Fashion faces a hidden crisis, according to ZERØTEC, a London-based tech startup.

Textile waste costs the industry over $300 billion every year before products even reach the shelves, it says – enough fabric to cover Austria every year.

ZERØTEC, launched this year, is tackling this problem at source, using AI to optimise the pattern design and cutting process of textiles in clothing production. It claims to save up to 15% more material than conventional methods, making fashion more environmentally sustainable and profitable.

It has now raised a £642,000 pre-seed round led by Bethnal Green Ventures, with contributions from SFC Capital, SCE Freiraum Ventures, Cranfield University Seed Fund and angel investor Benjamin Manwaring.

Manchester InsurTech Ripe has appointed Sean Carney as its new chief underwriting officer.

He joins from Simply Business, where he was managing director MGA, and has over 15 years of experience in insurance leadership spanning strategy, underwriting and operations at both Simply Business and Hiscox.

Tate & Lyle’s shares have dropped 9.48% to 407p following a trading update. 

The FTSE 250 constituent, which produces food ingredients for manufacturers and the food and drink industry, said revenue for the first half is now expected to be 3–4% lower.

EBITDA is also projected to be down by a ‘high-single-digit percentage’, as slower market demand offsets early gains from its CP Kelco combination.

Greggs shares have risen 7.36% to 1,722p today after the bakery chain posted stronger third-quarter sales.

Total sales grew 6.1% in the 13 weeks to 27 September, with like-for-like sales in company-managed shops up 1.5%.

Trading picked up in August and September after a weaker July and year-to-date sales are now up 6.7%.

The company, led by Roisin Currie, has also opened 57 new shops this year, taking its estate to 2,675 stores, while its Bake at Home range is now stocked in Tesco and Iceland.

Bite Investments has secured £18.5 million in strategic growth capital from NewSpring Growth, the growth equity arm of NewSpring Capital.

The raise will fuel the expansion of the London-based firm’s technology platform, allow it to grow its team and enhance its services to asset managers and investors globally.

Bite’s flagship product, Bite Stream, is a cloud-based, modular suite that aims to unify investor onboarding, communication, reporting and portfolio management in a single portal.

The platform enables both limited partners and retail investors to view all their holdings in one place.

Image-sharing platform Imgur has shut down access for UK users, with anyone visiting the site now met with a message stating that content is unavailable in their region.

The block, which took effect on September 30th, prevents UK users from logging in, viewing, or uploading images and Imgur embeds on third-party sites no longer display.

The company has not linked the move to the UK’s new Online Safety Act, which requires strict age verification on certain platforms.

Instead, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said Imgur’s withdrawal was a commercial decision, while confirming its investigation into how the site handles children’s data is ongoing.

The firm’s parent company, MediaLab, faces a potential fine after the ICO issued a notice of intent earlier this month, but regulators have said that leaving the UK will not absolve it of responsibility for past breaches.

Three former executives from Google, YouTube and the BBC have launched HERA, the UK’s first female-founded video podcast network.

Founders Rosie Allimonos, Nishma Patel Robb and Kirsty Hunter have raised seed funding and unveiled plans to back female and non-binary creators with original shows, brand partnerships and a membership programme offering training, mentorship and tech support.

The trio say HERA arrives at a pivotal moment, with half of UK adults now listening to podcasts monthly and video podcasting growing rapidly on platforms like YouTube and Spotify.

With only 20% of the UK’s top podcasts hosted by women, they are aiming to close the gender gap in a now-thriving sector.

Author: Patrick Killeen

JPMorgan Chase will retire the Nutmeg brand this November as it launches J.P. Morgan Personal Investing, a new digital wealth and investment service for UK retail customers.

The move brings to an end more than a decade of the Nutmeg name in the UK market, which was among the first digital-first wealth managers in the UK and went on to become the country’s largest robo-adviser. 

The US banking giant acquired the company in 2021 as part of its push into UK consumer finance, alongside the launch of Chase UK.

Since the takeover, Nutmeg has more than doubled its assets under management from £3.5 billion to £8.5bn and grown its customer base from 140,000 to more than 265,000.

J.P. Morgan Personal Investing will carry over the London-based company’s existing services, while adding new features designed to broaden its appeal. 

Author: Patrick Killeen

Concept Ventures has closed an oversubscribed £65 million Fund II, cementing its status as Europe’s largest dedicated pre-seed fund.

The London-based VC, which launched its first institutionally-backed fund of £48m in 2022, now manages $200m in assets.

Its debut fund is a top 1% performer for its vintage globally, with portfolio startups raising more than $450m to date.

Backing for Fund II came primarily from the US, with 80% of institutional LPs based there.

Investors include Aldea Ventures, Top Tier Capital Partners, Marktlink Capital, Dominus and Granite Capital Management, alongside one of the world’s largest US investment banks and a leading charitable trust.

Author: Patrick Killeen

A £1 million government programme is launching in an attempt to help tech startups and scaleups thrive outside London, with new projects set to boost founders and ecosystems across the UK.

The Regional Tech Booster initiative, delivered in partnership with UK Tech Cluster Group, will fund 12 local projects offering early-stage businesses targeted training, expert mentoring, networking opportunities and support to scale.

Announced in July with the goal of making sure the benefits of the UK’s tech sector are felt nationwide, the projects span every corner of the UK.

The programme will run pilots through 2026, each designed to deliver measurable local impact by supporting at least 30 tech businesses over six months.

Spotify founder Daniel Ek is stepping down as CEO of the music streaming behemoth and will become its executive chair.

Based in Stockholm, Sweden, Spotify said chief product and technology officer Gustav Söderström and chief business officer Alex Norström will become co-CEOs.

Currently co-presidents, the transition will take place at the beginning of 2026.

“This change simply matches titles to how we already operate,” said Ek, who said his new role will see him focus on Spotify’s “long arc” and remain fully involved in the business.

Spotify has more than 700 million subscribers and a library of more than 100m songs, 7m podcast titles and 350,000 audiobooks.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

TruSpine Technologies Plc has delayed the completion and publication of its audited accounts for the year to 29th March 2025 – and trading in its shares has been suspended temporarily as a result.

Based at London Gatwick, the medical device company is focused on the spinal stabilisation market. It is aiming to commercialise Cervi-LOK, a screw-free spinal stabilisation system which aims to minimise the risk of vertebral artery injury which can cause brainstem stroke or nerve root and spinal cord injury.

However, supply chain issues and external issues around testing delayed expected FDA clearance in the United States in 2022, leaving it seeking funding to see it through its FDA submission. Its CEO resigned last year.

“The company anticipates that it will be in a position to publish its final results shortly, following which trading in its shares will be restored. A further announcement will be made in due course,” it said in a notice to the London Stock Exchange.

IntelliAM AI plc, listed on the Aquis Exchange, has announced a major expansion of its commercial partnership with Hovis.

The software company, which is transforming productivity in the manufacturing industry through artificial intelligence and machine learning, secured the original contract last year to deliver reliability consultancy services across three key sites.

Hovis has now awarded IntelliAM a substantially expanded contract which represents a ninefold increase on the original agreement. The expanded engagement will see full deployment of the IntelliAM AI platform across multiple manufacturing sites; integration of its smart sensor interfaces across production lines; and ongoing consultancy services to drive measurable gains in reliability, productivity and asset availability.

The University of Lancashire has bolstered its Business School with three new appointments to support students and regional business growth.

Robert Binns has joined as a professor in practice, Miranda Barker OBE as an honorary professor and Marcello Trovati as professor of digital transformation.

Dean Steven Rhoden said the trio’s expertise in entrepreneurship, business leadership and AI reflects the university’s ambition to drive innovation and digital transformation across Lancashire.

Author: Cody Barrow , CEO, EclecticIQ

Harrods’ second breach in six months should remove any illusion of safety through prestige.

The retailer may not be engaging with the attacker, but cyber criminals are certainly engaging with them and the brand is paying the price.

This incident wasn’t a direct hit, but a reminder that supply chains are now battlegrounds. Customer data, loyalty tags, and contact info are enough to launch highly convincing scams and cause long-term damage to trust.

Once again, attackers didn’t need to storm the front door when a back entrance was wide open.

The alarm has been ringing for years. What’s changed is the cost of ignoring it – regulatory fines that hit the bottom line, customer defection that damages valuation, and personal board-level accountability that follows executives home.

The question isn’t whether to act, it’s whether you act now or after your brand takes the hit.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Fuse Energy has become one of Europe’s fastest-growing startups by tackling the problem of soaring energy bills.

Founded in 2022 by ex-Revolut executives Alan Chang and Charles Orr, the London company has surged past $300 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) while helping more than 150,000 households cut their bills by up to £200 a year.

To date, it has raised $100m, including a recent $10m round, and it is planning European expansion as well as further innovation in its energy stack.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Royal Mail’s parent company has acquired a minority stake in delivery network Collect+ for £43.9 million, leading to a rocketing share price for owner PayPoint.

PayPoint set up Collect+ as a joint venture with Yodel in 2009. It would buy Yodel’s stake for just £6m in 2020.

Now International Distribution Services (IDS), owner of Royal Mail, has agreed a £43.9m deal for a 49% stake in the business, valuing Collect+ at £90m. PayPoint owns the other 51% following the deal.

PayPoint’s share price has increased by nearly 10% since trading opened this morning.

Risers:

Paypoint PLC – +9.94%

Kainos Group PLC – +3.64%

Rentokil Initial PLC – +3.41%

Molten Ventures PLC – + 3.15%

Baltic Classifieds Group PLC – + 2.84%

Fallers:

BT Group PLC – -2.77%

Wizz Air Holdings PLC  – -2.23%

Investec PLC – -2.20%

Anglo-Eastern Plantations PLC – -1.79%

Pantheon Infrastructure PLC – -1.33%

Digital Catapult has invested £400,000 in DeepTech startup Immersely to expand across the UK’s creative industries.

Immersely says its tool – which uses deep machine learning and anonymised biometric data such as heart rate, stress levels, and engagement patterns, to determine how video game players emotionally respond to the content they experience – could redefine the creative economy and fuel a steady pipeline of compelling new content, particularly in the design and development of video games.

By applying emotional intelligence, the system identifies which elements enhance player enjoyment and which diminish engagement, providing valuable insights for future game design and development. This helps game developers and studios to predict how a game will perform before release and deliver real-time, adaptive content as players interact with the game.

NoBACZ Healthcare, a University of Cambridge spinout developing novel products that change the way lesions and wounds are treated in livestock and horses, has raised a £4.8m funding round led by The Yield Lab.

Wounds on livestock and horses are traditionally treated with antibiotics and then covered with cloth bandages; however, this approach is ineffective as it can lead to infection risks. NoBACZ has created a flexible and waterproof coating that can be applied as a gel, dip or spray. Unlike cloth bandages, it creates an instant protective barrier that seals out bacteria, allowing lesions to heal without the risk of infection.

The investment will be used to finalise its new pipeline of products and accelerate the commercialisation and global distribution of its existing products.