The British Business Bank has invested more than £600 million into the UK’s fastest-growing science and technology scaleups, increasing its direct equity portfolio to more than 50 high-growth companies. 

The Bank has more than doubled its direct equity investments since October 2025, investing more in the last nine months than in the previous four years.

The Bank has ramped up the pace and scale of its direct equity investing activity to tackle longstanding gaps in the UK late-stage capital market and support high growth companies to scale up and stay in the UK.

Companies developing innovative solutions to improve health and social care have been crowned winners of the Isle of Man’s 2026 Innovation Challenge, following a global programme designed to connect innovators with real-world healthcare challenges and accelerate the adoption of new technologies.

The winners were selected from a group of 15 global finalists following a highly competitive process, which attracted a record-breaking 125 entries from 25 countries.

Now in its fourth year, the Challenge focused on health and social care, recognising the opportunity for innovation to play a greater role in supporting evolving patient needs, workforce demands, and service delivery.

Finalists took part in an intensive 10-week programme, working directly with Isle of Man Government, Manx Care, Public Health and frontline professionals to better understand sector needs and refine their solutions accordingly.

Unlike a traditional pitching competition, finalists were given direct access to decision-makers and end users, enabling them to test assumptions, refine their propositions and better understand user needs, service challenges and potential pathways to adoption.

The Challenge culminated in a live Finale Day in Douglas, where finalists presented their innovations to a panel of expert judges, industry leaders and healthcare professionals.

The 2026 category winners are:

· Working Smarter: Concentric Health – An AI-powered digital consent and shared decision-making platform that helps clinicians and patients make informed healthcare decisions through personalised, evidence-based information, replacing traditional paper-based processes.

· Wellness: BeatModules – A digital wellbeing and education platform that uses interactive learning, AI-supported behavioural simulations and peer-led content to help young people build healthier habits and make informed health decisions.

· Home First: Plainstep Ltd – A digital platform that helps healthcare providers recover unused outpatient appointments by automating waitlist management, reducing missed appointments and improving access to care without requiring new apps or systems.

Nebu-Flow, an advanced aerosol drug-delivery company, has been selected as an Innovate UK Scaleup Programme company, joining a highly competitive national programme supporting innovation-driven businesses on their journey to international growth.

The designation places Nebu-Flow among a select group of high-potential ventures receiving strategic, director-level support to accelerate technical, regulatory and commercial scale-up. The programme provides access to a specialist Scaleup Board and experienced Scaleup Directors who operate together as a virtual executive team, helping companies take decisive steps toward investment readiness and global expansion

As part of the programme, Nebu-Flow will work closely with Innovate UK’s scale-up team to strengthen two core value drivers for investors. ISO 13485 readiness, including structured pre-audit preparation to support future medical-device regulatory submissions and a global IP roadmap, protecting Nebu-Flow’s growing portfolio of inhalation and aerosol-engineering technologies

This support will help Nebu-Flow refine its operational systems, strengthen quality and regulatory foundations, and sharpen commercial positioning as it prepares for its next phase of growth. This includes aligning its quality management system with medical-device requirements, securing IP assets across priority markets, and ensuring the platform is fully investor-ready.

Manufacturers across the North West are investing £1.9 million in digital technologies to boost productivity, create jobs and accelerate growth, with support from Made Smarter.

30 manufacturers have secured a combined £604,000 of Government-backed funding to invest in automation, robotics, digital production systems and advanced manufacturing technologies.

The latest projects include Pure Lakes Skincare in Cumbria investing in automated labelling technology, Forest Sofa in Greater Manchester introducing digital fabric cutting, Rustic Tubs in Lancashire expanding production with new manufacturing technology, Glyngary Joinery in Cheshire modernising its timber window and door production, and JFM Workwear in Liverpool City Region investing in smarter manufacturing systems.

Together, the projects are expected to create more than 90 jobs, upskill over 170 existing workers and generate more than £16.4 million in additional growth.

The investments span sectors including food and drink, furniture, construction products, engineering, workwear, battery materials, electrical equipment and industrial machinery, highlighting the diversity of manufacturing across the region.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

There has been another twist in the protracted boardroom battle between Big Technologies and its founder Sara Murray OBE.

The company – trading as Buddi – has this morning announced the retirement of Ian Johnson (pictured) from the board, with Charles Lewinton appointed as acting CEO.

Big is currently suing Murray for hundreds of millions of pounds after accusing her of forgery and deliberate falsification of documents to push through the company’s £577m IPO in 2021. Murray was dismissed as CEO in March 2025 over the accusations, and her assets have been frozen amid the subsequent and ongoing £320m High Court battle.

She continues to hold 25% of the voting rights in the firm and last week was successful in removing Camilla Macun as a non-executive director at its AGM. She and her supporters however failed to remove three other directors.

The London-listed firm reported a drop in annual revenue and EBITDA in January after agreeing a £38.5 million settlement with disgruntled former investors.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

BT Group and Verizon have agreed to form a joint venture combining their international enterprise operations.

Verizon has agreed to pay BT an equalisation payment of $625 million as part of the deal, with both holding equal voting rights following expected completion in 2027.

The new company will serve more than 3,000 customers across more than 180 countries, representing approx. $4 billion in combined annual revenue. 

Martijn Blanken has been appointed CEO-designate of the new joint venture, conditional on completion of the transaction.

BT chief executive Allison Kirkby has been looking to refocus BT, founded 180 years ago, on its home UK market and shed international assets.

East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce’s chief executive Miranda Barker is stepping down from her role after nine years.

Barker plans to concentrate on her passion for low carbon innovation by focusing on her work with the RedCAT Group.

In addition, she will continue to develop climate tech philanthropy through Petrichor, and a portfolio of low carbon focused NED roles.

In 2022  Barker was awarded the OBE for services to business and the community of Lancashire, and in 2024 she was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Lancashire.

Deputy chief executive Louise Sydenham will also be stepping down from her role later this year after 24 years with the Chamber.

Birmingham AdTech Covatic has secured £1.5 million to accelerate the commercialisation of Covatic Sense, its person-level connected TV (CTV) targeting technology.

The pre-B Bridge round was led by the West Midlands Co-Investment Fund (WMCO), managed by Future Planet Capital Regional, alongside investment from Creative Growth Finance, PXN Group, and a number of angel investors.

Deployed on more than 1.7 billion devices with nearly 200 million monthly active users, Covatic is already the attribution and targeting partner of choice for global publishers and broadcasters, including Sky, BBC, Bauer Media, and Octave.

 

Unloq, a Birmingham-based AI company helping businesses make better strategic decisions, has raised £900,000 to accelerate the development of its decision intelligence platform.

The round was led by the West Midlands Co-Investment Fund (WMCO), with backing from Future Planet Capital Regional, Mercia Ventures and Haatch.

Founded by Dr Yiannis Maos MBE and Satyen Fakey, Unloq is building AI software that helps organisations move beyond dashboards and retrospective reporting. Its platform connects internal business data with external market signals to predict likely outcomes, recommend practical actions and help leadership teams improve performance with greater confidence.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Shares in Moonpig jumped 8% this morning after it reported growth in both annual revenues and profits.

The online card retailer welcomed former AutoTrader COO Catherine Faiers as CEO in March as Nickyl Raithatha – who oversaw Moonpig’s IPO in February 2021 – left the company after eight years in the role.

One of her first duties has been to inform the markets of 6.5% revenue growth for the year ended 30th April 2026, reaching £373 million, with adjusted EBITDA growth of 8.1% to £104.6m – a margin of 28%.

Moonpig’s shares stand at 241.8 pence, giving it a market cap of £729m – up 20% in the year to date.

The firm said £60m of share buybacks were completed in FY26, with the intention to repurchase up to £65m during FY27.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Mind Gym plc has reported a drop in annual revenue as talks remain ongoing about a potential sale of the company.

For the year ended 31st March 2026, it reported revenue of £29.9 million, a 23% drop on the previous 12 months.

Losses before tax, however, were reduced from £6.2m in the prior year to £5.2m.

MindGym said the 12-month period marked the second year of a three-year transformation from an episodic training provider to a strategic behavioural-change partne – with products that are easier to buy, sell and renew.

It said recurring licensing and membership revenue grew from 9% to 17% of total revenue year-on-year, with MindGym memberships increasing to 62 customers from 11 in FY25.

The firm also returned to profitability in H2.

Author: Chris Maguire

YouTubers, podcasters and TikTokers are among the names included in Forbes’ 2026 Top Creators list.

The ranking of the world’s 50 most powerful influencers broke the billion-dollar mark for the first time, a 20 per cent jump from last year’s $853m.

The list is topped by American YouTuber MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, and who has turned YouTube stunts into a global production studio. According to Forbes, he has earnings of $300m.

The highest-placed Brit on the list is Diary of a CEO host Steven Bartlett, who finished third with earnings of $52m (£40m) and total followers of 38.7m.

TRIMTECH Therapeutics’ seed round has topped £35 million.

The Cambridge biotechnology company is developing novel small molecule therapies that target and degrade protein aggregates associated with neurodegenerative diseases.

It has raised another £11m led by Johnson & Johnson’s corporate venture capital organisation (Johnson & Johnson Innovation) and BGF.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

The CEO of digital connectivity provider Purple says its unified WiFi network deal with Newcastle City Council is an “inflection point” for the business.

Oldham-headquartered Purple has partnered with the council to deliver an extensive city-wide WiFi network for residents, students and visitors.

With the rollout of free WiFi across council buildings and other participating venues, including gyms, libraries, commercial buildings and public spaces, the partnership aims to transform Newcastle into one of the UK’s most digitally inclusive and connected cities.

Powered by the Purple app, the initiative aims to create a seamless, secure and dense network of connected locations throughout the city.

“We’re several months in and the partnership has exceeded what we hoped for at launch. The unified network is live across council buildings, libraries, gyms and public spaces, with both of the city’s universities and the transport network being woven in too,” Gavin tells BusinessCloud. 

“Alongside that we’ve been steadily onboarding local businesses, from larger commercial venues right down to independent cafes in places like Jesmond. Venues with existing broadband can be up and running in less than half an hour, which has been a real accelerator for sign-ups. 

“What’s most encouraging is that residents and visitors are using it the way we always said they would: download the Purple app once, then roam the city without ever filling in another form.

“Jenny Nelson and her team at the council have been outstanding partners. They were brave enough to be first, and that bravery is paying off.”

He adds: “It’s a genuine inflection point for us. Newcastle is the first city in the world to deploy a unified network of this kind, and what we’ve built there is a blueprint we can replicate.

“We’re in active conversations with councils across the UK, and there’s significant international interest as well.”

Purple, which featured on our MarTech 50 ranking, has made two senior hires to lead those conversations.

Adult social care must sit at the heart of NHS reform – and the technology already exists to deliver it.

That’s the finding of a white paper launched by techUK’s Social Care Working Group at the trade association’s first CareTech conference.

In Why digital adult social care transformation is central to the future of the NHS, techUK sets out the principles that the industry is willing to commit to in order to drive this change.

It draws on real deployment evidence from across the sector, with case studies from organisations including Kyndi, Lilli and Medway Council, Aico and Selwood Housing, Archangel and Bield Housing and Care, Rethink Partners and the Royal Borough of Greenwich, The Access Group and Derbyshire County Council, CoolCare, Ally Cares, and System C and Suffolk County Council, alongside thought leadership from Civica and Tunstall.

The white paper argues that the NHS 10-Year Plan’s three shifts – hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention – all depend on what happens in the homes and neighbourhoods where adult social care already operates at scale. 

The technologies needed to support that shift – predictive monitoring, interoperable records, AI-enabled decision support and digital telecare – are mature and already deployed, the paper says. 

HICX, a supplier management specialist for multinational enterprises, has secured a £15 million growth funding and refinancing package by HSBC Innovation Banking and current investor Wavecrest Growth Partners.

The funding comes as enterprises place greater weight on trusted supplier data as a foundation for procurement, compliance, risk management and AI-enabled decision-making.

London-based HICX operates as the foundational layer, enabling large organisations to operate a governed, reliable supplier data backbone that works alongside existing enterprise systems as supplier data becomes a boardroom priority.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

B&M has turned to ASDA figure Atheeq Akbar to fill its troublesome CFO role – but he won’t join until 2027.

The retailer’s finance chief Mike Schmidt resigned in October following a £7 million accounting error which triggered a profit warning.

Helen Cowing, a seasoned executive with experience in turnaround strategies, was brought in as interim CFO but a second profit warning followed in January and she left in April, with group financial controller Peter Waterhouse stepping into the role on a temporary basis.

Akbar will join B&M in February 2027. He is currently vice president of commercial finance as ASDA and previously led the retail and manufacturing finance functions at Morrisons before being appointed as a finance director in 2021. 

Author: Jonathan Symcox

A former CEO at ANS Group has been handed the top job at Trainline plc.

Ian Brown will succeed Jody Ford, who has doubled net ticket sales at the rail travel platform and overseen growth in new markets in France, Spain and Italy during his six years in charge.

Most recently, he was CEO of the UK & Ireland division of Flutter Entertainment Plc, the Irish-American parent company of Betfair, FanDuel, Paddy Power, PokerStars, Sky Betting & Gaming and Sportsbet which is listed both in New York and London.

At Flutter he delivered sustained double-digit growth but left as part of a restructuring of the firm. Prior to this, he was CEO of Manchester cloud and digital transformation provider ANS Group and, previously, CEO of the Trips business unit at Booking.com.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

THG PLC has posted a strong trading update ahead of its annual general meeting later today.

The beauty and nutrition eCommerce retailer says revenue in H1 grew 6.5% while adjusted EBITDA of at least £40 million is up 36% year-on-year, “supporting strongest H1 free cash flow since 2021”.

It reiterated its full-year guidance.

Quint Group, a FinTech group focused on credit and payments, has appointed FinTech leader Laurence Krieger as a director.

Formerly CEO of Tide and COO at Revolut, Krieger will now formally join Quint Group to work in close partnership with founder and CEO Greg Cox and the rest of the board to accelerate the growth of the group’s portfolio businesses.

He will also shape its emerging M&A strategy as Quint explores aggregation opportunities across payments and credit.