Bite-size news and insight from UK business and tech – including funding, deals and appointments
Published: January 14, 2026 at 9:29 am
London-listed Cirata has reported a record year for its Data Integration business, with bookings of $13.2 million (up 181% YoY) and a standout Q4 delivering $9.8m – the strongest quarter in the company’s history.
The Sheffield-headquartered firm, which also has a presence in California, also secured its largest-ever OEM contract ($6.7m) via IBM and its largest direct deal ($3.1m) with a major US insurer.
Its shares have risen by over 16% in the first hour of trading today.
The now-rebranded company, which was hit by a scandal which saw its share price plummet nearly three years ago, has sharply reduced costs, with annualised overheads now at 31% of its historic peak, and management expects to be cash flow positive in Q1 FY26.
CEO Stephen Kelly said FY25 was a “foundational year”, helped by the DevOps divestment and the launch of Cirata Symphony, as the business focuses fully on data integration and orchestration for Global 2000 customers.
Published: January 14, 2026 at 9:10 am
Startup Holly Health has secured its first major white-label partnership in the public leisure sector, teaming up with GLL to embed its technology into the new “Live Better” platform.
The integration is set to go live this month and will roll out the London startup’s evidence-based habit-change coaching to around 362,000 members across GLL’s “Better” leisure centres nationwide.
The HealthTech provides personalised digital health coaching to help people build long-term habits through behavioural science and AI.
Through the partnership, it will work as a built-in digital “personal health coach” inside the Better UK app, offering “always-on” support for nutrition, movement, sleep and mental wellbeing, including for users who may not be able to access facilities in person.
Published: January 14, 2026 at 8:58 am
Private telehealth provider Doctor Care Anywhere (DCA) has partnered with mental health platform HelloSelf to widen access to personalised, clinically guided mental health support through direct GP referral.
The new relationship will allow the London firm’s clinicians to refer patients straight into HelloSelf’s tailored service, which combines therapy, coaching and AI-supported care.
HelloSelf provides personalised “SelfPlans”, designed using measurable outcome data, clinical oversight and the individual needs of each patient.
Published: January 14, 2026 at 8:45 am
YFM Equity Partners exited SharpCloud following its acquisition by global research and decision provider Lumivero.
The Leeds-based firm first invested in SharpCloud in 2019, supporting the business at a key stage in its journey as it strengthened its team, accelerated product development and scaled its enterprise SaaS platform.
Since that investment, London-headquartered SharpCloud has expanded its customer base across blue-chip corporates and government organisations.
It now serves more than 100 organisations globally and has over 18,000 users.
The platform has also been developed to support enterprise-wide adoption and deeper workflow integration, helping customers improve decision-making and risk management across large organisations.
Published: January 14, 2026 at 8:37 am
The UK Business Secretary will tell business leaders today that he wants the UK to go ‘toe to toe’ with America on growth.
Labour has come under fire for its increased taxation of businesses in successive Budgets, while it has doubled down on technologies such as AI, despite their potential to sweep away many existing jobs.
However, Peter Kyle is expected to be bullish in a speech to business leaders at Bloomberg today – including Google owner Alphabet, Facebook parent company Meta, Ford, Heathrow, Blackrock, McKinsey, BP, AstraZeneca and Greg Jackson, CEO of Octopus Energy – in which he will outline the Government’s Industrial Strategy changes.
A new update is expected to confirm £79 billion of investment commitments and 50,000 new, well-paid jobs secured in the last quarter.
Kyle will also confirm the names of three new business leaders to join the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council: Amelia Gould (general manager, maritime at Helsing), Keith Anderson (CEO, Scottish Power) and Dana Strong (CEO, Sky).
Published: January 14, 2026 at 8:19 am
GlobalData Plc has set a date for its planned move to the main market of the London Stock Exchange after reporting a rise in annual revenues.
The UK data giant initially announced a plan to move from the junior AIM market in February 2025; however those plans were delayed as it was individually targeted by PE firms KKR and ICG last summer.
When those talks collapsed, it said it expected to make the transition to the LSE main market before the end of 2025.
Now it says admission will take place at 8am on 5th March.
Published: January 13, 2026 at 4:58 pm
Shares in FTSE 250 firm Gamma Communications rose by more than 4% to 919p today after the European business communications technology provider said it expects to deliver yearly EBITDA in line with market expectations.
The progress has been supported by “material year-on-year growth” and a positive contribution from its recent German acquisitions.
In its scheduled trading update for the year ended 31st December 2025, the London-based firm said it had ended the year with net debt of £9.4 million, reflecting the £152.2m acquisition of STARFACE in February 2025.
It still expects to deliver adjusted EBITDA of £140-143m for the year.
The business has also today appointed Chris Jagusz (pictured) as an independent non-executive director.
He brings more than 35 years’ operational and advisory expertise across the sector, including two decades at BT Group and senior leadership roles at Eurotel, Daisy Group, SSE Telecoms, Azzurri Communications and AIM-listed Redcentric.
Published: January 13, 2026 at 4:30 pm
Trustpilot shares jumped more than 10% today after the review platform reported a strong FY25 performance, with bookings expected to rise 22% year-on-year to $291 million (£217m).
ARR is forecast to climb 28% to $296m (£220m) and the group said adjusted EBITDA is projected to come in ahead of market expectations.
The Copenhagen-based business, which is listed in London, also highlighted its focus on trust and integrity, saying it implemented new AI-enabled fraud detection and removed 7.8m fake reviews.
The company’s full-year results are due on 17th March but today’s announcement saw its share price rise by 10.3% to 207.6p.
It comes as a welcome boost for the firm, which has seen its stock drop by over 21% in the past 12 months, although its market cap still stands at £828m.
Published: January 13, 2026 at 3:55 pm
SuperAwesome has acquired California firm Starglow Media as part of a ‘strategic expansion’ into audio.
The deal marks the London-based company’s first acquisition since its management buyout from Epic Games and strengthens its ability to help brands safely engage youth audiences across audio, gaming, creators, YouTube, mobile games and connected TV.
Launched in 2023, Starglow Media has quickly built what it calls the world’s largest independent ecosystem of kids and family audio content, generating more than 120 million annual listens across 45+ shows.
Its portfolio includes premium IP such as Paramount’s Blue’s Clues and Dora the Explorer, alongside original shows including Mysteries About True Histories.
It has worked with major brands such as Disney, Netflix, Toyota, Hasbro, Paramount and Penguin Random House.
Published: January 13, 2026 at 3:29 pm
Redcar-based EnviroTech Nova Pangaea Technologies has appointed experienced energy executive Stewart Stewart as its new CEO.
Stewart brings more than 30 years of experience commercialising breakthrough low-carbon technologies and scaling venture-backed businesses across the UK and the US.
In his new role, he will lead the business through its next phase of growth, including the development of its first commercial-scale plant, as the company works to decarbonise the aviation sector.
The firm, which was founded in 2008, is behind a novel process for producing sustainable aviation fuel from waste biomass.
Published: January 13, 2026 at 2:47 pm
Summa Equity has acquired workforce safety technology provider Peoplesafe from mid-market private equity firm ECI Partners in a deal that will support the company’s international expansion.
Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Surrey, Peoplesafe protects more than 350,000 workers and generated £22.6 million in annual revenues in its last financial year, with core operations across the UK, US and Canada.
The business supports employers in safeguarding lone and frontline workers operating in complex, remote and hybrid environments.
Its customer base spans both the public and private sectors, including organisations in healthcare, real estate, retail, utilities, industry and professional services.
Published: January 13, 2026 at 2:13 pm
Web Summit has announced plans to create 60 new jobs after surpassing €100 million in revenue in 2025, almost doubling since 2023 and rising sharply from €17m in 2020.
In a LinkedIn post, CEO Paddy Cosgrave described the past few years as transformative for the bootstrapped events business, crediting its team for scaling the conference to a “historic” level despite industry-wide challenges.
The new roles will span sales, engineering, production and finance, with opportunities available across Dublin, Lisbon and globally in remote, hybrid and office-based formats.
Cosgrave also acknowledged the difficult year faced by many tech conferences, expressing gratitude for Web Summit’s growth and offering support to others in the sector.
BusinessCloud has attended and reported on the last two annual Web Summit events in Lisbon.
Published: January 13, 2026 at 1:44 pm
London-based EnviroTech Verna has raised $4 million in an attempt to help organisations move beyond biodiversity reporting and deliver long-term nature recovery projects.
The round was led by Berlin-based NAP and Zurich-based Übermorgen, with backing from UK investors including Vanneck, Love Ventures, Concrete Ventures and Climate VC.
The startup’s software brings together existing nature data to help businesses plan, implement and monitor recovery projects over decades, rather than stopping at disclosure.
Within a year of launch, the company surpassed $1m in ARR and now supports more than 3,000 users across 100 organisations.
Published: January 13, 2026 at 1:34 pm
Apadmi has appointed Tim Klein Haneveld as managing director of its Benelux operation.
The move strengthens the mobile technology consultancy’s presence in the Netherlands as it continues to grow globally.
The appointment is a key milestone in the integration of mobile specialist Pinch, which joined the Apadmi Group in July last year, bringing together a combined Benelux team of more than 70 specialists based in a central Amsterdam office.
With the deal now complete, the Greater Manchester firm now employs more than 450 practitioners globally.
It delivers mobile and digital products for major international brands including Domino’s Pizza, Vodafone and Intratuin, and the expanded Benelux operation boosts the company’s ability to support clients from strategy through to long-term mobile performance across multiple European markets and sectors.
Klein Haneveld brings more than a decade of experience helping leading Benelux organisations transform how they engage customers on mobile.
He has led the creation of award-winning mobile apps for major publishers and broadcasters such as DPG Media, Mediahuis and FD Mediagroep, with products used daily by millions of people across the region.
Published: January 13, 2026 at 1:23 pm
The Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA) is expanding its Tech4Youth initiative to Northern Ireland, providing free devices, digital literacy workshops and online access support to young people aged 11–16 to tackle digital exclusion.
The move targets a region with some of the UK’s highest digital poverty rates, particularly in rural areas where 17% of premises still lack decent broadband.
Tech4Youth focuses on supporting young people facing additional barriers, including disabilities, caring responsibilities or experience of the care system, helping improve access to education, skills and employment opportunities.
The expansion builds on earlier success in the region, where 60 laptops were distributed last year.
Published: January 13, 2026 at 1:12 pm
Astoriom has appointed Will Edwards as its new CEO, as the company prepares for its next phase of international growth.
Edwards succeeds Lori A. Ball, who is stepping into a board role after leading the business through a period of expansion.
Headquartered in Rochdale, the business specialises in safeguarding high-value scientific research and consumer product samples, providing services spanning sample stability storage, biorepository solutions, validation services, storage design and disaster recovery.
It was founded over 30 years ago and operates environmentally controlled storage facilities across the UK, Ireland and the US.
Edwards brings more than two decades of international leadership experience across storage, logistics and technology.
Most recently, he served as CEO of Spectrum Storage Group, and has previously held roles at global organisations including Google and Bain & Co.
Published: January 13, 2026 at 1:02 pm
The British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (BVCA) is set to rename itself UK Private Capital, subject to member approval at its AGM this week.
The new name is intended to better represent the full spectrum of private equity, venture capital and private credit firms the association represents, which collectively back around 13,000 UK businesses, employ 2.5 million people and generate 7% of UK GDP.
BVCA chief executive Michael Moore said the change will provide greater clarity for investors, media and policymakers as the sector’s role in driving growth, innovation and jobs has expanded.
The rename, which will formally take effect on 27th January if approved, aligns with its Strategy 2030 ambition to be the home of the entire private capital community.
Published: January 13, 2026 at 12:53 pm
Amazon is facing growing scrutiny from independent retailers who claim the eCommerce giant has listed and sold their products without consent.
The news comes even as the online marketplace pursues legal action against AI startup Perplexity for shopping on its platform without permission.
The concerns centre on Amazon’s “Buy for Me” feature, launched in April last year, which allows some customers to purchase items not sold directly by the company but available on other retailers’ websites.
Published: January 13, 2026 at 12:40 pm
Goalhanger has appointed a trio of senior leaders, with Andy Hodgson joining as CFO, Chloe Straw as director of operations and Emily Kent Smith as editorial director.
The hires are designed to strengthen the company’s financial, operational and editorial capabilities as it scales, with all three reporting to co-founders Tony Pastor and Jack Davenport.
Their arrival follows a record-breaking 2025 for the podcast and production company, which surpassed 750 million full-episode streams in a single year and now delivers more than 70m monthly streams across its network.
Goalhanger has also secured a major partnership with Netflix for The Rest Is Football and seen multiple accolades.
Published: January 13, 2026 at 12:09 pm
Palatine has announced a series of senior promotions, including the appointment of James Painter and Tom Wildig as partners.
Painter, a key figure in Palatine’s technology team, has led investments including Bluprintx and supported multiple acquisitions and exits across the portfolio, while Wildig has specialised in business services, most notably overseeing the successful transformation and exit of NRG Group and Suntera.
Elsewhere, Greg Holmes has been promoted to senior investment director in the impact team and Connor Fazakerley to associate in the growth credit team.
Have Your Say