An engineering group has confirmed that it is in talks to acquire graphene specialist Versarien plc after it served a notice of intention to appoint Leonard Curtis as administrators this week.

Versarien plc has been close to administration throughout 2025 and said in late September that it would run out of cash by November.

It looked set to be saved as a fellow listed company agreed a provisional £200,000 takeover deal in October – and that company has now been revealed to be Time To ACT.

That deal fell through, but talks are ongoing following Versarien’s update earlier this week.

Manchester ‘baby tech’ firm Dote has named Avril Murphy as its new CEO.

The company, which produces baby monitoring technology products, was founded in 2018 by Ste Senior to minimise stress for modern-day parents and raised £1.15m in seed funding in 2024.

Murphy said: “I’m honoured to share that I’ve been appointed CEO of Dote as we prepare for our global launch in 2026.

“I’ve spent my career launching and scaling consumer technology brands globally—across baby, beauty, and connected home.

“I’ve seen the highs and lows of building companies, experienced some succeed spectacularly and others struggle to survive.

“But I can honestly say: I’ve never been more excited about a company’s potential than I am right now.

“What Ste Senior and the team have built with Dote is extraordinary. We’re at this incredible inflection point where AI technology, genuine market need, and the right partnerships have all converged.

“We’ve personalised every aspect of modern life except the one that matters most – raising our children. That’s what we’re changing.

“I won’t lie – this is a lot of pressure. Taking the helm as we transition from startup to commercial business, executing a global launch, building a world-class team – it’s enormous. But I’m absolutely committed to doing what it takes.

“I’m grateful to Ste for trusting me with this role, to our investors who believe in the vision, and to our incredible team.”

Future plc has unveiled a boardroom reshuffle alongside full-year results that show the specialist media group’s revenue and EBITDA dropping slightly.

The FTSE-listed owner of titles spanning tech, gaming, homes and lifestyle said chair Richard Huntingford will step down after the annual general meeting in February 2026, ending an eight-year stint leading the board.

He will be replaced by Mark Brooker, currently a senior independent non-executive director, who has more than three decades of experience across capital markets and platform businesses, with senior executive roles at Betfair and Trainline, and has sat on Future’s board since October 2020.

The announcements were made as the London-based company published its annual results.

Revenue fell 6% year-on-year to £739.2 million, while adjusted EBITDA slipped 7% to £223.4m and adjusted operating profit dropped 8% to £205.4m.

Operating profit fell 9% to £121.9m and profit before tax slipped 11% to £91.9m.

Frasers Group plc has reported an increase in half-year revenues but falling profits.

Mike Ashley’s listed retail group reiterated its full-year profit guidance of £550 million to £600m despite a “challenging consumer environment”.

Describing performance in the 26 weeks ended 26th October 2025 as “a solid first half”, it added: “Although trading has improved compared to last year’s Budget-affected period, it is still weaker than FY24, with excess inventory in the sector continuing to weigh on the wider market.”

In a swipe at the UK Government and unions, the firm added: “As noted in our letter to the Unite Union General Secretary Sharon Graham on 3rd October 2025, given the significant cost increases imposed on retail by the Labour government, it would be reckless and irresponsible for Unite to implement a strike whilst demanding further above inflation wage increases. 

“We await the Union’s response to our latest communication following a breakdown in talks and urge them not to repeat their previous politically motivated actions against the group.”

Revolut has become the latest FinTech giant to tap OpenAI’s technology as it steps up its defences against financial crime.

The digital bank is partnering with the ChatGPT creator to strengthen both its fraud-monitoring tools and customer support.

The London Stock Exchange Group has also today announced a partnership with the AI firm to integrate its financial data and analytics into ChatGPT.

Two female tech founders have been recognised at the 2025 Tide everywoman Entrepreneur Awards, in association with BGF – the UK’s longest-running programme celebrating female entrepreneurs.

Julie Collison of Dublin-based Clear Strategy won the Scale Up Award, while Kent entrepreneur Emma O’Brien of Embridge Consulting took the Tech Innovator Award at the ceremony held on 2nd December at The Londoner Hotel in Leicester Square.

The awards highlighted women-led businesses across a wide range of sectors and growth stages, from early disruptors to established multi-million-pound companies.

DAS Fire, a specialist in fire detection and suppression for data centres, has made a trio of senior leadership changes as it moves into its next growth phase.

Dave Parry has been appointed managing director to lead the company’s expansion and oversee delivery across its technical and customer teams.

Long-time leader Stuart Parker is stepping back from day-to-day duties but will remain involved in a consulting role to support continuity and strategy.

Paul Darke becomes executive director, continuing to drive customer engagement and commercial partnerships.

Mining stocks dominate the FTSE 100 risers, with Antofagasta (+5.20%), Glencore (+4.68%), Fresnillo (+3.23%) and Anglo American (+1.96%) all moving higher in tandem.

Berkeley Group (+2.01%) is also on the rise.

Outside of the top five, Games Workshop (+1.43%), JD Sports (+1.39%) and Vodafone (+1.09%) are all up slightly again today.

On the downside in the FTSE 100, Sainsbury’s (-3.74%) is the sharpest faller after it announced late on yesterday that Qatar Holding LLC intends to sell up to 83.6 million ordinary shares in the business.

WPP (-2.11%), ConvaTec (-2.07%) and ICG (-2.05%) are all also lower today, while there are slight dips for Marks & Spencer (-1.35%) and Lloyds (-1.29%).

In the FTSE 250, Zigup (+14.39%) is the standout riser by a long way. The integrated mobility solutions platform providing services across the vehicle lifecycle saw H1 2026 revenue increase by 2.9% year-on-year to £929.6m.

Drax (+5.15%) and Hunting (+3.84%) are also on the up, while Ceres Power (+3.22%) and Oxford Nanopore (+2.84%) are recovering some ground after weakness yesterday.

On the fallers’ side, Spire Healthcare (-16.15%) is down after it announced that EBITDA for FY25 is expected to be around the bottom end of its guidance range of £270m to £285m.

There are also drops in Paragon (-5.63%), Trainline (-5.21%), DiscoverIE (-3.36%) and Frasers Group (-2.86%).

Away from the big indexes, SysGroup is down almost 4% after reporting a fall in evenues and profits this morning.

Maven Capital Partners has completed an initial £1.5 million investment in the London-based HealthTech business FITR.

FITR is a premium fitness training platform designed to help coaches and fitness professionals build, manage and scale their businesses.

It facilitates communication and engagement with clients, helping to deliver tailored plans and monitor their progress, while its payment and scheduling tools also enable coaches to sell their services and manage subscriptions within a single system.

Lifted Ventures has joined an investment round for MyBliss, a pioneering women’s sexual health brand.

Manchester-based MyBliss, which says it is ‘committed to redefining intimacy care through science and women-centred design’, was founded by Mo Carrier and Joel Birkhead following Mo’s experience with hormonal contraception side-effects.

Their science-backed products – including ultra-thin condoms and intimacy gels – prioritise women’s bodies, comfort and pleasure. It was created to challenge a market historically designed by men, for men.

The round was led by Mint Ventures, with additional co-investment from Alma Angels, bringing together three women-led angel groups dedicated to backing purpose-driven female founders.

Citrus-Lime, a fast-growing retail software and digital marketing services provider, has secured a multi-million-pound investment from BGF.

Headquartered in Cumbria, Citrus-Lime provides an end-to-end cloud retail solution focused on serving hundreds of independent retailers in the cycling, equestrian, running and outdoor space. 

Citrus-Lime has expanded to global markets with a US base and quickly established itself as a leading supplier of EPOS systems in the UK and USA. Citrus-Lime also supplies its Cloud POS to retailers throughout Europe and across Australia. 

 

Investor BGF has exited a tech-enabled fairground firm which only launched in 2019.

Bedfordshire-based Tenpin Entertainment, which is backed by American private equity firm Trive Capital, has completed a deal for Fairgame, which operates two sites in London.

Fairgame reimagines the traditional outdoor fairground in an indoor venue by combining proprietary tech-enabled fairground games with food and beverages such as candyfloss prosecco. 

The company was founded by Richard Hilton in 2019. Its sites, which include live leaderboards for the games, are in the City and Canary Wharf. 

 

Outra, a household intelligence company helping brands better understand and anticipate customer behaviour at the address level, has appointed Fred Jones as CEO.

It started life as the data engine that powered Hometrack, an industry leader in property data which was acquired by Zoopla in 2017. Giles Mackay subsequently spun Outra out as a separate business.

‘Signal erosion’ is a real challenge for marketing professionals everywhere, the firm says: as cookies and device IDs disappear, marketers are losing the clear signals they’ve long relied on.

Outra aims to solve this via AI and advanced technologies which provide household-linked signals which allow brands to predict transactions.

It counts Sky, Zoopla, Shell and AXA among its clients,

FinTech Currensea has appointed a former executive at Amex and Wise as COO.

Enrique Garland will join the London company, behind travel spending cards and co-branded debit cards, as it looks to expand the latter portfolio.

It follows Currensea’s recently-announced partnership with Marriott Bonvoy and Mastercard to offer two co-branded multi-bank debit cards to Marriott’s UK customers, allowing cardholders to earn loyalty points wherever and whenever they spend.

Ideagen has launched Mazlan, a new agentic AI platform aimed at transforming quality, safety and compliance operations by embedding autonomous workflows directly into its software.

Early pilots show tasks that typically take around 30 minutes can be reduced to just a few minutes, with admin workloads cut by more than 70%, and enterprise rollouts potentially shrinking from six-to-nine months to roughly 30 days.

The platform is designed to continuously monitor regulatory frameworks, detect risks, flag audit gaps and automate compliance actions while keeping final oversight with human teams.

The business says further features such as voice control for frontline workers will follow.

Blackmont Legal, a Manchester-based law firm that launched last year as a fully virtual practice, has opened its first physical office in the city.

The firm has taken space at 1 Balloon Street, the former Co-operative Group headquarters, giving its team a base while continuing to operate mainly remote.

The business says the office is about having a hub for collaboration and city-centre presence, not rolling back its remote-first model, and signals a long-term commitment to Manchester and the wider North West.

Bourn has raised £3.5m to scale its Flexible Trade Account, a secured working-capital product designed to modernise the traditional business overdraft for SMEs.

The round includes a strategic minority investment from NatWest Group alongside backing from McPike Global Family Office, Haatch, Love Ventures, Portfolio Ventures and Aperture, with the funding set to expand product functionality, hire across the team and accelerate partnerships with banks and platforms.

The FinTech has already been piloting the solution with Investec and is now integrating across ERPs, accounting systems and B2B marketplaces to reach SMEs inside the workflows they already use.

Author: Chris Maguire

Only 14 per cent of SMEs in the UK are now female-led, down from 19 per cent in 2021, according to government data.

Serial entrepreneur Debbie Wosskow OBE, who is the co-chair of the UK’s Invest in Women Taskforce, said the drop equates to tens of thousands fewer women running businesses across Britain.

She said: “If women started and scaled businesses at the same rate as men, the UK economy would gain £250bn.

“We need to stop treating women-led firms as a DE&I ‘nice to have’.

“They deliver stronger returns, drive jobs, and fuel growth in overlooked sectors.

“If we want a thriving economy, we must change the system – tax policy, childcare, capital access, to make it possible for more women to build and grow.

“Because every lost female entrepreneur is a lost opportunity for Britain.”

Wosskow identified rising taxes; wage pressures; and capital barriers as three of the biggest reasons for the decline.

Author: Chris Maguire

Regional private equity firm NorthEdge has made a number of senior promotions.

Dan Matkin, Liam May and James Hales have been promoted to partner and Jordana Cropper has been promoted to director.

NorthEdge, which has offices in Manchester and Birmingham, has a reputation for backing entrepreneurial and ambitious management teams in the technology, healthcare and business services sectors.

Outside of the firm’s deal activity, the portfolio has also continued to deliver strong growth – with average EBITDA growth of 36 per cent year-on-year in its core sectors.

Ray Stenton and Keven Parker, joint managing partners of NorthEdge, said: “These promotions represent a significant investment in what has always been our most important asset – our people.

“Following a strong year of performance across the business and portfolio, it is great to celebrate that success with these well-deserved promotions.

“We look forward to working with Dan, James, Liam and Jordana in their new roles, as we continue to deliver on our mission of building better businesses, and communities, across the UK regions.”

 

SysGroup plc has reported a fall in half-year revenues and profits.

The cloud, cybersecurity and AI transformation firm, headquartered in Manchester and formerly based in Liverpool, has reduced headcount from 111 in FY23 to 80.

For the six months ended 30th September 2025, revenue was £9.9m, down from £10.2m in H1 FY25.

Adjusted EBITDA was £200,000 (H1 FY25: £400,000), while loss before tax was £1.6m (H1 FY25: £1.1m).

Net cash at 30th September 2025 was £3.1m (2024: £4.6m).

Cybersecurity now represents a significant and fast-growing revenue stream for the group, today comprising 47% of revenue in the period.