Belfast-based SportTech firm TeamFeePay has raised £9 million in equity funding to support its expansion into new markets and drive a major hiring programme.

Founded in 2021 by grassroots coach Liam McStravick, the company provides software that helps clubs plan fixtures and training sessions, track attendance and reduce admin tasks such as fee collection.

It now supports more than 1,500 clubs and almost 300,000 users, and plans to create 75 jobs over the next two years across the UK and Europe.

The round was led by YFM Equity Partners with a £4.5m investment and the Investment Fund for Northern Ireland (IFNI) with £3m, managed by Clarendon Fund Managers.

Techstart also invested £800,000, with a further £700,000 coming from private investors.

Concept Life Sciences has appointed Dr Adam Davenport as chief scientific officer as it looks to strengthen its integrated drug discovery offering.

Davenport brings more than 25 years of experience across drug discovery and partnership-led R&D, having most recently served as chief discovery officer at Proxygen and previously held senior roles at Dalriada Drug Discovery and Evotec.

The appointment comes during a period of growth for the Chapel-en-le-Frith-based firm, as it continues to expand its discovery facilities and support global clients.

Author: Patrick Killeen

San Francisco-based tech giant Cloudflare has acquired Human Native, an AI data marketplace headquartered in London.

The deal signals the internet infrastructure firm’s growing focus on how content is accessed and monetised in the age of generative AI.

Founded in 2024 and backed by LocalGlobe and Mercuri, Human Native was set up to help content owners strike fairer, clearer deals with AI firms.

The team includes former staff from DeepMind, Google, Figma and Bloomberg, and will now support Cloudflare as it builds tools that make it easier for creators to package and share content with AI systems on their own terms.

The company specialises in transforming multimedia content into structured, searchable datasets that can be licensed by AI developers.

It aims to help publishers and creators package unstructured material into something that can be understood, valued and sold.

Marketing Signals has appointed Jade Denby and Jade Williams to strengthen its PR and marketing teams.

Denby joins the Manchester firm as head of digital PR, bringing more than 15 years of experience and arriving from Wavemaker, where she spent seven years delivering strategies for blue-chip brands. 

The agency said her appointment follows a period of sustained growth, including several new B2C e-commerce client wins.

Williams, a marketer and podcaster, has been named head of marketing and will oversee the company’s marketing activity across brand awareness, lead generation and revenue growth.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Investment, protection and retirement specialist LV= has made two key hires to its executive team.

Anita Fernqvist has been appointed as its new chief transformation and technology officer, subject to regulatory approval.

Fernqvist, a former HP and IBM figure, brings extensive expertise in technology, data and large-scale transformation.

She spent 20 years at Zurich Insurance, including in senior roles such as COO and chief data officer.

In her new role, she will join the Bournemouth-based firm’s executive team and lead its business change, technology services, data and operational resilience functions.

Alongside Fernqvist’s appointment, Chloe Stuttard will take on the role of chief customer officer.

Already part of LV’s senior leadership and having been with the business since 2019, she will join the executive team and lead customer and adviser experience and governance.

Ant & Dec have launched Belta Box, a new digital entertainment channel and their first move into podcasting.

The platform, part of the duo’s Mitre Studios production company and supported by YMU, is billed as a “feel-good entertainment” destination featuring content curated by the pair.

Its first release will be a new podcast series, Hanging Out, described as an unscripted show with no agenda, with the first episode due to launch this Thursday.

Author: Patrick Killeen

The University of Manchester has partnered with Microsoft, becoming the first university in the world to provide Microsoft 365 Copilot access and training to every student and member of staff.

The rollout will cover around 65,000 people across the institution and is due to be completed by summer 2026.

It is part of a wider programme aimed at improving AI literacy and ensuring responsible use of emerging technology.

The Russell Group university said universal access will support teaching, research and professional services work, while also helping to tackle an “emerging digital divide” by ensuring students can access advanced AI tools, regardless of personal circumstances.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

GM Business Growth Hub, in partnership with KPMG and RBC Brewin Dolphin, has opened applications for the next intake of its ASCEND Scale Up Programme.

Starting in April 2026, ASCEND 3 will guide another 25 businesses through a 12-month scale-up programme designed to support their future ambitions and foster business growth. 

Building on a proven format of success, the programme offers expert mentorship, tailored workshops, and exclusive networking opportunities, including a strategy retreat and international exposure at an exciting founders conference – SLUSH 2026 in Helsinki.

Now in its third cohort, ASCEND offers dedicated mentors who provide personalised support to assist participants in creating and executing customised strategic growth plans. The programme helps founders in Greater Manchester maximise the potential of their businesses. 

Those on the programme will get access to workshops, talks and discussions with successful founders spanning a broad spectrum of topics, including strategy governance, people and culture, innovation, finance and longer-term exit planning.

Founders interested in accessing the support and resources available to Greater Manchester’s business community are encouraged to apply.

Axol Bioscience has raised £2.1 million to support its next phase of growth, with the funding round led by US life sciences investor BroadOak Capital Partners and backed by founding investor the Roslin Foundation.

The Edinburgh-based firm, which develops induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technologies for drug discovery and disease research, will use the investment to expand its US commercial presence and scale up manufacturing at its Roslin Innovation Centre base.

It also plans to develop enhanced neuroscience, ophthalmology and cardiovascular disease models.

London-based brand growth consultancy G=mc2 has secured backing from private equity firm Mobeus Equity Partners in a deal advised by Initium Corporate Finance.

The firm works with major brands including JBL, Danone, Heineken, Santander, Volvo, Pandora, L’Oreal and Unilever, using AI-driven consumer intelligence to inform category growth strategy, brand positioning, communications and innovation.

Its proprietary platform Visible gathers around 10,000 images per hour and can cluster roughly 40,000 data points in 20 seconds, which is then combined with insight from its 30-person team of consultants.

Workspace Group chief executive Lawrence Hutchings is stepping down with immediate effect, with Charlie Green set to take over as CEO on 2nd February.

Green is best known as the co-founder of The Office Group (now Fora), which he grew into one of the UK’s largest flexible workspace operators with more than 70 locations, including through Blackstone’s majority investment in 2017.

The London-listed business, which focuses on flexible and sustainable workspace across the capital, said it is also preparing for a finance leadership change, with Tom Edwards-Moss due to join as CFO designate on 23rd February.

Outgoing CFO Dave Benson will remain in post until the end of April to support the handover.

XP Power has reported a pick-up in orders in the final quarter of 2025, with Q4 order intake rising 29% year-on-year to £57.9 million and revenue edging up 2% to £61.2m.

For the full year, order intake climbed 24% to £225.9m, but revenue fell 7% to £229.7m.

The group said profit and earnings per share are expected to be in line with market forecasts, supported by improved second-half trading and a year-end order book of £116.1m.

It also confirmed it will exit the RF market following lower returns and new US export controls restricting sales to key Chinese customers from 2026, with the wind-down expected to take around three years and supported by a £16.4m pre-payment for planned 2026 deliveries.

The listed firm has also completed construction of a new manufacturing facility in Malaysia, due to become operational in 2026, and has shut its Kunshan site in China.

GlobalData has appointed Rachel Higham as an independent non-executive director.

Higham brings more than 30 years’ experience in the IT sector, having held senior roles at Marks & Spencer, WPP, BT and Vodafone.

The appointment comes as part of wider board changes at the AIM-listed company, with long-serving non-executive directors Annette Barnes and Andrew Day set to step down ahead of its full-year results on 2nd March.

Both will not stand for re-election at the 2026 AGM, after serving on the board for more than nine years.

Higham will replace Day, while a further appointment to succeed Barnes is expected to be announced shortly.

WH Smith is set to appoint former Balfour Beatty boss Leo Quinn as executive chairman from 7th April, subject to shareholder approval.

Current chair Annette Court will step down after the retail giant’s AGM on 2nd February, with senior independent director Simon Emeny will act as interim non-executive chair in the meantime.

Quinn brings more than two decades of experience leading listed UK businesses, most recently overseeing a major turnaround and growth programme at Balfour Beatty.

The news comes two months on from the resignation of CEO Carl Cowling, who left after accounting inconsistencies in supplier income recognition within its North America division were identified.

Marshalls said 2025 adjusted profit before tax is expected to be in line with market expectations of £43.6 million, as the group delivered full-year revenue of £632m, up 2% year-on-year.

Building Products and Roofing Products both grew 4% over the year, while Landscaping Products slipped 1%.

The group said its Landscaping Products improvement plan remains on track to deliver £11m of annualised cost savings, with £3m achieved in 2025.

The Yorkshire-headquartered firm ended the year with net debt of £138m.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Outgoing CEO TS Anil is reportedly set for an expanded role at Monzo following a shareholder revolt.

In a surprise announcement in October, Monzo said Anil would step down in February 2026 and be succeeded by former Google and Standard Chartered exec Diana Layfield, who had originally been lined up to lead its UK business.

However, reports claimed that Anil was effectively ousted by the company’s board after a disagreement over its IPO plans.

Now the FT is reporting that Monzo will keep Anil on with more authority than initially planned. He is also likely to remain on the board, insiders told the publication.

Author: Patrick Killeen

M&C Saatchi’s shares have risen by more than 6% to 132.96p in the first 80 minutes of trading despite the group reporting a fall in annual revenue.

Investors have seemed to focus on cost savings, profitability and signs of improving momentum going into 2026.

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.

It has already had well-documented struggles Down Under, with the company cutting its 2025 outlook in November as a result.

In September, M&C Saatchi said that it was taking ‘significant actions to reshape the Australia business’ – new leadership, the closure of an unprofitable full-service media business as well as restructuring – with £12 million of annualised cost savings set to be made.

Reported net revenue for the year is now expected to come in at £210m, with operating profit of £26m.

The company said it delivered on its target of £12m of annualised cost savings in the second half of the year.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Defaqto, a provider of financial product ratings and market intelligence, has acquired Pearson Ham Group’s market pricing business for £11 million.

Defaqto says the move significantly enhances its portfolio of data and technology solutions for the UK retail financial services and insurance industries.

The acquisition, completed through Defaqto’s parent company Fintel plc, brings together product and pricing data to create a ‘unique’ proposition for insurers, advisers and consumers.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Auction Technology Group has rejected a fresh takeover approach from its largest shareholder FitzWalter Capital, saying the latest 400p-per-share proposal still undervalues the business.

In a statement released today, the business said it had not received a formal letter setting out the full terms of FitzWalter’s indicative £491 million cash offer, with FitzWalter’s adviser Macquarie Capital confirming it would not provide one and that the board should make its own assumptions about the conditions attached.

After meeting on 18th January, the board said it had unanimously concluded that the offer “fundamentally undervalued” ATG and its future prospects, advising shareholders to take no action.

The latest development comes days after FitzWalter made a remarkable 12th approach for the London-listed business.

The bid marked a 48% premium to the firm’s undisturbed share price of 270p on 2nd January, although the stock has since climbed sharply and is now trading at over 350p.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Christie Group plc has completed the disposal of its visitor attraction software business Vennersys.

Christie, which has operated for more than 125 years, is today a provider of professional & financial services, as well as stock & inventory systems & services to the hospitality, leisure, healthcare, medical, childcare & education and retail sectors.

Vennersys provides ticketing and electronic point-of-sale solutions to UK visitor attractions. As at 31st December 2024, Vennersys held gross assets of £1.43 million and generated a loss before tax and extraordinary items of £1.57m.