Journeo plc, an information systems and transport technical services group, has reported positive results for the six months ended 30th June 2025.

The Midlands-based group saw adjusted profit before tax of £2.8m – the same as in H1 2024 – while group revenue decreased by 4% to £24.5m.

The H1 2024 period included a major contract with its Infotec division to serve the New York City subway, which has now completed.

Journeo said growth in its Fleet Systems and Passenger Systems divisions – with revenue up by 46% and 17% respectively – effectively replaced this.

Marketing Week becomes Centaur’s third rapid disposal

Published: September 25, 2025 at 7:42 am

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Centaur Media Plc has agreed a deal to sell MWCR Limited – the operating company of Marketing Week, Festival of Marketing and Creative Review – to Haymarket Media Group.

The cash deal, for an enterprise value of £3.9 million, follows the sale of MiniMBA to Brave Bison in July and The Lawyer, expected to complete early next month, to Legal Benchmarking.

Last month the leadership team at Oystercatchers, a consultancy and strategic intermediary partner for agencies which Centaur acquired in 2016, completed a management buyout.

Redx Pharma CEO Lisa Anson has been appointed as a non-executive director of Porvair plc.

The group of specialist filtration, laboratory and environmental technology businesses said Sally Martin will retire after serving as a NED for nine years.

Sheena Mackay will be appointed senior independent director of the board.

Matthew White, chief commercialisation officer of Frontier IP, is to leave the firm and join a Cambridge-based early-stage medical devices company as CEO.

He is to serve a six-month notice period while Frontier, a specialist in commercialising intellectual property, searches for a successor.

Huddersfield-based advanced manufacturing firm Holdson has raised £1.5 million to scale its patented electroform technology, in a round led by the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II).

Electroform is an electromechanical finishing process that is said to enhance the performance of metal parts – including cast and 3D printed components – by refining their surfaces and removing imperfections.

The funding will enable the business to expand production of its electroform machines, which are gaining traction across aerospace, defence, automotive and nuclear fusion industries.

Founded in 2023 out of a collaboration with Cummins Turbo Technologies, the firm has grown to a team of 18 with customers in the UK, Europe, the US and Asia.

The UK government’s AI-powered fraud prevention tool has stopped criminals stealing a record £480 million from taxpayers in its biggest-ever crackdown.

The system scans new policies for weaknesses before they can be exploited, cutting fraud-detection time by up to 80% and helping protect public funds for schools, hospitals and policing.

The results were announced at the Five Eyes anti-fraud summit in London, where Cabinet Office Minister Josh Simons said the technology will be rolled out across government and licensed internationally.

The UK government has announced a £10 million investment in the domestic semiconductor sector, with up to 40 businesses set to benefit.

Backed by Innovate UK, the fund will accelerate development of next-generation chips that power products from smartphones and cars to medical devices and renewable energy systems.

Companies supported include Paragraf, whose graphene-based devices could extend mobile battery life and cut energy use in transport and defence, and Silicon Microgravity, which is developing satellite-free navigation tools for wearables and robotics.

Tech Minister Kanishka Narayan said the funding would boost national resilience, create high-skilled jobs and cement Britain’s role in a global market worth hundreds of billions.

A man in his forties has been arrested in West Sussex in connection with a cyber attack on Collins Aerospace that has caused days of disruption at major European airports, including Heathrow.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) confirmed the arrest, made under suspicion of Computer Misuse Act offences, though the individual has since been released on bail.

The attack, involving ransomware, crippled Collins Aerospace’s baggage and check-in software, forcing airlines to revert to manual processes and leading to hundreds of flight delays and cancellations across airports in London, Berlin, Brussels and Dublin.

Collins Aerospace’s parent company RTX Corporation said it is working to restore systems but warned airlines to prepare for at least another week of disruption.

School of Coding & AI, the UK’s largest educator in AI and coding, has unveiled new £2.5 million facilities at its Birmingham campus to expand accessibility and inclusivity in higher education.

The new space features AI labs, game design facilities, an interactive avatar, podcast rooms and a research centre, transforming the upper floor of the campus into a hub for innovation.

Opened earlier this year in partnership with the University of Wolverhampton, the campus now hosts over 1,300 students supported by 13 specialist lecturers.

The facilities were officially launched by West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker, who highlighted the region’s ambition to lead the UK in AI skills training as part of his Growth Plan.

A London-based developer of agentic AI-native test infrastructure has raised a £14.9 million Series A round led by Redalpine with participation from IQ Capital, Mercia Ventures, UBS and Seedcamp.

The funding for Synthesized will support hiring across North America and Europe in AI R&D, engineering and go-to-market teams.

Founded in 2020 by Nicolai Baldin, the company uses AI to automate the creation of lifelike, regulation-safe test data and environments, helping enterprises accelerate software delivery while staying compliant.

Deutsche Bank, an early customer, has deepened its partnership after seeing test data provisioning times halved.

AI has become mission-critical for business leaders worldwide, with 81% now trusting AI agents to act during crises such as service outages or cyberattacks, according to PagerDuty’s new AI Resilience Survey.

The study, based on responses from 1,500 executives across the UK, US, Australia, France, Germany and Japan, also found that 74% of firms would struggle to function without AI.

Adoption is surging in software development, where 84% of organisations use AI to write, review or suggest code, but 85% of executives admit better guardrails are needed to catch errors and failures.

Puma VCT 13 has launched an offer of up to £70 million to expand its £195m portfolio of 26 companies.

The sector-agnostic venture capital trust backs more established businesses with revenues of £2m or more.

Over the five years to June 2025, it has delivered a net asset value total return of 41.3% and targets an average annual dividend of 5p per share.

London-based MarTech Navigator has raised £4 million from IW Capital to accelerate growth of its digital advertising platform.

Founded by British Olympic medallist in rowing and former Ink Global CCO Steve Rowbotham, Navigator helps brands reach millions of travelling consumers using over 2 billion fully consented, first-party data points.

The team of 24 spans the UK, US and APAC, serving clients including L’Oréal, HSBC, Formula 1 and FC Barcelona.

The funding will support platform development, commercial expansion and a new SaaS product launch with a global hospitality software partner.

Funding Circle secures £300m TPG & Barclays agreement

Published: September 24, 2025 at 12:04 pm

Author: Patrick Killeen

Funding Circle has announced a £300 million forward flow agreement with TPG Angelo Gordon and Barclays to boost lending to UK small businesses.

The renewed partnership will provide ongoing support for the SME finance platform’s core term loan product, which has delivered strong investor returns and supports its wider suite of products including FlexiPay and its business credit card.

The London-based company said the agreement reflects growing confidence in its technology and credit assessment capabilities.

Manchester-based Aruga Cyber is celebrating a year of rapid growth as it expands across the UK and launches new AI-powered services.

Founded in 2024 by former Royal Navy submariner David Taylor and ex-British Army co-founder Daniel Long, the cybersecurity company has developed automation technology that is said to be able to contain threats in just 60 seconds, giving SMEs access to enterprise-grade protection without the cost of running their own security operations centre.

In the past year, the business has grown to six staff, secured more than 10 enterprise clients, opened a new office in Luton and joined Greater Manchester’s delegation welcoming the Japanese ambassador for a Sister City agreement with Osaka.

Its next step is launching Cyber Compass, a free AI-powered tool that instantly delivers tailored cyber resilience reports.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has spent more than £3.6 million on laptops, mobiles and iPads over the past three years to support remote working.

A Freedom of Information request revealed the majority (£3.1m) went on laptops, with mobiles accounting for £380,000 and iPads £91,000.

The investment comes as the government pledges £10 billion by 2029 to modernise the NHS and social care through workforce and digital transformation.

Spending peaked in 2023-24 at £2.8m, largely due to a surge in laptop purchases.

Leeds-based Youbee Media is marking its fifth anniversary with record growth, after turnover jumped 62% in the past year.

Founded by Rebecca Hopwood in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, the female-led agency has grown into a multi-award-winning business supporting brands, charities and third sector organisations.

Its marketing training arm has surged 215% in demand, prompting the launch of The Hive Academy – an online learning platform for accessible social media training.

Global networking and smart home solutions provider TP-Link has promoted Ben Allcock to vice president – B2B UK & Ireland.

In his new role, Allcock will lead the strategic direction, sales, and commercial execution of the California-based firm’s B2B operations in the region, overseeing a team of 35 professionals.

He previously served as sales director UK & Ireland, where he played a key role in expanding the company’s presence, including opening its largest UK & Ireland warehouse in Newbury.

Allcock brings over 25 years of experience in sales and leadership, having held senior roles at Netgear and Channel Solutions.

Blackpool-based supplement manufacturer Zooki has secured £1.8 million in funding from NatWest to accelerate its growth in the global wellness market.

The funding will provide working capital to support research and development of new science-backed product lines and flavours, building on the firm’s portfolio of collagen, electrolyte and vitamin supplements already sold in more than 33 countries.

With almost 100% growth in the past year, the company’s products are stocked by major UK retailers including Holland & Barrett, Sainsbury’s, Selfridges and Harrods.

The business, which recently doubled its headcount in Blackpool, plans to use the funding to enhance brand visibility and expand into mainstream retail channels.

Finova has appointed David Espley as CTO to lead its technology strategy and scale its mortgage and savings software suite.

Espley, who was previously CTO at Kaluza and has also held senior roles at Hargreaves Lansdown and LexisNexis, brings more than 20 years’ experience in technology leadership.

At the London-based firm, he will focus on leveraging AI and cloud-native platforms to improve outcomes for lenders, brokers and their customers.

His appointment follows the recent arrival of CEO Gareth Richardson as the company strengthens its leadership team.