Bite-size news and insight from UK business and tech – including funding, deals and appointments
Published: March 9, 2026 at 4:41 pm
Apadmi has appointed its first chief revenue officer in Rachel Wood.
The mobile product consultancy – which is based in Manchester and scaling globally – welcomes Wood, who spent nine years at ANS Group where she supported growth in preparation for a private equity-backed MBO and subsequent merger with UKFast.
Most recently, she served as COO at OBT Live, where she built the company’s operations, product strategy and commercial foundations from the ground up.
Published: March 9, 2026 at 4:13 pm
The founder of an app which aimed to keep women safe at night has raised £11.2 million for his latest venture.
Harry Mead was behind the non-profit app Path Community, which no longer seems to be active.
Then-restaurateur Mead developed the app after learning how many of his female friends felt uneasy about travelling home alone. To help build it, he retrained in coding and worked closely with female volunteers on its design.
It was singled out for praise from then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson for helping to keep women safe when walking home.
In 2024 Mead founded Augur with former Palantir engineers Imran Lone (CTO) and Stefan Kopieczek (head of engineering) to support national security interests, protect public spaces and defend critical national infrastructure using AI.
He has now raised £11.2 million led by Plural, with participation from First Kind, SNR, Flix and Tiny VC.
Published: March 9, 2026 at 3:45 pm
Northern Gritstone has invested into Manchester spinout Cytotrait as part of a £3m seed funding round.
Cytotrait is a biotechnology spinout from The University of Manchester commercialised with support from the University of Manchester Innovation Factory.
It is focused on the development of novel traits for food and agriculture.
The £3 million round was led by Northern Gritstone, with contributions from the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund (UKI2S, managed by Future Planet Capital), and Northern Universities Ventures Fund, managed by Parkwalk in collaboration with Northern Gritstone.
Published: March 9, 2026 at 2:03 pm
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has invested in Stack BTC Plc, a company seeking to build a portfolio of cash-generative businesses alongside a Bitcoin treasury.
The MP for Clacton joined Blockchain.com in backing the company which is led by executive chairman Kwasi Kwarteng.
Kwarteng served as Chancellor for just 38 days before being sacked after his and former Prime Minister Liz Truss’s mini-Budget caused turmoil in the markets.
Published: March 9, 2026 at 9:06 am
The future of Beauty Bay has been secured via a sale of the business and its assets via a pre-pack transaction to an international investment group.
The Salford-based online cosmetics retailer filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators in February and took down its website. It continues to show a holding page.
Rick Harrison and James Clark from Interpath were appointed joint administrators to Beauty Bay Limited on 6th March and immediately concluded a sale of the business to French-owned AA Investments Group.
Published: March 9, 2026 at 8:51 am
The CEO of M&C Saatchi will leave ‘by mutual consent’ at the end of the month less than two years into the role.
Zaid Al-Qassab, former CMO at Channel 4, joined in 2024 to help stabilise the business and it has introduced cost savings amid falling annual revenue.
In an unaudited trading update for the year to 31st December 2025, the advertising and marketing business said like-for-like net revenue is expected to fall around 7%, or around 2.5% excluding Australia – a ‘black hole’ for the business.
Dame Heather Rabbatts, currently non-executive chair, will assume the role of executive chair on an interim basis while the search for a successor gets underway.
Tech powerhouse Vin Murria, a substantial and long-term investor in the business both privately and through her company AdvancedAdvT, has been appointed deputy chair. Murria holds 11.8% of M&C Saatchi while AdvancedAdvT owns 9.8%.
AdvancedAdvT has confirmed this morning that it will not make a takeover bid for M&C Saatchi.
Published: March 7, 2026 at 3:21 pm
It was a boardroom bloodbath as Lord Sugar dramatically fired three candidates in the latest episode of The Apprentice.
Andrea Cooper, Carrington Saunders and Megan Ruiter were all shown the exit after being in the losing team in the latest challenge.
The episode saw the candidates head to Egypt to put on corporate away days for paying clients.
Birkenhead fashion designer Megan Ruiter volunteered to be a project manager because of her experience of hosting corporate events but it didn’t go according to plan.
Ruiter, who was the first of the trio to be fired, said: “I have learnt so much during my Apprentice journey and met friends for life. The best experience I have ever done.”
She was joined soon afterwards by Carrington Saunders, founder of London-based online women’s wear fashion company, Cas Collection.
Andrea Cooper was also fired after being accused of being a negative influence.
The triple firing means nine of the original 20 candidates have now been sacked.
There are now 11 candidates vying for Lord Sugar’s £250k investment and mentorship.
Published: March 7, 2026 at 11:37 am
Trustpilot, a leading global review platform dedicated to building trust between consumers and businesses, has appointed Shazadi Stinton as its new chief trust officer.
Stinton joins Trustpilot with more than 20 years of experience in legal, governance, and regulatory leadership across consumer-facing and highly regulated industries.
She most recently served as group general counsel and company secretary at MONY Group (formerly MoneySuperMarket Group), where she was a member of the executive committee and played a central role in strengthening governance frameworks, board effectiveness and sustainability reporting.
Prior to MONY Group, Stinton spent over a decade at Severn Trent in senior legal leadership roles, including head of legal counsel.
During her career, she has worked extensively with regulators and competition authorities, led complex investigations and M&A activity, and driven large-scale organisational transformation programmes.
Published: March 6, 2026 at 3:28 pm
A global trading exchange startup founded by two Cambridge mathematicians has raised £7m ($9.5m) in seed funding.
Y Combinator are among the investors in QFEX, which was founded by Annanay Kapila and Joshua Wharton.
The duo met as freshers at Cambridge, bonding over a shared interest in maths and finance.
After studying maths and conducted quantum computing research, Kapila went to work as a quantitative trader at Flow Traders and Tower Research Capital in London,
He is now building QFEX as the exchange he always wished he had to trade on and hopes it will eventually replace the entire $100bn exchange and clearing industry.
Most recently Wharton worked at Citidel.
Published: March 6, 2026 at 2:11 pm
LBG Media, the social entertainment group behind the LADbible network, has appointed experienced Darren Singer as its new chief financial officer.
Singer will join the board of directors and take up his role on March 9th.
Dave Wilson, who has served as executive chair with a particular focus on supporting the finance, legal and investor relations teams of LBG Media since January 2025, will return to his non-executive chair role, and will oversee a smooth transition of responsibilities.
Solly Solomou, CEO and founder of Manchester-headquartered LBG Media, said: “We are pleased to welcome Darren to the board at an important stage in our growth.
“Darren brings significant experience of operating at scale across a range of digital media and technology businesses and his financial and operational expertise will be a valuable addition to the leadership team as we continue to develop and execute our growth strategy.
“I would also like to thank Dave Wilson for his contribution. The company is well positioned for the next phase of growth and we look forward to working with Darren as part of a strengthened leadership team, as we continue to deliver on our ambition to become the leading social entertainment powerhouse.”
Published: March 6, 2026 at 1:48 pm
Fast-growing sports nutrition, health and wellness brand, Applied Nutrition, has secured planning permission from Knowsley Council for a new 84,000 sq ft global distribution centre and corporate headquarters.
Construction started this week and will increase the company’s total operational footprint to over 204,000 sq ft.
Fitness enthusiast Thomas Ryder founded Applied Nutrition in 2014 and floated the business in 2024.
The Liverpool-based business has enjoyed a period of record-breaking year of growth and Coleen Rooney recently increased her shareholding in the company.
The new distribution centre and corporate headquarters has been designed to support accelerating demand across both UK and international markets.
As well as acting as Applied Nutrition’s central global distribution hub, it will also act as the company’s new headquarters.
Commenting on the milestone, CEO Thomas Ryder said: “We’re incredibly excited to be embarking on this next chapter for Applied Nutrition.”
Published: March 6, 2026 at 8:14 am
EdTech startup Plato has closed its latest funding round with SFC Capital, raising a total of £260,000.
The firm, based in Leeds, has developed an AI-powered personal study assistant designed to help higher education students achieve their academic goals.
By integrating with a university’s digital ecosystem, Plato is able to answer module-related queries ensuring students receive instant help while easing professors’ workload and allowing them to focus on delivering teaching.
Published: March 6, 2026 at 8:09 am
The Financial Conduct Authority has appointed two new senior leaders.
Chris Knight will join the FCA in July 2026 as director of insurance within its supervision, policy and competition division.
He joins the FCA from Legal & General, where he has been the group chief risk officer for the last five years and member of the group management committee. Prior to this, he was CEO of Legal & General Retail Retirement for three years.
David Lymburn joined the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) on 23rd February 2026 as interim deputy managing director and brings over 15 years’ experience in financial services, including as chief operating officer and global payments programme director at Nordea Bank and payments roles at the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group.
He will serve in this interim role while the permanent recruitment takes place.
Published: March 5, 2026 at 11:40 pm
Growth Lending has provided an £8m funding facility to GoodShape, a London-based absence management and return-to work platform backed by Marcol Private Equity.
The funding refinances existing debt and provides additional capital to support the company’s continued expansion as it scales its recurring revenue base, onboards new customers, and enables further targeted investment in the platform’s technological and AI capabilities.
GoodShape is a UK market-leading SaaS platform used by more than 800,000 employees across 250 organisations. The business works with employers across retail, healthcare, manufacturing and the public sector, helping them unlock greater value from their workforce and optimise the impact of existing employee health services.
Published: March 5, 2026 at 10:57 pm
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has made two key leadership hires following a rigorous national recruitment process.
Lorna Rogers has been appointed as director of transformation and digital while Andy King has been appointed as director of clean energy and net zero.
Rogers has almost 30 years’ experience in both public and private sectors and is a prominent UK leader in major programme delivery.
She has worked for the Combined Authority since 2018 and created the award-winning £30m LCR Connect full fibre programme.
King’s role will include leading the development of the Mersey Tidal Power Project.
Rogers said: “My focus will be on modernising our business systems so we can work more efficiently, support the delivery of the growth plan, and better serve our communities.
“As we build our capability in data and AI, I’m committed to an ‘AI for good’ approach – using technology responsibly, ethically and transparently to improve outcomes for people, place and the public sector workforce.”
Published: March 5, 2026 at 10:27 pm
FinTech Revolut has applied to the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for a US national bank charter.
The entity, to be called Revolut Bank US, N.A., would give Revolut nationwide reach – across all 50 states – under one regulatory framework.
It would also give it direct access to payment rails like Fedwire and ACH, and allow it to directly offer personal loans and credit cards, as well as insured deposits, to customers in the US.
Published: March 5, 2026 at 9:38 pm
TikTok specialist Morgan Digital has strengthened its senior leadership team with two key appointments.
With demand growing across its social and paid marketing services, particularly on TikTok, the Warrington-based digital agency has appointed Naomi Larkin as operations director and Holly McEvoy as marketing operations manager.
The company celebrated a record-breaking 2025 and has just secured its largest client to date.
Founded by Callum Morgan in 2017, the agency specialises in website design and development, social media marketing, and paid digital advertising offering.
Morgan said: “I’m genuinely delighted to welcome Naomi and Holly. In the short time they’ve been here, I can already see and feel the impact they’re having.
“These appointments reflect where the agency is heading. Despite the headwinds across the agency landscape, we’re incredibly grateful to the clients who trust us with their marketing spend.”
Published: March 5, 2026 at 9:22 pm
Vespertec, a Stockport-based technology company specialising in data centre and AI infrastructure, has secured a £1.8m export contract to Kenya.
The contract was supported by UK Export Finance (UKEF), the government’s export credit agency.
Vespertec more than doubled its turnover in 2025 and is seeing rising international demand for its data centre and AI infrastructure expertise.
Steve Evans, director of finance at Vespertec, said: “Demand for data centre and cloud infrastructure is growing rapidly across Africa, and this project reflects the trust international partners place in UK engineering and delivery capability.
“Support from UK Export Finance has helped us pursue opportunities of this scale and complexity, and to build on relationships that have developed over time.”
Published: March 5, 2026 at 8:57 pm
Peter offers £50k for 20% – and wants Deborah to do the same.
She will, as long as he’s happy to give up 40% of the business.
He tries to counter at 30% but the Dragons aren’t happy with that – and see that he’s very uncomfortable at giving up so much of his company, so they drop out.
“A quintessential British gentleman,” is the verdict when he’s departed.
Published: March 5, 2026 at 8:54 pm
Steven thinks that the approach is too scattergun. “I don’t have clarity on this business.” He’s out.
Touker is equally confused and is also out.
Susie sees a “fantastic product innovator” but says he needs to pick one and focus on that. She’s out.
Deborah couldn’t agrees less with Susie: “Your product is spice mixes.” But he needs to get on top of the branding.
She wishes he hadn’t asked for £100k.
Peter says “you could share it”… I sense a dual offer…
Have Your Say