Author: Patrick Killeen

Certified B-Corp Themis has acquired Edinburgh-based agentic AI fraud monitoring company Pasabi to strengthen its AI strategy.

The deal brings Pasabi’s advanced AI technology and fraud prevention expertise into Themis, in a move which will accelerate its product roadmap by several years.

Founded in 2017, Pasabi operates teams across the UK and Europe. The integration has already been completed, reflecting what both companies describe as a strong cultural fit and shared mission to reduce the global impact of financial crime.

With the move, Themis, which uses AI to combat financial crime, will bring enhanced machine learning and behavioural analytics capabilities to market.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Digital banking platform Shawbrook has confirmed it is considering an initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange following last week’s rumours of an IPO.

The Brentwood-based company intends to publish a registration document and is exploring an application for its shares to be admitted to the FCA’s Official List and to trading on the Main Market.

It uploaded a statement to the stock exchange today after it was reported that it was considering going public with an anticipated valuation of around £2 billion.

The Pollen Street Capital-owned FinTech’s flotation would be one of London’s biggest in recent history and there are hopes that, if the move is successful, it could open the floodgates to a batch of new listing candidates.

Founded to serve parts of the economy underserved by traditional banks, the business has grown rapidly over the past decade, combining technology-driven efficiency with specialist lending expertise.

Its loan book has expanded from £1.4bn in 2013 to £17bn by June 2025, while maintaining a 30% compound annual growth rate in profit before tax.

A modest web design company which is building a Bitcoin treasury has raised £9.7m in a share placing and £2.6m via a subscription agreement.

Founded in 2009, The Smarter Web Company is an agency based in Guildford which offers website design and development alongside marketing services for “affordable” prices.

It hit the headlines after floating on Aquis in April of this year with a valuation of £3.7m before quickly becoming the highest-valued stock on that exchange by some distance – and even broke a £1bn market cap at one point, briefly giving it unicorn status. Its market cap stands at £305m as of this morning.

You can read the full story of its rise here.

 

Author: Patrick Killeen

YFM Equity Partners has appointed Neil Inskip as its head of new investments for the North, covering its Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham offices.

The Leeds-based investment management firm says the move strengthens its regional leadership team as it continues to back entrepreneurial businesses across the UK.

Inskip will lead new investment activity across the North, supporting regional teams and joining the company’s investment committee.

He brings nearly 20 years of private equity experience, most recently at BGF, where he led teams in the North West and Midlands and oversaw more than a dozen investments, including several major exits.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Edinburgh-based MedTech Trogenix has raised £70 million in a Series A funding round to accelerate the development of its next-generation cancer therapies targeting aggressive solid tumours.

The investment, led by IQ Capital, will enable the company to advance its lead programme in glioblastoma and a follow-on programme in colorectal cancer liver metastases.

It will also help the firm to expand its pipeline in liver and lung cancers, as well as support the continued development of its proprietary Odysseus platform.

The business, founded just two years ago, has built the platform to identify and target the universal vulnerabilities of solid tumours.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

The owner of Social Chain has opposed a significant shareholder over the proposed appointment of Julia Robertson as a director.

Brave Bison Group plc is convening a general meeting on 24th October to consider the requisition notice posted by Lord Michael Ashcroft.

Robertson’s appointment would require 50% of votes cast to pass. Brave Bison says it has consulted with shareholders and strategic partners News Corp. and Professor Mark Ritson and says the appointment would not be in the best interests of the company.

The board is recommending that shareholders vote against the proposed resolution and claims it has received written indications of support for its position from shareholders representing 51% of the company’s issued share capital.

Tory donor and former party chair Lord Ashcroft sold his recruitment company Impellam to Dutch rival Headfirst for £482m in 2023. Robertson was its CEO and left the company earlier this year.

She is currently chair of Optim Health plc and a non-exec director at Marlowe plc.

Brave Bison’s share price is up 130% in the year to date.

Ashtead Technology Holdings plc, a subsea technology solutions provider to the global offshore energy sector, has moved from the junior AIM market to the main market of the London Stock Exchange this morning.

Shares in Ashtead are down by a third in the year to date.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Crimson Tide plc has reported positive results following a tumultuous period for the firm.

The Tunbridge Wells firm, provider of process management platform mpro5, appointed a new CEO this summer following a takeover saga.

The previous CEO and chair both left the company after shareholders in fellow listed firm Checkit voted down its acquisition earlier this year.

For the 16-month financial period ended 30th April 2025, it generated revenues of £7.9 million (FY23: £6.2m) with adjusted EBITDA of £900,000 (FY23: £400,000).

A non-executive director is to step down from the board of London-based Diales Group Plc.

The global specialist dispute avoidance and dispute resolution consultancy said Elizabeth Filkin will depart by the end of the year.

Verici Dx plc, a developer of advanced clinical diagnostics for organ transplant, has appointed Aubrey Powell to its board as a non-executive director.

Dr Erik Lium, a non-executive director since August 2020 and representative of Mount Sinai on the board, will step down.

Powell has over 30 years’ experience in supporting and advising growth companies, 26 of which have been spent in investment banking and corporate finance.

The firm is based in the United States but listed in London.

Author: Chris Maguire

I genuinely love the North.

I might be an adopted Northerner but I’ve made the North my home for nearly 20 years.

Today BusinessCloud is publishing the 2025 Northern Leaders list to shine a light on more than 200 of the people who make the North a better place by their actions.

This year’s list includes 74 new names from the North West, North East and Yorkshire & Humberside and includes figures from the world of business, charity, sport, property, politics, philanthropy and TV.

We’ll be showcasing some of them at our awards dinner on 20th November at KPMG’s Manchester offices.

I will never forget the moment from the inaugural dinner when former England and Manchester City captain Steph Houghton MBE walked away with the Northern Leaders Overall Award.

The presentation was made by Jonathan Bernstein, son of former Manchester City Council chief executive Sir Howard Bernstein, who inspired Northern Leaders.

I’m hugely grateful to KPMG for hosting our awards dinner and to our headline sponsor OBI, alongside law firm CG, GM Business Growth Hub, Rochdale Development Agency, insurance giant Lockton and J.P. Morgan Private Bank

I’m proud to live  in the North – now more than ever.

Author: See the week’s best-read stories

What were the week’s best-read stories on BusinessCloud.co.uk?

We’ve had:

• an entrepreneur accused of forgery ousting the chair of the listed company she founded – months after it sacked her

• the PropTech 50 ranking and Northern Leaders list

• a Cheshire company going live with its £300m IPO this morning

• S&W looking to take historic strength of Smith & Williamson brand to Manchester and beyond

• an online fashion retailer suffering a drop in share price and sales amid a multi-year turnaround plan

Dublin managed service provider Ekco has acquired Bristol-based Solsoft Group Limited.

The acquisitive firm has sealed three deals this year.

Solsoft delivers proactive IT services to small-and-medium sized enterprises and not-for-profit organisations across the South and South West of the UK. The company’s 16-strong team will join Ekco’s workforce of more than 1,000 people globally across Ireland, UK, Netherlands, Malaysia and South Africa.

Pembroke VCT has led a £5 million investment in PEAK:AIO, a Manchester-based software company building ultra-fast storage systems for AI workloads.

The company has developed an AI software platform that delivers faster, more energy-efficient AI systems, fixing one of the data storage industry’s biggest problems: how information is stored and accessed.

Pembroke has invested £3.7m, alongside NPIF II – Praetura Equity Finance which is managed by Praetura Ventures as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II), and a Silicon Valley investor.

Risers:

Goodwin – +4.93%
AJ Bell – +4.61%
Schroders – +3.64%
Bunzl – +3.52%
Bridgepoint – +3.27%

Fallers:

Aston Martin – -4.77%
Wetherspoon – -4.74%
ITV – -2.20%
Frasers – -2.08%
First Group – -1.80%

THG and Oxford Nanopore have each also dropped close to 2% today, while BT dropped almost 1%.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

The share price of Big Technologies is up 1.4% today after chair Alexander Brennan quit.

He was effectively forced out of the company by founder Sara Murray OBE, who is embroiled in a £320m High Court battle with the firm after it dismissed her from the position of CEO in March.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Following the appearance of LeakBot inventor Dr Samuel Bailey on Dragons’ Den last night, shares in its parent company Ondo InsurTech PLC have climbed a modest 1.5% today.

Dr Sam was pitching Pippa, a wall-mounted device that warns when pans are about to burn or when stoves are left on.

He sparked a three-way bidding war and walked away with the promise of a multi-Dragon deal.

The share price of Beauty Tech Group plc – the parent company of CurrentBody – are up more than 5% on the first morning of trading.

It currently stands at 285p.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Big Technologies plc chair Alexander Brennan is to step down as non-executive chair with immediate effect.

Sara Murray OBE is embroiled in a £320m High Court battle with Big Technologies plc after it dismissed her from the position of CEO in March. Murray’s assets have been effectively frozen during the case; and two weeks ago Big Technologies accused her of forgery and deliberate falsification of documents to push through the company’s £577m IPO in 2021. You can read full details of the accusation here.

Meanwhile a group of former shareholders are suing the firm as they claim Murray effectively pushed them out via an earlier MBO.

Late last week, Murray was part of a group of current shareholders seeking to remove Brennan from the board and replace him with James Graham Matheson.

“Having led the board as interim chairman and then chairman, including during the period of the investigations undertaken by the company related to the removal of Sara Murray as CEO, Alexander has made the determination that it is in the best interests of all shareholders if a new director, independent of the investigations, were to lead the company’s efforts to resolve the protracted litigation against Sara Murray and associated parties,” a notice to the London Stock Exchange read.

Sangita Shah will take over the role on an interim basis.

Shah said: “On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Alexander for his integrity and his conduct, at the core of which has been a steadfast adherence to the highest standards of governance in the discharge of his duties, notably this year.

“This has been a difficult time for the company, and we are grateful to Alexander for his consistent dedication and professionalism.

“The board await confirmation that our offer of mediation will be accepted by Sara Murray to enable the company to progress to constructive settlement discussions.”    

RWS Holdings plc CFO Candida Davies has decided to step down from the position and the company’s board.

She will stay until the end of 2025 to support the language and content technology solutions company with a smooth transition and the reporting of its full-year results.

The board has appointed a search firm as it looks for a successor.