Corero Network Security has reported a strong second half of 2025, with revenue expected at the upper end of guidance at around $25.5 million and EBITDA ahead of expectations at more than $1.3m.

Order intake increased 20% to $33.8m, supported by strong uptake of its SmartWall ONE and CORE platforms.

The London-listed company, which specialises in distributed denial of service (DDoS) protection, ended the year debt-free with $4.0m in cash, benefiting from improved cash generation in the second half.

Author: Patrick Killeen

SaveMoneyCutCarbon (SMCC) has been acquired by advanced materials and EnviroTech group Haydale in an all-share deal valued at up to £24m.

The deal marks an exit for venture capital firm IW Capital, which has backed the business since 2017 and played a central role in scaling the Suffolk-based firm’s B2B decarbonisation platform.

The business aims to help organisations improve energy and water efficiency and cut carbon emissions.

London-listed MedTech Renalytix has completed three new healthcare provider integrations in the US during the final quarter of 2025, with testing now underway at all sites.

The precision diagnostics company, which specialises in AI-enabled kidney disease testing, completed the integrations at kidney care providers in New York, Florida and Tennessee.

They embed the company’s FDA-approved and Medicare-reimbursed kidneyintelX.dkd test directly into existing clinical workflows via one-click ordering.

The New York firm expects utilisation to grow as adoption expands across patient populations.

It is also advancing its collaboration with Tempus AI to support broader electronic health record integration and future expansion, and plans further provider integrations in the coming months.

The Smarter Web Company has announced plans to move its shares from the Aquis Growth Market to the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market, subject to regulatory and shareholder approval.

The company, which provides web design, web development and online marketing services with recurring revenue from hosting and marketing contracts, will have a shareholder vote at a general meeting on 28th January, with both the cancellation and Main Market admission expected to take place on 3 February 2026.

The board said the move would better support the Surrey-based firm’s long-term growth strategy, including organic expansion, acquisitions and its Bitcoin treasury policy.

Quadrise, which develops low-emission fuels to help decarbonise shipping and heavy industry, has extended its exclusive global agreement with specialty chemicals group Nouryon until October 2026.

The deal ensures Nouryon will continue to exclusively supply the emulsifier chemicals used in the London firm’s MSAR® and bioMSAR™ fuel technologies.

The agreement also covers shared intellectual property linked to the development of these fuels.

Quadrise said the extension supports the ongoing rollout of its cleaner fuel solutions across shipping, power generation and industrial markets.

Vulcan Two Group CFO Simon Carter has stepped down from his role with immediate effect for personal reasons, but will remain with the business in a finance position.

Former Boku and Paysafe CFO Keith Butcher has been appointed on an interim basis for at least six months, bringing more than 20 years’ experience as an LSE-listed finance director in technology and e-commerce businesses.

The listed company, which is building a regulated UK ePharmacy platform through acquisitions, has also appointed Dr David Wong, a healthcare and capital markets veteran, as a non-executive director to strengthen its board as it prepares for its first acquisition.

Author: Chris Maguire

It’s hard to think of a retailer that has become more of a British cultural icon than Greggs.

In 2025, Greggs was named the UK’s strongest brand and even had one of its iconic sausage rolls unveiled at Madame Tussauds.

The bakery giant has continued to make headlines at the start of 2026 – but for very different reasons.

On January 8^th, Greggs provided a trading update for Q4, which showed total sales in 2025 were up 6.8 per cent to £2.15bn on the back of 207 new shop openings.

However, the company described market conditions as ‘challenging’ and has seen its share price fall by a quarter in the last 12 months.

Chief executive Roisin Currie made headlines when she said there was ‘no doubt’ that the surge in weight loss jabs had led to the public looking for smaller portions.

It arguably represents Currie’s biggest challenge since becoming the company’s first female CEO in 2022.

 

Author: Chris Maguire

By any metric the reinvention of Nitin Passi has been little short of startling.

The business epitaphs appeared to have been written when the online brand Missguided that he founded, collapsed into administration in 2022.

Passi famously launched Manchester-headquartered Missguided in 2009 and grew it to become one of the UK’s biggest online fashion players before it publicly crashed and burned.

However, any thoughts that Passi would go the same way as Missguided, have proved wide of the mark.

Passi swapped the UK for Dubai and launched a brand specialist called Sumwon Studios and joined forces with the Chinese clothing giant Shein.

According to his LinkedIn posts, 2025’s highlights included:

• Growth up 200 per cent;
• Doubling of profits;
• Sold 25 million units; and
• Acquiring BALR, the premium brand born from football culture.

Author: Chris Maguire

Former Darktrace CEO and the UK Government’s Minister for Investment, Baroness Poppy Gustafsson CBE, has secured a new position.

Gustafsson left her role as UK Investment Minister last September after less than a year in post.

Now she’s been appointed trustee of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), which is the world’s oldest and the UK’s leading defence and security think tank.

Gustafsson, whose LinkedIn profile reads ‘enjoying doing less for a bit, said: “Whilst I am still very much enjoying not working full time, I have started to have a few conversations with friends about what I will do next. Some of the strongest advice is to ‘do what interests you’.

“It is for that reason that I am delighted to join RUSI as one of their trustees.”

As CEO of the global cybersecurity firm Darktrace, Gustafsson helped build from startup to international scale, including a London Stock Exchange listing and multi-billion-pound acquisition.

Author: Chris Maguire

A London-based FinTech has acquired Italy’s leading debt administration provider days after a £1bn+ investment.

Earlier this week GLAS announced strategic investment from leading European mid-market private equity firm, Oakley Capital, and one of Canada’s largest institutional investors, La Caisse.

Now the company has announced the acquisition of Loan Agency Services (LAS), Italy’s leading debt administration provider.

This investment, as well as GLAS’ recent acquisitions, has helped the company’s assets under administration grow to over US$750bn, with 40 per cent organic growth, over £115m+ in annual revenue, 14 offices worldwide and now over 450 staff.

Mia Drennan, founder and CEO of GLAS, said: “This news marks the 10^th  country across the global GLAS network and culminates the most successful year the company has ever had.

“Our clients can look forward to an enhanced service offering in the region, as well as an expansion of our services through LAS’s current capabilities.”

Shares in Sainsbury’s fell 5.78% to 310p today despite another strong Christmas trading update.

Even though sales rose, the main focus for investors was the weakness at Argos.

In its third-quarter trading statement for the 16 weeks to 3rd January 2026, the listed firm reported total retail sales (excluding fuel) up 3.9% year-on-year, with like-for-like sales up 3.4%. 

Author: Patrick Killeen

Target Darts has signed a record-breaking long-term, multi-million-pound agreement with double PDC World Champion Luke Littler.

The reported £20 million agreement, which is the biggest in the history of the sport, secures the future of a partnership that began when the world number one was just 12 years old.

Now a Premier League Champion, back-to-back World Champion and ten-time major winner, the teenage sensation has helped drive unprecedented global attention to darts, introducing the sport to a younger, digitally native audience.

That impact has translated directly into online sales growth for Target, particularly through its proprietary website, international eCommerce channels and connected products such as its Omni auto-scoring system, which enjoyed record sales over the Christmas period.

Enhanced Genomics has appointed Katerina Leftheris, PhD, to its board of directors as part of its strategy to expand its internal therapeutics pipeline.

Leftheris brings more than 30 years of experience in senior scientific roles across pharma and MedTech, including at Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene and Pliant Therapeutics, where she helped advance 15 compounds into clinical development.

Most recently, she served as chief scientific officer at machine learning-driven drug developer Vilya and sits on multiple boards and advisory panels.

Her expertise in medicinal chemistry and drug discovery will support the development of therapies identified using Enhanced’s 3D multi-omics GenLink platform.

Ofcom has set out proposals that would allow mobile networks and Wi-Fi services to share parts of the same radio spectrum for the first time.

The plans would make the UK the first country in Europe to commit to sharing the upper 6 GHz band, with the spectrum divided so that Wi-Fi is prioritised in one section and mobile services in another under strict technical controls.

The move is designed to ease pressure on both broadband and mobile networks as demand for connectivity continues to surge.

The regulator says the approach would boost capacity, support innovation such as future 6G services, and help businesses and consumers access faster, more reliable connections.

Danske Bank UK has appointed Dr Fiona Browne as its first head of artificial intelligence, tasking her with leading the strategic development and use of AI across the bank.

She joins from FinTech 9fin and brings more than 18 years’ experience in AI and machine learning across both industry and academia, having previously served as CTO at Datactics.

In her new role, Browne will establish a new AI centre of excellence in Belfast, working closely with head of data & analytics Lyndsay Shields.

Who are tech figures named as Sheffield Wednesday’s preferred bidders? – the figures behind sports analytics business Short Circuit Science, who drove the largely-unsuccessful recruitment policy at rivals Sheffield United last summer, have been revealed by administrators as the preferred bid.

Faculty becomes 1st tech unicorn of 2026 with Accenture deal – The 400-strong London AI firm was bought by the professional services giant in a deal worth more than $1 billion.

Computacenter seals $120m deal for professional services firm – Listed technology provider to boost its international revenues after adding 26-year-old firm AgreeYa Solutions, which has more than 1,300 staff.

Raspberry Pi falls to lowest share price since IPO – On Monday, the Cambridge-based firm’s shares dipped below its 280p IPO offer price and way off 766p peak amid falling revenues and a potentially unpredictable future.

LDC exit after sale of Wireless CCTV to Arcus – Private equity investor LDC exited its investment in the Rochdale manufacturer of body-worn cameras at a 3.3x multiple following a sale to Arcus Infrastructure Partners.

TT Electronics chair to step down amid Cicor takeover collapse – TT Electronics’ proposed £287 million takeover by Swiss electronics group Cicor collapsed after shareholders voted against the deal, with Warren Tucker confirming his departure in the same statement.

Huge revenue dip at Fruugo sees firm enter the red – The global online marketplace saw revenues decline sharply in 2024, with turnover dropping from £78m to £56.4m.

And, of course, the BusinessBite live tech blog – Bite-size news in business & technology, from big breaking stories to share prices, funding, appointments & deals.

Vehicle rental management technology and services provider FOD Mobility Group has appointed Greg Taylor as its CEO, as the business looks to accelerate growth across the UK and Europe.

He replaces Joe Howick, who retired at the end of last year.

Taylor joins the Yorkshire-based company from Citygate Holdings, one of the UK’s top 50 car retailer groups, where he was responsible for leading the launch of Citygate Leasing, the group’s brokerage operation successfully introduced in March 2025.

He brings more than 25 years of senior leadership experience in the fleet and mobility sector, having held a range of commercial and operational roles at Constellation Automotive Group, ALD Automotive, Alphabet (GB), ING Car Lease and LeasePlan.

Author: Chris Maguire

One of the stars of the latest series of The Apprentice has landed a role at Microsoft.

Emma Street made it to week eight of the hit BBC show before being fired by Lord Sugar.

Street, who dropped out of university at 19 after securing a prestigious apprenticeship at tech consultancy Capgemini, has started a new job as customer success account manager at Microsoft.

Sharing the news on LinkedIn she said: “It’s been a fantastic start already — from an engaging onboarding day in Paddington to a warm welcome at the Reading HQ where I had the chance to meet even more of the team.

“I’m really looking forward to working with our customers, helping them unlock value, and being part of such an inspiring organisation.

“Grateful for the opportunity and excited for what’s ahead!”

In other news, her fellow candidate Keir Shave has predicted his telemarketing company Parallel Partnerships will be at 80 staff by Q2.

The Leeds-based startup, which specialises in lead generation, has already recruited seven new starters this year.

A £4.6 million immersive education and entertainment hub described as “one of the most significant tech destinations” in Cumbria has officially opened in Whitehaven.

LEVELS, developed by social impact property specialists BEC and backed by Sellafield and BT, spans four floors featuring immersive digital and gaming experiences, an esports arena, a café and interactive learning spaces aimed at young people, families and educators.

Funded by £3.3m from Sellafield, £800,000 from BT and £500,000 from BEC, the project forms part of a wider regeneration effort to revitalise the town centre.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Leonard Curtis partners Andrew Knowles and Andrew Poxon have been appointed as joint administrators of AIM-listed Versarien plc, bringing to a head a prolonged period of financial distress for the graphene specialist.

Versarien, an IP-led advanced materials business incorporated in 2013 with more than 100 patents covering the manufacture and application of graphene and other materials, had been close to administration throughout 2025.