Law firm gunnercooke has moved into a new city-centre office in Manchester today to facilitate its growth. The 16,000 sq ft office is located at Pall Mall, part of Bruntwood SciTech’s transformational redevelopment in the heart of King Street.

Designed to accommodate up to 130 people over two floors, the space includes a dedicated client suite, flexible collaboration areas, including multiple meeting rooms and call booths, a TV production studio and a well-equipped event space for clients, partners and support staff to utilise. Other facilities include an innovation room, wellbeing area, multi-faith room, rooftop terrace, gym, bike storage and an on-site cafe.

Aligning with gunnercooke’s sustainability commitments, Pall Mall is a £30 million project transforming a Grade II-listed landmark on King Street into a 120,000 sq ft, net zero carbon innovation hub.

Manchester is the birthplace of gunnercooke, which now has 16 offices globally including in the US and DACH region, and the base for its support team, gcTrust, which employs 100 people, alongside 158 lawyers and legal staff across the region.

Virgin StartUp has opened applications for Momentum 2.0, the next round of its free accelerator programme designed to help dyslexic entrepreneurs scale their businesses.

Following the success of its inaugural cohort at the end of last year, Momentum returns with renewed backing from Virgin Unite and continued collaboration with Made By Dyslexia.

The first-of-a-kind accelerator has already supported 30 dyslexic founders and became the most applied-for programme in Virgin StartUp’s history, with 90% of participants reporting that they saw their Dyslexic Thinking as a strength after completing the programme.

With analysis from Made By Dyslexia revealing dyslexic entrepreneurs contribute at least £4.6 billion to UK GDP each year and that one in three entrepreneurs are dyslexic, Momentum was created to help founders embrace the strengths that set them apart. The free eight-week accelerator is tailored specifically to early-stage founders and intended to enhance Dyslexic Thinking strengths through tailored workshops, 1-1 mentoring and access to resources.

Virgin StartUp has also added a dedicated ‘Dyslexic Thinking’ space in its online community for business founders.

SaaS company Apex B2B has officially launched following an investment of £1.3 million.

The company is expanding its presence in the UK market, targeting wholesalers, distributors, and manufacturers seeking to modernise their digital infrastructure and improve operational efficiency.

Developed as a purpose-built, AI-enabled commerce platform for mid-market businesses, Apex B2B is designed to address a growing gap in the market where companies have outgrown basic retail-first tools but find enterprise platforms too complex, costly, and slow to implement.

To support its growth, Apex B2B plans to hire 15 employees across product engineering, AI, customer success, go-to-market, and operations. The company is targeting mid-market businesses with annual revenues between £10 million and £300 million and plans to expand across European and US markets over the next five years.

The platform was incubated within Monsoon Consulting, a digital commerce agency, and formally spun out following a successful soft launch in December 2025.

IKEA has announced the appointment of David McCabe as its new country retail manager and chief sustainability officer for the UK and Ireland.

Currently the global fulfilment & core services manager for Ingka Group, leading IKEA’s global fulfilment team, McCabe will step into his new position on 1st July 2026.

McCabe takes over from Peter Jelkeby, who recently transitioned to lead IKEA Germany following a successful period of growth and expansion for the UK and Ireland business.

Twinnin, a new platform for protecting and monetising human identity in the age of artificial intelligence, has officially launched with early backing and rapid adoption.

As of today, Twinnin has signed up over 200 licenced faces, with 76 fully completed digital twins — numbers that it says continue to grow by the hour.

Developed by venture-backed AI company AI KAT, backed by SFC Capital,’one of Europe’s most active VCs’ , and notable angels, Twinnin addresses a rapidly emerging issue: generative AI can now replicate faces, voices, and behaviour at scale — yet there has been no infrastructure governing who owns, controls, or profits from human likeness.

Twinnin says it is building that infrastructure — and in doing so, establishing a foundation for ethical AI that brings humans along without replacing them.

The platform enables individuals to register their face and voice, creating a verifiable identity record secured with immutable provenance on the Polygon blockchain. Users can choose to protect their likeness, monetise it, or both.

Digital twins can then be licensed across advertising, film and television, retail, and AI model training — with consent, defined usage parameters, and payment built in.

GoCardless’ annual revenues have increased by 22% year-on-year, according to its latest Companies House filing.

In the 12 months ending 30th June 2025, GoCardless’ total turnover rose to £160.9m, from £132.3m in FY24.

The volume of payments processed by the company also doubled to £79.2bn, in part due to its acquisition of Nuapay, which closed in September 2024.

After recording its first EBIDTA-positive quarter on an adjusted basis in the final quarter of FY25, GoCardless is expected to continue this trajectory to achieve its first EBIDTA-positive year in FY26.

This comes after the FinTech announced it was set to be acquired by Dutch firm Mollie in December 2025.

Author: Chris Maguire

Eka Ventures has announced the closure of its ‘milestone’ £80m ($107m) Fund II.

Eka specialises in making pre-seed and seed investments between £1m and £3m and traditionally works with founders building category-defining consumer technology companies.

It makes Eka the UK’s largest early-stage impact VC, investing across health, wellbeing and sustainability.

Fund I’s portfolio includes Runna (seed round, recently exited to Strava), Urban Jungle, Axle, Hived, Foresight Data Machines, Jude and Flok Health. Several have gone on to raise from Index Ventures, Accel and Balderton.

WPP has announced the appointment of Anne-Isabelle Choueiri as chief transformation officer.

In this newly created role, Choueiri will be responsible for designing, implementing and embedding the operations that underpin Elevate28, WPP’s three-year growth plan unveiled in February 2026.

She joins WPP from The Estée Lauder Companies, where she led enterprise-wide strategic initiatives, including shaping the company’s ‘One ELC’ operating model and transforming its enterprise marketing, data and analytics capabilities.

Previously, Choueiri held leadership roles at world-class consultancies including Accenture, Masaï – a Bain & Co spin-off – and Kearney. She also has a background leading data and digital marketing agencies.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Round, an AI-powered finance automation platform used by some of Europe’s fastest-growing companies and unicorns, has raised £4.5 million in seed funding. 

The round was led by Alstin Capital, with participation from BACKED VC and Love Ventures. 

Roughly 10% of Round’s existing customers also invested, alongside new angel investors including Paul Forster, co-founder of Indeed.

Existing investors, including Passion Capital, the early backers of Monzo, Tide, and GoCardless, doubled down on their investment. 

Author: Jonathan Symcox

SysGroup plc has reported improved profitability & revenues for the last financial year.

The Manchester-headquartered tech group said FY26 revenue and adjusted EBITDA was ahead of market expectations.

SysGroup provides cloud, cybersecurity and AI transformation for UK mid-market clients.

EDX Medical intends to leave the challenger Aquis Stock Exchange and list on the London Stock Exchange’s junior AIM market.

The Cambridge firm creates health testing solutions for medical professionals that improve the rapid detection and characterisation of major diseases, enabling personalised treatment and better outcomes for patients.

It was admitted to trading on the AQSE in June 2021 and was renamed EDX Medical Group Plc following the acquisition by the company of EDX Medical Ltd on 14 November 2022, which constituted a reverse takeover.

Since then the company has raised £15.5m to further develop its business, enter into commercial distribution agreements and expand its laboratory facilities in personnel.

The directors believe that its access to capital from certain funds, its liquidity profile and visibility to investors will be improved by the AIM admission.

The company currently expects to record revenue for the year ended 31st March 2026 of approximately £1.2m.

Concurrent Technologies Plc has said that CFO Kim Garrod intends to retire and step down from her position.

The designer and manufacturer of computer products, systems, and mission-critical solutions used in high-performance markets by some of the world’s major OEMs said Garrod will remain in her role until the end of 2026 to ensure there is a smooth transition process. 

The Apprentice finalist Pascha Myhill has launched an exclusive subscription service ahead of Thursday’s final.

The 22-year-old is the youngest candidate left in the show and is seeking Lord Sugar’s £250k investment for her recruitment company within private healthcare.

Karishma Vijay is the favourite to win and 22-year-old Myhill is offering a free trial to her new content subscription service.

Writing on Instagram she said: “Don’t get it twisted. Just exclusive behind-the-scenes, little bits of my life, Q&As and all that. If you want all the tea, you know where to go.”

The Apprentice finalist Karishma Vijay has revealed she wants to appear on I’m A Celebrity …. Get Me Out Of Here.

The beauty brand owner is battling it out with Pascha Myhill to win Lord Sugar’s mentorship and £250k investment in the final of series 20.

The 28-year-old has 850k social media followers and revealed her dream is to appear on I’m A Celebrity, hosted by Declan Donnelly and Ant McPartlin.

Speaking on Instagram, Vijay said: “To be honest, put me in the jungle, I’ll eat a snake, I’ll eat a worm, I’ll eat a bat. I’ll eat anything.”

Failures, love & millionaires: What happened to The Apprentice winners?

Author: Chris Maguire

Vinted, the Lithuanian-founded online marketplace, has reported annual revenues of €1.1bn in 2025, a 38 per cent increase year-on-year.

At the same time, GMV (gross merchandise value) rose 47 per cent to €10.8bn.

GMV is the total value of goods sold through a platform or marketplace over a given period.

The figures show that Vinted reported adjusted EBITDA of €151m and a net profit of €62m.

Vinted was founded in Vilnius in 2008 by Milda Mitkute and Justas Janauskas after they had a conversation at a party about creating a platform where people could buy and sell clothing from each other’s wardrobes.

Through its network of delivery partners, Vinted provides members with access to more than 500,000 pick-up and drop-off points across Europe, supporting uptake of convenient, out-of-home delivery options.

Revolut has launched AIR – AI by Revolut – an in-app AI assistant designed to transform how millions of users interact with their money, manage their lifestyle and elevate their money intelligence.

Starting to roll out to customers across the UK now, AIR moves beyond the traditional chatbot, according to the FinTech. It acts as an intelligent assistant, deeply embedded in Revolut’s ecosystem.

Revolut says this represents a fundamental shift in how customers can interact with their finances, ending the era of multi-step navigation and empowering users to get a holistic view of their money.

AIR moves beyond the traditional chatbot and allows users to navigate their financial life through simple conversation. Whether it’s a granular breakdown of last month’s coffee spend, sorting travel essentials or setting card controls, AIR can help instantly.

Leeds Digital Festival returns this month with its Mini-Fest from 21st-23rd April to support skills development and growth. 

Organisers say this year’s ‘small but mighty event’ will explore how the rapid surge in AI and data science is fundamentally reshaping the Northern job market. 

A packed programme of nine interactive events across two days will showcase how this innovation is driving local employment and economic resilience.

Leeds-based tech innovation consultancy Parallax has grown its headcount significantly in the first quarter of 2026, with 30 new team members joining to support growing client demand.

The expansion marks the company’s most significant period of growth to date, following a strong 2025 in which Parallax secured 25 new clients and set its highest ever financial forecast for the year ahead.

The firm says the new hires – a mix of designers, full stack engineers, and product and delivery specialists – will strengthen Parallax’s core service offering, with a particular focus on AI innovation. 

Author: Chris Maguire

The founder of electricals retailer AO World said his gran is ‘delighted’ and hopes his ‘mum is proud’ after the company’s latest set of financial results.

John Roberts famously founded the Bolton-based retailer after a £1 bet in a pub with a mate before floating the business in 2014.

For the 12 months to March 31, 2026, AO World’s revenue growth is expected to be c. 11 per cent and B2C growth is expected to be c. 9.5 per cent, underpinned by market share gains across all key categories.

Adjusted profit before tax is expected to be in line with previously upgraded guidance, at the top end of £45-£50m.

Roberts said: “The numbers speak for themselves again and I am delighted to keep doing our talking on the pitch.

“I’d like to thank every AOer and every trading partner that has made it possible by embracing our relentless obsession with customers. In line with our values, my gran is delighted and I hope my mum is proud!”

AO expects to publish its full year results to March 31, 2026 on June 17, 2026.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

TT Electronics plc has named its next chair and CFO, while two non-executive directors are to stand down.

The listed firm saw a proposed £287 million takeover by Swiss electronics group Cicor collapse earlier this year after shareholders voted against the deal.

In the wake of that development, TT chairman Warren Tucker confirmed plans to step down as chairman in May after serving two three-year terms.

Now it has confirmed that Phil Swash will succeed him with effect from the end of TT’s Annual General Meeting, to be held on 15th May.

Two directors have also now decided to stand down, while the company has named its next CFO.