Author: Chris Maguire

The man hailed as Manchester’s ‘Mr Graphene’ has been appointed as chairman of a startup focused on treating waste water in an environmental way.

James Baker, who has recently stepped down as CEO of Graphene@Manchester, has joined Aqua Catalysis, along with fractional chief commercial officer, Mark Lancelott.

Luke Marden, founder and CEO of Aqua Catalysis, said: “The appointments of James and Mark represent a pivotal moment.

“As we enter Aqua Catalysis 2.0, their leadership and commercial expertise will be critical in helping us scale our technology and deliver meaningful environmental impact.”

The company’s patent pending photocatalyst technology is designed to address the challenges of pharmaceutical effluent treatment, supporting manufacturers in reducing environmental impact while meeting increasingly stringent regulatory and sustainability requirements.

As chairman, Baker will provide governance and strategic input with the board to support the company’s evolution from innovation-led development to broader market deployment.

Baker stood down as CEO of Graphene@Manchester in January, where he was responsible for commercialising graphene and 2D materials for products working with industry.

He’s also set up a consultancy business called Baker Graphene to continue supporting graphene startups.

Author: Chris Maguire

Experienced John Hughes has joined specialist finance and accounting recruitment company Sowena Group to support its next phase of growth.

After spending 29 years at KPMG, Hughes has held a series of high profile including being the current chairman of Cortus Advisory Group.

He’s also advised Modern Milkman, which last week secured a £10m investment from Salica Investments, taking total funding raised by the sustainable grocery delivery business to more than £60m.

Hughes has worked extensively as a non-executive chairman and chief executive of large organisations including Yodel.

Modern Milkman takes total funding to £60m with £10m raise

Sowena’s founder and chief executive Perran Cooke said Hughes’ experience and strategic insight would help to strengthen the company’s market position and support its expansion strategy.

The company, which Perran founded in summer 2024, now has a team of 12 based at The Tootal Buildings in Manchester city centre.

Sowena, which last year received a six-figure investment from fund manager River Capital to accelerate its growth, specialises in recruitment for high-growth businesses, pre and current private equity-backed companies and venture capital firms across the North West and beyond.

It recruits for chief financial officer, finance director, financial controller, head of finance and newly-qualified roles as well as for interim and fractional senior posts, with salaries ranging from £45,000 to £200,000.

Sowena places candidates across sectors including retail, technology, manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, fast-moving consumer goods, eCommerce, facilities management, professional services and wholesaling.

Perran said: “This is a really exciting moment for Sowena as we continue to build a business with scale, credibility and long-term ambition.

“Bringing John on board as non-executive director is a significant step for us. His experience from KPMG and Cortus Advisory, combined with his strategic insight, will be invaluable as he works alongside me to strengthen our market position and support the next phase of our growth.”

Hughes said: “Throughout my career, the constant has always been people. However strong the strategy or compelling the opportunity, businesses only succeed when they have the right people in the right roles, at the right time.

“I’ve known Perran for many years and have always been impressed by the way he approaches both clients and candidates – with integrity, commercial insight and a genuine understanding of what growing businesses really need.

“Sowena has built a business that reflects those values, and I’m looking forward to supporting the team as they help clients build finance functions that can scale, adapt and create long-term value.”

Meanwhile, Sowena has strengthened its team with the appointment of Alex Mackenzie as a director and Marcus Polledri as business manager.

Mackenzie brings more than 12 years’ recruitment experience in the North West working with executive-level finance professionals, and has previously held senior roles at Broster Buchanan and Michael Page. At Sowena he is specialising in senior and executive appointments.

Polledri, who has joined Sowena from Simpson Judge, has four years’ experience working in the private equity finance market in London and the south, covering a range of high-growth businesses.

 

 

Author: Chris Maguire

Activist investor Kelso Group Holdings has seen its investment in over-50s group Saga soar by 40 per cent in less than a month.

Kelso, which is also an investor in NCC Group and THG, raised £2.1m through a new share placing in December 2025.

On January 6^th, 2026, Kelso announced it had completed the purchase of 400,000 shares at an average share price of 386.5p.

At the time Saga’s market capitalisation was £551.5m.

Last week the company, which is the UK’s specialist in products and services for people over 50, delivered a positive trading update and said it expected to report an underlying profit before tax that is ahead of the prior year.

Today, Saga’s share price rose by 5 per cent to a five-year high of 550p – giving it a market cap of more than £800m.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

The everywoman in Technology Awards, the longest-running programme celebrating the tech industry’s most exceptional female talent, has unveiled an impressive shortlist of finalists who are transforming the industry through their innovation, leadership and vision.

Finalists showcase the full breath of the industry, from teenagers inspiring other girls to join computer science clubs, through to women developing tools to support Ukraine’s cyber defence strategies, and creating AI systems that accelerate discoveries in renewable energy and vaccine manufacturing. 

The awards, now in their 16th year, shine a spotlight on inspirational women working in STEM at every career stage, from apprentices to C-Suite, who serve as role models to inspire and attract female talent to the tech industry. 

A Leeds-based entrepreneur is expanding an online learning community designed to help small business owners and freelancers navigate the increasingly complex world of digital marketing without the jargon, pressure, or high costs often associated with professional training.

Founded by Rebecca Hopwood, the founder of Youbee Media, The Hive Academy has grown steadily since launching less than six months ago, becoming a practical, peer-supported toolkit for startups and scaling businesses across the UK.

The Academy brings together on-demand training, expert insight and community support in one place, responding to a growing challenge faced by small firms: information overload driven by social media, AI tools and conflicting business advice.

Counter, the challenger consultancy brand from Northcoders, has made a double hire in Stephen Dujakovic and Michelle Wilde.

Dujakovic joins as client growth & partnership lead in London. He brings more than 20 years’ experience across consultancy, BioTech, FinTech and business development. His career spans New Zealand, the United States and the UK.

Wilde takes up the role of talent and partnership consultant. She brings a strong academic background, with degrees in Psychology and International Relations, alongside a Masters in Educational Leadership and Policy. She has built her career across recruitment and higher education, working in technical recruitment and talent coordination roles in both the UK and the US.

A Manchester-based litigation finance firm has announced a major investment in AI and digital platforms to support increasingly complex funding decisions.

IQuote warned that law firms and funders risk being left behind if they fail to adopt modern technology and says it has ploughed more than £10 million into technology and automation to strengthen how it assesses cases, as well as supporting law firms with operational processes.

This, the firm says, has significantly reduced the time required of law firms to complete standard recurring tasks through improved operational processes.

The Manchester-headquartered company has said combining capital with AI and digital tools enables law firms to handle higher-value and more complex cases than traditional funding models allow.

The company’s technology suite includes Rowan.AI, a platform that automates client intake and case triage, and Verimetrics, which uses AI to verify identities and streamline onboarding.

Other systems manage multi-channel communications and provide dashboards to monitor case progress and client data.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

The independent board of CAB Payments has rejected a second takeover approach from investor Helios Consortium.

This morning we reported how Helios was considering making an improved £213 million bid for the London-listed FinTech.

Helios Consortium saw a $1.05-per-share offer for CAB Payments rebuffed last month and said it was seeking recommendation for an improved $1.15-per-share bid.

That would represent a 21% premium to the volume weighted average share price for the 30-day trading period ended 30th January 2026; and a 37% premium to the 90-day average.

However CAB said its board members excluding Nitin Kaul and Henry Obi CBE – who represent the interests of Helios – had rejected the approach.

“It unanimously concluded that the proposals are highly opportunistic and fundamentally undervalue CAB Payments and its future prospects. Accordingly, the proposals have been rejected,” CAB stated.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Shares in JD Sports Fashion Plc jumped more than 6% today despite a sales slide last year.

FTSE 100 company JD issued a warning last month of expected ‘muted’ growth in FY27 after reporting that sales were down 2.2% year on year for the 48 weeks to 3rd January 2026, and down 1.8% for the fourth quarter – which includes the crucial Christmas period.

After today’s rise the retailer’s share price stands at 86.78p, giving it a market capitalisation of £4.27 billion. It is now up 1.24% in the calendar year to date.

Actum Group, a specialist provider of private equity deal flow data and value creation intelligence, has appointed Hamilton Matthews as chair of the board.

Effective today, he brings extensive experience in data analytics and information services, with a proven track record of guiding organisations through periods of growth, transformation, and value creation.

He was previously CEO of Acuris, a specialist business intelligence platform known for products such as Mergermarket, Debtwire and Inframation.

Emerald has raised £1.4m pre-seed investment to ‘close the loop on preventive health’.

The HealthTech pairs every member with a dedicated GP who can review the personalised action plan and, where appropriate, diagnose, prescribe, and guide that person’s next steps.

It says that users build a cohesive and consistent story that moves with them – the antithesis of the fragmented system they’re used to. The journey starts with Emerald’s Baseline, a comprehensive blood test covering 115+ biomarkers, available at 50+ locations across the UK.

The round was led by Boost Capital Partners, with participation from Mark Fountain (Founder of HBS UK, acquired by AXA in 2024), Granatus Ventures, and a lineup of angel investors including Premier League footballers and successful tech founders.

The firm has also secured regulatory approvals.

The Science and Technology Facilities Council’s Hartree Centre and Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust are using advanced digital technologies to develop a smart staff scheduling system that will ease complex rota planning, reduce clinician admin time and support staff wellbeing.

The work is the first phase of a new strategic agreement to collaborate using advanced digital technologies and AI to tackle practical challenges in the NHS, to improve staff wellbeing and resilience for even better patient care.

One of Europe’s biggest and busiest children’s hospitals, Alder Hey provides 24-hour care, balancing planned surgery with emergency demand. Making sure the right staff with the right skills are available at all times requires careful and complex rota planning.

Senior clinicians can spend considerable time each month managing rotas using manual spreadsheets, juggling annual leave, absences, working patterns and on-call rules, while maintaining staff wellbeing and service continuity.

As service demands continue to grow, the Trust identified the need for a modern, reliable scheduling system that frees up valuable clinician time, whilst supporting staff wellbeing, operational efficiency and patient care.

Under a new joint statement of endeavour, the Hartree Centre and Alder Hey have been exploring how advanced digital technologies can transform staff scheduling for the NHS.

In close collaboration with clinicians, the Hartree National Centre for Digital Innovation team has developed an AI-driven system that automatically generates balanced on-call schedules. By incorporating real-world factors such as annual leave, working patterns and staff skills, it can produce rotas that are fair, practical, and more predictable.

A user-friendly interface enables clinicians to review and adjust schedules quickly, maintaining human oversight while replacing manual spreadsheets with a more efficient and reliable approach.

Robinhood UK is launching a stocks & shares ISA.

It says the ISA combines zero platform fees, commissions, low FX fees and a 2% cash bonus, giving UK investors a simpler, more rewarding way to invest tax-efficiently.

Customers can earn 2% back on new eligible ISA contributions when they fund their account before 5th April 2026.

InsurTech Pembridge Life has launched webuylifepolicy.com, a secondary market for term-based life insurance in the UK.

The new platform provides a compliant, consumer-centric alternative for policyholders who intend to let their life insurance lapse, allowing them to sell their policies for a cash sum rather than walking away with nothing.

In the current UK market, when a customer decides they no longer need a term assurance policy, often due to a mortgage being repaid or a change in financial circumstances, the policy simply lapses. The customer receives no payment, the broker loses future commission, and the years of premium payments yield no residual value.

Webuylifepolicy.com provides an alternative solution this cycle by purchasing these policies, ensuring customers are not left entirely out of pocket and providing brokers with a Consumer Duty-friendly alternative to simple cancellation.

While new in the UK, the concept of life settlements is a well-established multi-billion-dollar industry in other global markets, such as the United States.

Net Zero Industry Wales, in partnership with Acre, has today revealed a new Clean Energy Investment Prospectus for Wales outlining the potential to unlock over £20bn of investment over the next decade.

The Prospectus acts as a ‘one-stop shop’ for investors and developers looking for new opportunities within the clean energy sector in Wales.

This builds on the momentum which has already seen Wales secure £4.6bn of global inward investment across 65 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects — strengthening its position in fast-growing sectors such as AI and semiconductors.

This is coupled with the Welsh Government’s recent Investment Summit, at which was announced £16bn of investment across various sectors and included commitments from RWE, Eni, and Vantage Data Centres for investment across Wales.

Video games developer Climax Studios has taken 24,000 sq ft of space at Lakeside North Harbour on the south coast.

The deal sees Climax relocate its headquarters to the 130 acre the Portsmouth business campus, further strengthening Lakeside’s occupier mix and its appeal to technology and creative sector businesses.

Founded in the city over 35 years ago, Climax Studios, part of the Keywords group, is one of the UK’s most established development studios and works with global brands including Sony, Microsoft and Ubisoft.

The studio has played a key role in major franchises, including Age of Empires IV, Flight Simulator and Assassins Creed.

Schneider Electric has appointed David Hall as the zone president of the UK and Ireland (UK&I).

Hall, who has spent nine years with the company, will focus on spearheading strategic growth across the UK & Ireland as the energy landscapes in both markets undergo a rapid transformation.

He previously held the post of senior vice president for industrial automation strategic accounts.

Double Olympic gold medallist Matt Richards is spearheading the launch of Sponza, a new SportTech platform designed to modernise how brands discover, connect with and activate athletes.

Richards reached the top of international swimming early in his career, becoming one of the youngest Olympic gold medallists in British history at Tokyo 2020 before going on to secure a second Olympic title and multiple world-level medals in recent years. 

Yet despite competing – and winning – at the highest level, he experienced firsthand how slow, opaque and relationship-dependent sponsorship processes can be.

Vistar Media, a global provider of technology solutions for out-of-home (OOH) media, has appointed Oliver Goodge as enterprise sales director, EMEA.

In this newly created role, Goodge will lead the expansion of Vistar Media’s enterprise solutions across the region, partnering closely with media owners and retailers to modernise digital out-of-home (DOOH) operations and drive new revenue growth.

Rebecca Griffin has been appointed chief risk officer at specialist lender Afin Bank. Joining from 118 118 Money – where she held the same role – Griffin brings over 15 years of financial services experience.

With a foundation in accountancy at some of the UK’s big four firms, Griffin transitioned into compliance and finance spending almost 12 years at Hinckley & Rugby Building Society, helping to build the mutual’s compliance function and rising to CRO.

Afin Bank helps underserved borrowers who can struggle to get mortgages because of their unique circumstances, such as the self-employed, qualified professionals, high-net-worth borrowers and people from overseas living and working in the UK on a valid work visa.