Bite-size news and insight from UK business and tech – including funding, deals and appointments
Author: George Holmes, managing director, Aurora Capital
That 0.3% uptick is a welcome sign that the economy is still moving, and for small businesses, any growth beats another month of stagnation. It should help confidence, especially for customer-facing firms that rely on households feeling secure enough to spend.
But SMEs should not read this as a broad-based recovery. The headline rise was helped by a rebound in manufacturing output, particularly a surge in car production following earlier disruptions, while construction activity declined again.
Many small firms are more exposed to building work, local services and everyday customer spending than to big shifts in manufacturing.
Policymakers can’t treat one decent month as a mission accomplished; small businesses will continue to face high borrowing costs, increasing tax bills, and cautious customers.
They need steady conditions and better access to finance so they can invest when demand improves, and ultimately help drive further growth in the months to come.
London-based cybersecurity startup Cyb3r Operations has raised $5.4 million (£4m) in a funding round led by Octopus Ventures, with follow-on backing from Pi Labs, taking total investment to $6.75m (£5m).
The company helps organisations manage third-party cyber risk by giving security teams continuous, real-time visibility across suppliers, SaaS tools, cloud services and AI applications.
The funding will support further platform development, deeper threat intelligence capabilities and expansion to more enterprise customers.
London-listed Hostelworld’s revenue is up 7% year-on-year for the second half of 2025, helped by higher booking values, stronger commissions and more efficient marketing spend.
The Dublin-based firm increased its effective commission rate to 16.7% as it rolled out its “Elevate” monetisation tool, while direct marketing costs fell to 45% of revenue.
Over the year, the business also delivered key strategic milestones including the $12 million acquisition of US events platform OccasionGenius, the launch of paid “Social Passes” and an early rollout of budget accommodation options.
For the full year, net revenue rose 2% to €93.8m and adjusted EBITDA is expected to come in at €19.9m.
Oxford Instruments expects adjusted operating profit for FY26 to land in line with its £5.5 million market expectations.
In Q3, order intake in its imaging & analysis division rose 2.4% on an organic constant currency basis, while advanced technologies continued to outperform with year-to-date orders up 44.5%, extending order book coverage well into FY27.
The group also completed the sale of its NanoScience business in early January, generating £48.5m of net cash proceeds.
Alongside this, Oxford Instruments said its pension contributions have now stopped and it is progressing with its £100m share buyback programme, with £41.2m of the first £50m tranche completed by the end of December.
AI-powered job-hunting platform Shoutt.ai has raised £525,000 from SFC Capital and angel investors to help freelancers find personalised work opportunities more efficiently.
The platform uses an always-on AI agent to scan the web 24/7 and alert users to highly relevant gigs quickly, helping them cut down the time spent trawling job boards and marketplaces.
Founded by Saleem Yaqub and Jonathan Eadie, the London-based startup operates a ‘freemium’ model with transparent pricing and no hidden fees, letting freelancers upgrade only when they spot opportunities worth pitching for.
The funding will support product development and help Shoutt.ai scale its service to a growing global freelance market.
VoiceRun has raised $5.5 million in seed funding to help enterprises deploy voice AI systems that are reliable in production.
The round was led by Flybridge Capital Partners, with participation from RRE Ventures and Link Ventures.
The Cambridge startup has built a developer-first platform that lets engineering teams keep ownership of their code while using shared infrastructure for speech-to-text, large language models, text-to-speech and telephony.
The company says it can cut voice agent build times from months to days, with tools for deployment, testing and performance monitoring built in.
Author: Patrick Killeen
BGF has appointed Ben Barker as its new chief investment officer (CIO), with the long-serving investment leader stepping up from his current role as head of portfolio.
Barker, who joined BGF in 2016 and has overseen portfolio, exits and value creation activity since 2023, takes up the position with immediate effect and will join the BGF board, reporting to CEO Andy Gregory.
He previously worked at banking giants HSBC, Halifax and Lloyds, as well as sitting on the board of multiple businesses as a non-executive director.
In his new role, Barker will be responsible for overseeing investment activity and portfolio management across all areas of the business, as the London-based firm continues to focus on disciplined investing and supporting management teams to deliver long-term returns.
Author: Patrick Killeen
SaleCycle has acquired French conversion optimisation firm BEYABLE in a deal designed to create one of Europe’s most advanced full-funnel conversion platforms for eCommerce brands.
The Gateshead-based firm was backed by BGF in 2018 to support innovation and international expansion.
This acquisition is positioned as the next step in building a European-owned MarTech alternative to global marketing suites.
The combined offer will bring together identity resolution, behavioural intent scoring, on-site personalisation and A/B testing, alongside remarketing across channels including email, SMS, WhatsApp and RCS.
It is in an attempt to help brands convert more visitors and generate measurable revenue.
Author: Jonathan Symcox
Grok, the AI tool on Elon Musk’s social media platform X, will no longer be able to ‘undress’ images of real people in jurisdictions where it is illegal.
The climbdown follows widespread condemnation of the tool, which is being used by thousands to remove the clothes of women and children in images.
X disabled the image generator for free users – meaning only those who had logged personal details with X could use it – but the pressure intensified further after Malaysia and Indonesia became the first countries in the world to block access to Grok outright. Yesterday California confirmed that it was probing the spread of sexualised AI deepfakes, including of children, generated by the AI model.
“We now geoblock the ability of all users to generate images of real people in bikinis, underwear, and similar attire via the Grok account and in Grok in X in those jurisdictions where it’s illegal,” X said in a statement.
“We have implemented technological measures to prevent the Grok account from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing.”
Author: Patrick Killeen
EdTech Tapestry has announced a new partnership with school data management specialist Wonde, enabling schools to securely connect their management information system (MIS) directly to their Tapestry account.
The integration will allow the thousands of primary schools already using the platform to automatically sync data via Wonde, cutting down on manual updates and reducing admin for teachers and early years teams.
Cloud-based data management solutions provider Wonde is headquartered in Newmarket and already used by over 30,000 schools across 60 countries.
Meanwhile, Tapestry, which was launched in 2012, is used in more than 14,000 schools across over 40 countries and recently ranked 3rd in BusinessCloud’s EdTech 50.
It was launched through Foundation Stage Forum by husband and wife Helen and Steve Edwards.
Author: Patrick Killeen
Audioboom has reported a strong trading update for 2025, with a sharp rise in profitability and record performance in the final quarter of the year.
The AIM-listed podcast company’s adjusted EBITDA is expected to come in at around $5.1 million (£3.8m), up 54% year-on-year and ahead of market expectations, while revenue rose 10% to approximately $80.4m (£59.8m).
However, the Jersey-based business has seen its share price fall by over 6.5% to 710p since markets opened today.
This goes against the grain, as it has seen its stock rise by a whopping 67% in the past 12 months, with its market cap rising to £132m.
The company also delivered improved gross profit of around $17m, up 18%, as it continued to prioritise higher quality revenue streams.
Listed FinTech group TruFin expects its adjusted profit before tax to be ahead of previously guided expectations and jump a whopping 720% year-on-year.
After posting £900,000 profit in FY24, it expects to report PBT of £7.4m in FY25.
Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in excess of £11.8m (FY24: £7.6m). Group revenue is expected to be approximately £63m (FY24: £55m).
The group’s exceptional financial performance during 2025 was predominantly driven by Playstack. It also owns the Oxygen and Satago brands.
Abingdon Health plc saw half-year revenues grow by 45% to £4.5 million in the six months to 31st December 2025.
The York-based firm, a developer, manufacturer and regulatory services provider for rapid diagnostic tests and MedTech, said the growth was driven by several significant commercial contracts.
Cash and cash equivalents at 31st December 2025 were £3.6m (30th June 2025: £1.9 million). This followed the company’s fundraise in October 2025 which raised £3.2m net of expenses to accelerate expansion operations in the USA and enhance working capital required in new higher revenue-generating projects.
The board is maintaining its revenue guidance for FY26, including grant-funded income, in line with market expectations of £12.6m (£12.2m plus £400,000 grant-funded revenue).
Author: Patrick Killeen
Digitalbox expects profits to beat forecasts after a strong end to 2025, as the AIM-listed mobile-first publisher’s strategy helped it navigate a changing media market shaped by AI.
The Peterborough-based business now expects adjusted EBITDA for the 2025 to come in comfortably ahead of market expectations at around £330,000, compared to a consensus figure of £200,000.
Revenue is expected to be approximately £3.9 million, slightly below the £4.1m consensus, while gross cash stood at around £1.8m at year end.
Author: Chris Maguire
Modern Milkman, a pioneer in sustainable grocery delivery, has launched a new doorstep recycling service for old toys and small electrical products.
Collections will initially start with customers in Harrow, Wellingborough, Warrington and Newcastle before being expanded to everyone in 2026.
The new service initially start with old toys and small electrical products but there are plans to expand the range of goods to include textiles and clothing, books and media and household items.
Founder and CEO Simon Mellin said Collections was a natural extension of Modern Milkman.
“You fill a bag, leave it out with your empties, and we’ll take care of the rest with local recycling partners.
“No trips. No sorting. No guilt – just less clutter at home and a positive impact on the planet.”
The new service works by customers ordering a plastic bag for either old toys or small electrical products online at a cost of £2.50.
According to the company’s website a large wooden milk hut costs £15.
The UK economy grew by 0.3% in November, more than expected, despite uncertainty around Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Budget.
A more modest 0.1% expansion had been forecasted following a 0.1% fall in October.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that the services sector grew by 0.3% in November, while production grew by 1.1% and motor vehicle manufacture grew a whopping 25.5% as the sector recovers following the cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover earlier last year.
However, construction fell by 1.3%.
Finseta, a foreign exchange and payments solutions company, has reported a 9% increase in revenue in its latest annual results.
The firm, which offers multi-currency accounts to businesses and individuals through a technology platform, expects to report revenue of £12.4 million (FY 2024: £11.4m) for the year ended 31st December 2025.
After receiving regulatory approval in March 2025 to provide payment services in the United Arab Emirates, the group achieved significant growth in its Dubai operation, ahead of the board’s initial expectations, and consequently invested further in the sales team to support accelerated future growth in the region.
Together with further expansion of the UK sales teams in 2025, the group also saw strong growth in business with corporate clients in the UK.
Author: Patrick Killeen
Cirata’s share price jumped by more than 16% today after the Sheffield-based data integration business posted a record set of bookings.
The scandal-hit company is now on track to turn cash flow positive in the first quarter of FY26.
In an unaudited trading update for the quarter ended 31st December 2025, the firm reported FY25 Data Integration (DI) bookings of $13.2 million – its strongest full-year performance since 2017 and an increase of 181% year-on-year.
Q4 DI bookings alone hit $9.8m, the strongest quarterly DI bookings in the company’s history.
Cirata also revealed two contracts described as the largest in its history – a $6.7m OEM deal and a $3.1m direct customer contract.
Author: Patrick Killeen
Omnea has been named winner of the 2026 Startups 100 Index after impressing judges with its AI-led approach to modernising procurement.
The London-dominated list, which has returned for its 18th edition, featured 69 companies which are said to be headquartered in London.
Startups from regions including Oxford (4), Cardiff (3), Cambridge (3) and Brighton (3) were featured but their numbers were fractional compared to the eye-watering figure of firms in the capital.
Telent has secured a major RAF contract to operate and enhance the Site Co-ordination, Installation and Design Authority (SCIDA) service.
SCIDA controls how IT and communications infrastructure changes are approved and delivered across 244 sites, including all military air traffic control infrastructure.
The contract starts this month, with a four-year delivery phase beginning in April, and includes new customer liaison and process improvement roles to modernise workflows.
Telent, which was acquired by M Group in August last year, will manage end-to-end change control and stakeholder engagement, replacing spreadsheet-heavy processes with secure digital tools inside the MOD’s Modnet environment.
It will also integrate the RAF’s AutoCAD planning system to reduce duplication, improve transparency and speed up approvals, with 37 staff transferring into Telent as part of the transition.
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