a Strathaven-based company building offline-first software that lets weighbridge teams record waste movements even when the mobile signal drops out.

Digital waste tracking becomes mandatory for permitted waste receivers in England and Wales from 1 October 2026, with Scotland following in January 2027, and WasteSync says it passed all 14 of DEFRA’s test cases in July and has been approved to connect to the live system. The former Lloyds Banking Group manager and Strathclyde MBA graduate also won the Strathclyde Inspire 100 competition in June. He tells Business Matters why software has to earn its place at the gate, and why unglamorous industries are worth a founder’s attention.

What do you currently do at WasteSync?

I call myself MD, so it is founder, products, selling, growing and joining the dots. In a nutshell, my job is taking an operational requirement and turning it into reliable software that teams on a busy waste site will use every day without complaint, without stopping trucks and without incurring fines.

I lead our commercial strategy and long-term vision, run customer discovery and track shifts in UK environmental legislation. As an early-stage founder, my role changes by the hour, moving from commercial positioning to the granular detail of how a weighbridge operator inputs tonnage on an uneven yard.

Waste management is massive. It is essential national infrastructure, yet vast swathes of daily operations still depend on physical clipboards, crumpled paper tickets and siloed spreadsheets. Crucially, waste facilities and transfer stations often sit in connectivity blackspots where standard mobile signal drops out entirely.

If software requires constant 4G or 5G to function, it fails at the gate. We built WasteSync from the ground up to be offline-first, meaning crews can log movements, verify loads and store records uninterrupted, with everything syncing automatically the moment a connection returns.

I spend a substantial part of each week on site visits and calls with weighbridge teams, local authorities, independent carriers and compliance managers. I work backwards from their daily operational friction. Where does poor connectivity halt throughput? Which steps in the waste transfer note lead to errors? Who holds the budget, and what concrete outcome makes their shift easier? Software must earn its place on the ground.

What was the inspiration behind your business?

A mix of wanting to build an independent business and spotting a broken, overlooked industry problem worth fixing.

My career was never mapped out in a neat straight line. I took a law degree in Edinburgh, realised early on that my natural strengths lay in commercial execution, and moved directly into advertising sales. That gave me an early education in cold outreach, negotiation and how clients make purchasing decisions.

After serving as a director in an SME and completing an MBA at Strathclyde, I moved into financial services. I spent over a decade in senior management and private banking, working day in, day out with regulatory governance, risk management and audit-ready data.

The catalyst arrived when I was leading AI and digital innovation initiatives at Lloyds Banking Group. Looking closely at automated workflows and modern data pipelines, I saw how much friction could be removed from traditional, paper-choked sectors. As a father of two, that sparked my entrepreneurial drive.

I wanted to move from watching digital transformation unfold inside a corporate institution to creating an independent venture where accountability rested squarely on my shoulders. I was searching for work that brought together commercial viability, intellectual challenge and tangible societal utility.

When I looked at waste and resources, the market gap and timing were incredible. Upcoming digital waste tracking mandates and other regulations, rising supply chain audit standards and decades-old paper habits meant operators needed better tools. WasteSync was founded to turn that regulatory headache into an operational advantage. You know the massive fly-tipping you see on the news? We are part of the solution to that.

How is WasteSync preparing for the digital waste tracking deadline?

In July we passed all 14 of DEFRA’s test cases and were approved to connect to the live Digital Waste Tracking system. Records are captured on site, even with no connection, and filed automatically to DEFRA and SEPA once the signal returns.

In June we demonstrated WasteSync to a Scottish local authority and an electrical waste processor for the first time. Both watched it capture a load offline, and both agreed to pilot it.

Who do you admire?

Naval Ravikant’s ideas helped crystallise how I approach building a business. My co-founder, Iain Baxter, introduced me to The Almanack of Naval Ravikant, which gave words to principles I had spent years circling: developing specific knowledge, taking direct accountability and creating leverage that outlasts your daily hours.

It is an exceptionally grounding framework for any founder, shifting the focus away from vanity metrics and towards durable, compounding value. Naval is the man.

I also lean heavily on classic commercial fundamentals. Dale Carnegie remains the gold standard for understanding that business is built entirely on trust, listening and treating people with respect. Brian Tracy’s rules on prioritisation keep me focused every morning. When you run an early-stage company, incoming demands always exceed available daylight, so deciding what not to do is just as important as the tasks you complete.

Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently?

I would not change the core path, because every chapter contributed directly to the founder I am today. Law trained my analytical discipline and contract awareness. Commercial sales taught me resilience and how to listen to clients. Banking gave me a deep respect for governance, risk and data integrity. Modern tech showed me what software can achieve when applied with discipline.

I should have trusted my gut and backed myself sooner. Corporate life provides regular income and stability, and it is easy to become comfortable in those patterns. Eventually, you must confront what truly motivates you and take the leap.

I also would have put rough prototypes in front of paying customers even earlier. It is dangerously tempting for founders to sit in a room refining product specs in isolation. The fastest way to learn is getting dirty boots on site, watching someone use your interface and letting real operators dismantle your assumptions. That direct feedback prevents you from solving problems that do not actually exist.

What defines your way of doing business?

Commercial discipline, technical defensibility and trust. Coming out of private banking, data integrity is non-negotiable. In our sector, bad data is worse than no data.

That is why our competitive moat rests on building the best data foundation in the industry. By solving the tough engineering problem of reliable offline capture in harsh operating environments, we ensure the data feeding compliance reports and downstream systems is accurate, complete and auditable.

I strip out technology buzzwords and empty marketing claims. I care about whether our software saves an administrator two hours of manual rekeying, eliminates duplicate records and protects a licence holder during an audit. Grand ambition is easy to pitch, but quiet execution, engineering reliability and delivering on your word are what build an enduring company.

I need to give a nod to agentic engineering and AI in general. I am a heavy user, and I believe this is the gold rush we have been waiting for. We are in the era of ideas, which is exhilarating, and scary too, but let us focus on the good parts.

What advice would you give to someone starting out?

Do not wait for complete certainty. If you wait until all the risks disappear, you will never launch. Any meaningful venture begins with imperfect data, so pick a sensible next step, test it and adjust as you learn. Action consistently generates clarity, where standing still only creates doubt.

Second, fall in love with the problem rather than the technology. Identify who feels the operational pain, calculate what it costs them every month, and make sure they have both the authority and the budget to pay for a solution. A clever piece of software without a willing buyer is merely an expensive hobby.

Finally, give yourself permission to reinvent your direction. You are never trapped by the degree you chose at 18 or the corporate ladder you climbed in your thirties. If you can combine your hard-earned experience with an unglamorous real-world problem that demands solving, back yourself and make the jump. And do you know what? Unsexy industries are cool.