Vodafone Group Plc has reported its half-year results and launched a €500m share buyback.

In H1 FY26 revenues increased by 7.3% to €19.6 billion, while adjusted EBITDAaL increased by 5.9% to €5.7bn.

However operating profit decreased by 9.2% to €2.2bn.

The latest tranche of share buybacks follows the €3bn already completed since May 2024, with a further €1bn planned.

Vodafone’s full-year FY26 guidance is now that it will deliver at the upper end of its ranges: adjusted EBITDAaL of €11.3-11.6bn and adjusted free cash flow of €2.4-2.6bn.

Author: Chris Maguire

The boss of £1.2bn turnover technology giant Travel Counsellors has said AI can be used to their advantage.

Steve Bryne told the company’s three-day conference at the ACC Liverpool, that AI can enhance storytelling.

More than 1,500 people attended the event from November 7-9  and Bryne said Travel Counsellors was well placed as a company  to ride the technology wave.

“There’s a transformation in the way that people either buy or provide services and we need to turn it to our advantage,” he told BusinessCloud.

“In our world we know what our brand stands for and that’s personalisation and care for customers so how can we use that to enhance that personalisation and care?”

Author: Chris Maguire

Web Summit founder and CEO Paddy Cosgrave has identified China as leading the new technological era.

Speaking at last night’s launch event for the 2025 Web Summit in Lisbon he said: “In the coming days, you will find the world’s most advanced humanoid robots on the Web Summit floor. They won’t be European, they won’t be American. Instead, they are Chinese.”

Cosgrave said he hoped the 2025 Web Summit would produce a future Revolut, which exhibited 10 years ago when they were a three-person startup.

He said although there had been a decline in the number of Germany tech firms at this year’s Web Summit, he said the new ‘poster child’ Poland had a record representation.

“I think we have never lived in a more exciting moment,” he said.

Author: Chris Maguire

TikTok sensation Khaby Lame stole the show at the opening night of the 2025 Web Summit in Lisbon.

The star-studded launch included five-time Grand Slam singles champion Maria Sharapova and the CEO of Swedish unicorn Lovable, Anton Osika, but the 25-year-old content creator got the biggest response from the audience at a packed MEO Arena.

Lame is famous for his wordless comedy and is most-followed creator on TikTok with 161 million followers.

He also has 79 million followers on Instagram and urged content creators to put passion before profit.

“If you just think about money, you’ll never get rich,” he said. “You’ll get rich by doing what you love.”

Author: Jonathan Symcox

The intellectual property and other assets of M Squared Lasers have been acquired out of administration.

The Glasgow-based photonics and quantum technology business fell into administration at the end of August after nearly two decades in business.

Joint administrators Alistair McAlinden and Geoff Jacobs from Interpath confirmed to BusinessCloud that they have completed a sale to Novacene Photonics Limited.

 

Reading Football Club has cemented a research partnership with Score, a vision AI company working at the forefront of football performance analysis.

After becoming the first professional football club to appoint a head of AI, Reading says it is once again exploring how artificial intelligence can enhance the game. 

The one-year collaboration will focus on developing vision AI technology – advanced video intelligence models designed to enhance performance on and off the pitch. 

A new report has highlighted the pivotal need for improved access to finance to ensure the North East’s tech businesses continue to prosper.

The ‘Now and Next – The Finance Needs of the North East Tech Sector’ report by Dynamo North East C.I.C. outlines three key recommendations to improve access to finance and drive growth.

The region is home to a growing number of ambitious tech firms, yet the report points out that many businesses continue to face barriers when seeking the right type of funding required to help scale their businesses.

One of the report’s recommendations is the creation of bespoke funding mechanisms – such as debt bridges and equity co-investment schemes – that are anchored locally and responsive to the needs of scaling tech companies.

Another is the development of a ‘one-stop’ regional finance portal to improve signposting and awareness of available funding sources.

The report also emphasises the importance of investor-founder connectivity, proposing the establishment of a dedicated North East tech investor network to bring together angels, venture capital firms and institutional investors.

Major discount retailer Home Bargains has partnered with leading managed network solutions provider Evolve Business Group to bring resilient, secure payments and connectivity to more than 650 stores across the UK, with 50 stores already rolled out.

The partnership will consolidate multiple legacy networks, including those used for payments and CCTV, into a single point of contact. The new managed solution is proactively monitored by Evolve’s 24/7 technical support desk.

The new network has been designed to maximise uptime. For example, Evolve has implemented diverse connections into each store, with automatic failover to maintain connectivity if one line goes down.

To maintain rapid delivery and reduce administration, firewall rules and configuration changes will be updated automatically across all Home Bargains stores, enabling new features to be rolled out instantly.

Brainomix, a pioneer of AI-powered imaging tools in stroke and lung fibrosis, has been named a winner in the American Heart Association’s Health Tech Competition at Scientific Sessions 2025 in New Orleans.

The The University of Oxford spinout earned top recognition in the Science category for its innovative approach to improving outcomes for patients affected by cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Brainomix is developing AI-powered tools that help clinicians make confident and impactful treatment and transfer decisions that can reduce disability and save lives.

RHI Magnesia – +16.10%
Ceres Power – +13.47%
Diageo – +7.47%
Hochschild Mining – +5.91%
Ocado Group – +5.74%

Other big risers from the media and tech space are Future (+4.63%), THG (+4.36%), IP Group (+3.33%) and WPP (+2.22%).

JTC – -5.01%
Helios Towers – -2.63%
ME Group – -1.94%
BT Group – -1.90%
Sainsbury – -1.49%

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Boots has acquired the loss-making trading subsidiary of MyHealthChecked plc.

The listed entity has become a cash shell after Cardiff-based Concepta Diagnostics, which delivers at-home health testing kits alongside a digital platform, was snapped up for a reported £2.375 million.

CEO Penelope McCormick is to join Boots as managing director of Concepta, with non-executive chair Adam Reynolds becoming executive chairman of the cash shell MyHealthChecked, which will now change its name.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

The Great North mayors and leaders have written to the Chancellor ahead of the Budget, calling for investment that will unlock investment and opportunity across the North.

In a joint letter, The Great North calls for major investment in infrastructure, expanded business support and measures to tackle child poverty.

On infrastructure, the group is demanding the delivery of Northern Powerhouse Rail in full, complementing other rail investment across the North of England to deliver better connectivity across all places to create ‘a spine’ that connects the whole North. 

Mayors and leaders are also calling for a new funding settlement, devolved powers and reform of business support, to back the north’s entrepreneurs and innovators. 

The Great North’s third ask is to tackle child poverty, ensuring every young person in the North has a fair shot at a brighter future by lifting the two-child benefit cap — taking 100,000 children in the North out of poverty.

Spacehive, a community fundraising platform, has launched Social Impact Donations (SID) — a service that makes it easier for businesses, including small and medium-sized companies, to support local community projects while capturing measurable social impact.

Through SID companies can fund vetted projects—from transforming green spaces and urban regeneration initiatives, to energy efficiency programmes—and receive a detailed impact report, including the impact data and marketing assets needed for reporting social impact.

xigxag, a startup transforming the way people read and listen to books, has raised investment from a group of leading angel investors.

Founded in 2019 by Kelli Fairbrother and Mark Chaplin, xigxag is bringing the first major innovation in audiobooks for decades, offering a fully integrated ‘listen and read’ experience.

The xigxag app allows listeners to see text and illustrations as they listen, look up words, search, take notes, share quotes, and switch between listening and reading or read along with the narration.

Lifted Ventures and Alma Angels have invested alongside book industry pioneers and the founders of World of Books.

Zest, a fast-growing investor-operator of public access EV charging infrastructure, has completed the deployment of 142 charging spaces across 14 locations at the University of Warwick.

The rollout is part of a £1.3m investment by Zest that will see the charge point operator provide and manage charging facilities at the University over the next 15 years.

Including both fast and rapid EV chargers, the facilities are projected to save more than 15,000 tonnes of CO2, equivalent to 69 million miles driven in a petrol car.

Catalyst, Northern Ireland’s science and technology hub, has announced a new partnership with Ulster University that will embed entrepreneurial thinking and innovation into the academic experience of more than 450 second and final-year students across the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment.

The initiative, known as IDE Lab @ CEBE, will enable students to explore the commercial potential of their academic work, consider venture creation and develop the mindset needed to succeed in a fast-changing global environment.

Limetrack, a London-based food waste technology company, has raised over £1.3 million – including a £1m loan from Innovate UK.

Limetrack helps businesses to cut costs, reduce carbon and meet regulatory requirements through its IoT-enabled ‘SMART Bin’.

Customers already include multiple NHS Trusts, Hilton and Holiday Express hotels, independent schools, office blocks, restaurants, hotels and care homes, as well as all the major UK waste management firms.

In addition, multinational corporations including Sky and global hospitality company Convene are introducing Limetrack’s SMART bins across multiple sites.

Co-founded in 2021 by British entrepreneur Andy King, Limetrack is using the funds to scale its manufacturing ahead of a European rollout.

Pre-seed investment firm Ada Ventures has launched an AI-powered pitch deck review tool for founders.

Developed by Ada Ventures principal and head of product Michael Tefula, ‘Deck Genius’ is a free platform that gives founders VC-quality feedback on their pitch deck in a fraction of the time it may take an investor to respond.

To use the platform, founders upload a PDF copy of their pitch deck. Within minutes they’ll receive a comprehensive analysis of the fundamental business elements of their proposal, as well as insights on the design and story-telling qualities of the pitch deck.

Once complete, founders have the option to delete their pitch deck from the system or choose to have their analysis securely stored, allowing them to revisit the feedback in the future.

Business software provider Open ECX has moved to bigger headquarters to support further expansion, as organic growth and deepening customer and partner relationships put it on track for a record year.

The company has relocated from Bruntwood’s Blackfriars House in Manchester city centre to Cloister House at the property giant’s nearby Riverside complex in Salford.

Its new HQ provides capacity to expand the team and features additional meeting spaces and breakout areas, creating opportunities to host more customers and events.

Growth this year has put Open ECX on course to achieve record revenues of £4.6m for 2025, up from £3m last year.

Open ECX, which is backed by private equity firm MonacoSol, is a provider of SaaS-based software that automates business transactions.

Its technology helps businesses to streamline their financial processes, covering aspects such as invoicing, ordering and statement reconciliation. The software integrates with an array of leading ERP systems, including SAP, Oracle and Microsoft.

SmartSearch, a provider of digital compliance and anti-money laundering solutions, has appointed Seyfi Günay as its chief revenue officer.

Günay joins following significant investment from Triple Private Equity and the acquisition of identity verification specialist Credas.

He has over two decades of experience in sales leadership at organisations including London Stock Exchange Group, Moody’s Analytics, and S&P Global Market Intelligence.