Author: Jonathan Symcox

A former CEO dismissed by the listed firm she founded – and who subsequently succeeded in ousting its chairman in a shareholder revolt – has managed to get the person she is recommending for chair added to its board.

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. The firm has accused her of forgery and deliberate falsification of documents to push through the company’s £577m IPO in 2021.

Murray – who has described the allegations as “outrageous” – recently led a group of shareholders in a successful bid to remove Alexander Brennan, the company’s non-executive chairman, from the board.

Her stated wish was to replace him with James Graham Matheson, who holds 15 directorships. Today, Matheson has been added to the Big Technologies board as a non-executive director.

Roquefort Therapeutics plc has raised funds of £300,000.

£200,000 is by way of an advance subscription agreements from certain strategic investors, with £100,000 a loan from A2A Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

The proceeds will be used to fund the upfront costs of proposed transaction with A2A Pharma and Coiled Therapeutics, Inc, which will see it acquire the exclusive licence rights to AO-252, a new drug alternative targeting the TACC3 protein for the treatment of certain cancers.

A listed company developing circulating tumour cell (CTC) solutions for use in research, drug development and clinical oncology has appointed an interim CEO.

ANGLE plc recently announced that chief exec Andrew Newland and finance chief Ian Griffiths would be ‘transitioned’ out of the business but have their contractual entitlements honoured over the next 12 months.

Chairman Dr Jan Groen moved into an executive role to lead the company as it pursues a revised strategy, focused on tight cost control, accelerated commercial progress and a clear plan towards becoming a sustainable business.

Now this morning it has appointed Peter Collins as interim CEO, while Klaas de Boer joins as a senior advisor to the board.

Collins has held senior executive positions across both private and publicly listed companies. He joins following a series of successful leadership roles at leading oncology diagnostics organisations, including SAGA Diagnostics, Inivata, Guardant Health and GSK.

The company has a cash runway into Q1 2026 and will need to raise funds in the coming months.

Insig AI plc has reported a 164% increase in half-year revenues.

The provider of AI-led analytics and machine learning solutions said turnover for the six months to 30th September 2025 is expected to be just under £440k.

The Company has also recently raised gross proceeds of £1m for general working capital purposes including bolstering its sales activities and potentially investing in digital assets such as Bitcoin.

Synectics plc, a provider of security and surveillance solutions, has reported an expected £67m revenue for the year ending 30th November 2025, up from £55.8m in the prior year,

Profit before tax will be no less than £5.7m, it said, compared with £4.7m in FY24.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

The head of data protection at Barings Law has said the £14 million fine issued to Capita by the Information Commissioner’s Office is not a sufficient punishment for its data breach.

Barings, based in Manchester, has pursued legal action against Capita since 2023 – a separate action to the ICO fine – to expose what it calls “inadequate cybersecurity procedures” at the firm.

In issuing the fine, the ICO said today that Capita had failed to ensure the security of personal data related to a breach in 2023 that saw hackers steal millions of people’s information.

Adnan Malik at Barings says the punishment is a clear confirmation that Capita failed to uphold the data security of its customers and systems – but will “do little to set right the harms caused”.

Another Avenue has secured over £800k in new funding to help upskill the UK’s next generation of digital talent and entrepreneurs.

The firm has been awarded over £877k by the Department for Education within 3 months to expand its fully funded Skills Bootcamps.

New fully funded cohorts are launching across London, South Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cheshire & Warrington, including its Digital Marketing and Fearless Accelerator (Business Fundamentals) Bootcamps — with a new Content Creator Skills Bootcamp set to launch in early 2026.

The firm was founded by Fearless Adventures’ Dominic McGregor, David Newns and Charlie Yates, Another Avenue has already supported over 800 learners through industry-led programmes — and says it is on track to reach 1,000 by the end of 2025.

London startup Inntelo AI has entered into a partnership with Dubai’s The First Group Hospitality.

This will see Inntelo’s AI platform rolled out across TFGH’s hotels, including the world’s tallest hotel: Ciel Dubai Marina – Vignette Collection by IHG.

As well as streamlining hotel operations, Inntelo’s tech is designed to improve the guest experience, allowing them to make requests and access services via WhatsApp, phone or voice commands thanks to conversational and agentic AI.

A mobile app can improve the symptoms of one of the commonest mental health problem in students – even with limited engagement- according to university researchers.

Cerina uses the principles of cognitive behavioural therapy to treat Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) – which affects a significant number of students, studies show.

Lead author Dr Ozlem Eylem-Van bergeijk from the University of Manchester – which conducted the study with Ulster University – said: “University students can sometimes be vulnerable to generalised anxiety disorder because the rigours of academic pressure and financial uncertainty, let alone the issues young people often go through when they leave home for the first time.

“But despite the need for treatments the availability of psychological services is patchy for students.

“And perceived stigma, long waiting times, service availability can restrict access to treatment.”

Mid-market investment firm Palatine has announced a strategic partnership with Flotilla, the sustainability leader for the private equity sector.

The partnership will see Palatine deploy Flotilla’s Portfolio Manager alongside its core decarbonisation products (Carbon Reduction Plan and Net Zero Solutions) to monitor and manage ESG performance across its portfolio companies.

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Manchester, with offices in London and Birmingham, Palatine champions its philosophy of ‘positive equity’, backing ambitious teams to grow while delivering enhanced value through sustainable business practices. It invests across three funds, Buyout, Impact and Growth Credit.

Palatine pioneered its ESG framework 15 years ago and remains the first regional PE firm to launch a focused Impact Fund, targeting companies that deliver positive social and environmental change alongside market-leading financial returns.

Cybersecurity startup Ploy has raised £2.5m to address a growing security threat.

The firm says 93% of organisations are suffering two or more identity-related breaches per year.

The round was led by Osney Capital, with participation from Superseed, Tiny.vc and Rule30, alongside notable angels including Johnathan Scudder (co-founder of ForgeRock), Alastair Paterson and James Chappell (co-founders of Digital Shadows), Mark Ryan (VP of Product Management at ZScaler), Jonathan Tom (VP of GTM Enablement at Rapid7), Tony Pepper and Neil Larkins (co-founders of Egress) and Charles Delingpole (co-founder of ComplyAdvantage, MarketFinance, and The Student Room).

FlightStory – the media and investment company founded by Steven Bartlett – has launched a joint venture with UK Black Business Show.

They say Legacy Black is set to become the world’s leading media brand for Black entrepreneurship, business and wealth. It is launching with the bold ambition to drive over £100 billion in economic impact in the next decade.

Co-founded by Bartlett and Dr Raphael Sofoluke, the new platform brings together FlightStory’s global media reach with the UK Black Business Show’s community and influence — creating a generational movement to celebrate, empower, and elevate Black founders and professionals worldwide.

Author: Chris Maguire

Shares in THG plc have climbed another 5 per cent today to 43.80 – the highest figure since January 2025.

It follows yesterday’s 10.9 per cent climb after the online retail group posted its highest organic growth in four years.

Group revenue rose 6.3 per cent to £405.2 million in Q3 2025, marking the best quarterly performance since late 2021.

Today THG’s share price stands at 43.80 – the highest figure since it reached 46p in January.

The company’s market cap currently sits at £609m.

Although a significant improvement it’s way down from the 500p at its IPO in 2020.

Tuesday’s Q3  trading  update has reassured investors that the Manchester-based firm’s turnaround plan under CEO Matthew Moulding is working.

Risers:

PageGroup – +5.99%
Watches of Switzerland Group – +5.65%
Burberry – +5.34%
THG – +5.27%
British Land – +4.80%

Raspberry Pi and Ocado are both up 2%.

Fallers:

Entain – -4.46%
Rathbones – -3.18%
Ibstock – -2.79%
IP Group – -2.59%
Goodwin – -2.50%

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Applications for Greater Manchester businesses to join a new fully funded scale-up programme have now opened.

‘International Scale Up’ has been launched by GM Business Growth Hub, specifically for businesses looking to expand their activity overseas. 

The programme is open to businesses in any sector or size, as long as they have a scalable product or service ready for international markets. They can apply for the programme here.

Applications close on 24th October and the programme starts mid-November 2025.

Payments tech firm Form3 has secured a strategic investment from Nationwide alongside a debt facility from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock.

The global account-to-account payments infrastructure platform will use the funds to expand in the United States and says it is now on the cusp of profitability.

The investment from Nationwide deepens a long-standing relationship with Form3, following an initial investment in the firm in 2020.

Visa and British Patient Capital invested in Form3 last year as part of a Series C extension.

Searches for Christmas jobs have hit their highest level in at least nine years, according to new data from Indeed.

Searches for accounted for 0.8% of all UK job searches, up 28% on the same time last year and the highest share observed since comparable data began in 2018. However seasonal job opportunities are not quite so abundant, meaning demand for festive roles is outpacing supply.

The surge in interest suggests that cost-of-living pressures and a softer jobs market are prompting more people to seek temporary work over the festive period, Indeed speculated.

Scottish firm Mapify has been selected as one of 14 UK startups to receive backing from global investor Antler.

The platform uses AI to improve  ogistics and asset management across warehousing, transport and infrastructure equipment.

Antler is investing £1.7 million across the startups – selected from a pool of almost 100 – following its latest London residency.

Mapify helps SMEs and large corporates manage all their assets, from trucks and boilers to warehouses and industrial estates, using AI-powered contextual search. The platform already supports a number of clients, uncovering significant inefficiencies, including millions of pounds per year in savings through its real-time dashboards.

Author: Christopher Maguire

Experienced entrepreneur Frazer Durris has joined BusinessCloud as non-executive chairman.

Durris previously founded and exited Lancashire-based energy specialist Businesswise Solutions.

Durris has been advising BusinessCloud’s co-owners Jonathan Symcox and Chris Maguire on an unofficial basis for a year but has agreed to take on a more formal role as non-executive chairman.

He said: “BusinessCloud is a hugely respected name in the media landscape and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the business in an unofficial role over the last 12 months.

“Highlights have included moving into their first office, making their first hire and launching Northern Leaders.

“Jon and Chris have got ambitious growth plans so it seemed like the perfect time to formalise our arrangement by becoming non-executive chairman.”

London-based startup Orbiri has raised £320,000 to help parents to protect their children from excessive smartphone use.

Research show that 93% of parents believe social media harms children but 74% say enforcing smartphone limits feels impossible.

Orbiri’s solution offers preset boundaries around screen time for children. Rather than leaving schools and families to fight isolated battles, the platform enables children, parents and schools to adopt and coordinate around shared limits that apply to everyone in the community.