Author: Patrick Killeen

In what has been a record year for the BusinessCloud website, business and tech reporter Patrick Killeen runs through the 100 best-read stories of the year.

The site has seen unique visitors grow from 477,000 to over 810,000 year-on-year, with popular stories including those from Dragons’ Den, the AI boom, the London Stock Exchange, deals  and our recently launched BusinessBite blog. 

Personalities including Steven Bartlett, Matthew Moulding, Sara Davies,  KSI and Harry Kane all made the top 100 for 2025.

The stories were accurate at the time of publication but email news@businesscloud.co.uk if any details have changed.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Spring co-CEO Samar Shaheryar has a big ambition for the PropTech after leading it to £100m in property acquisitions in its last fiscal year.

Shaheryar spent a decade in investment banking at JPMorgan in New York, primarily as a bond trader, before moving into entrepreneurship and the UK property market.

Spring is an evolution of an earlier business founded in 2007 but took shape as a tech-enabled house buyer in 2019.

Today, the business is the largest home buyer in the UK and recently ranked 9th in our PropTech 50 ranking for 2025.

It carries a proven track record delivering homebuying services to our customers and partners alike, working with many leading retirement providers, developers and estate agents.  

“We saw a gap in the market for an efficient, transparent, and customer-centric house-buying service that could trade residential property at scale,” she tells BusinessCloud.

“Selling a home in the UK remains an incredibly stressful process which Spring alleviates through accurate valuations, guaranteed offers and speedy conveyancing.”

Author: Jonathan Symcox

A Liverpool startup has raised funds from River Capital and EHE Ventures to bring human insight to the heart of boardroom decision-making.

The EIS round of up to £1 million into Deltabase will be used to scale its AI-powered platform that helps businesses understand their rivals through people, not just performance.

Already used by firms including PwC, KPMG and Mercer, Deltabase helps teams quantify ‘people factors’ that traditional analysis overlooks, transforming culture and workforce data into measurable advantage.

Author: Chris Maguire

Investment Minister Lord Jason Stockwood says the UK needs to believe in itself more.

Lord Stockwood stepped down from his day-to-day involvement as co-owner and vice-chair at Grimsby Town FC in September after succeeding Poppy Gustafsson as UK Investment Minister.

He was given a peerage, joining the House of Lords, in order to take up the role and is also an experienced leader in technology businesses, holding senior roles at lastminute.com, match.com, Skyscanner, Travelocity, and Simply Business.

Reflecting on his first few months in the role, the 55-year-old said Britain has spent much of the last decade talking itself down – and it needs to stop.

“The dominant story is one of decline: weak growth, stagnant productivity, brittle public services and a politics that seems permanently stuck,” he wrote.

“Some of that story is deserved. But not all of it. And when pessimism hardens into orthodoxy, it starts to shape outcomes.”

He added: “Sentiment, trust and momentum matter. Markets respond not just to policy, but to how credible and confident the story around that policy feels.

“This matters for the UK because, relative to other advanced economies, the fundamentals are stronger than the mood music suggests.”

Northern marketing agency Agent has gifted over 2,000 brand-new books in December – worth a total of £15,000 – to the young people who need them most as part of its annual All You Read is Love campaign.

Agent personally delivered thousands of books to children, schools, charities and other organisations across the North West, including Bolton Lads and Girls Club in Greater Manchester and Alfie’s Squad in Liverpool. All You Read is Love, launched in 2020, has now gifted £75,000 worth of brand-new books during the last six years, reaching more than 7,000 young people.

Agent partnered with specialist global book distributor Publiship for the third consecutive year, who made an incredible donation of books in support. Further incredible donations came from major organisations the agency works with, including Northern Rail, MSB Solicitors and worldwide IT services and consulting firm CGI.

And for the first time, the campaign was backed by Children’s Laureate and award-winning author and screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce, as well as the National Literacy Trust (NLT). Recent research from the NLT suggests just one-in-three children aged between 8-18 enjoy reading in their spare time, which is a 38% decrease 2005 and the lowest score ever recorded, making Agent’s campaign more important than ever.

Alfie’s Squad, who received their donation a few days ago, is a non-profit organisation founded by Alfie Fitzsimmons who lost his father to suicide at the age of 15 in 2017, inspiring Alfie to take action and make a difference to the lives of other children who have been bereaved by suicide. It is the only charity in the UK offering their unique support, with team activities that reduce feelings of isolation while inspiring friendships and increased self-worth for young people aged 6-17, as well as supporting parents and carers.

Bolton Lads and Girls Club were also among those that received a donation of books. They offer targeted youth services to enrich young lives across two sites in the area, reaching over 50,000 individuals each year.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Valmet has agreed to acquire Worcestershire-based industrial valve specialist Severn Group from private equity firm Bluewater in a deal valued at $480 million (around £358m).

The acquisition is on a cash and debt-free basis, with completion expected in the second quarter of 2026.

It spans all three Severn divisions – Severn Glocon, ValvTechnologies and LB Bentley – and is designed to strengthen Valmet’s Process Performance Solutions segment and expand its Flow Control business beyond its traditional biomaterials focus.

StretchSense, a wearable technology company that makes motion-capture data gloves, has raised £1.7 million in funding in a round led by PXN Ventures with support from Scottish Enterprise, taking its total external funding to almost $20m across three rounds.

Founded in 2012, the firm develops gloves that use proprietary stretch sensors and machine learning to deliver accurate, real-time hand and finger tracking for VR and XR use cases such as animation, gaming, training and simulation.

The gloves are designed to enable natural, controller-free interaction and are built with usability in mind, including durable sensor performance and machine-washable textiles.

The business is increasingly targeting sectors such as healthcare, education, aviation and defence, with its platform also incorporating haptics to simulate touch through vibration in digital environments.

Whitehaven-based maritime robotics startup ScrubMarine has raised $1 million in a pre-seed round to develop autonomous systems for cleaning and inspecting ship hulls.

The company is aiming to reduce the fuel and emissions hit caused by biofouling and the funding will help it to complete its prototype and grow engineering teams in Whitehaven and Edinburgh, as it works towards pilots with major operators.

The round was led by PXN Ventures and SFC Capital, with backing also from industry figures including Graham Westgarth and Colin Greene.

ScrubMarine is developing two platforms – “The Turtle”, a compact hull-cleaning robot that captures inspection data; and “the Whale”, a surface system designed to deploy and recover the robot without divers or port infrastructure.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Christie Group plc has disposed of its visitor attraction software business Vennersys.

Christie, which has operated for more than 125 years, is today a provider of professional & financial services, as well as stock & inventory systems & services to the hospitality, leisure, healthcare, medical, childcare & education and retail sectors.

Vennersys provides ticketing and electronic point-of-sale solutions to UK visitor attractions. As at 31st December 2024, Vennersys held gross assets of £1.43 million and generated a loss before tax and extraordinary items of £1.57m.

London-based Christie Group said its sale to Exeter-based Digital Ticketing Systems, which trades as DigiTickets, will enable it to focus investment on its core brands.

Hiscox Ltd has completed its $275m share repurchase programme.

It announced a $175m programme in February and extended it to $275m in early August.

Metir plc, a provider of fast response water and environmental testing technology, has raised £1m via a share placing.

The parent company of Modern Water and Microsaic Systems provides real-time water safety data and routine testing for a variety of contaminants from Aflatoxin to Zinc and from Pesticides to PFAS – enabling in-depth understanding of the water supply and the potential risk to citizens.

The listed entity is based in York.

PZ Cussons plc has appointed Jan Bramall as CFO and a member of the board of directors. She will join the company on 23^rd March 2026.

She will succeed Sarah Pollard, who is leaving PZ Cussons to take up a new role.

Bramall is currently interim CFO at Severfield plc. Before that she was CFO of Manchester Airports Group for more than five years, playing a key role in delivering major transformation projects.

Prior to MAG, Bramall held senior finance roles at Tyco and Johnson Controls. 

Author: Chris Maguire

Apprentice winner Tom Pellereau has taken full ownership of his beauty technology company after buying out Lord Sugar’s 50 per cent stake.

Life-long inventor Pellereau found fame as the quirky winner of the 2011 series of BBC’s The Apprentice, creating the world’s first curved nail file.

He became the first winner to receive investment from Lord Sugar, who secured a 50 per cent stake in exchange for £250k.

Since then, Pellereau has grown STYLIDEAS into one of the UK’s fast-growing electrical beauty tech brands, including LED masks and makeup brush cleaners.

He revealed: “Today I graduated as an Apprentice. 14 years after his investment Lord Sugar and I’ve agreed terms that return me to 100 per cent owner of STYIDEAS.

“I will always be so grateful for the investment Lord Sugar made, and the potential he saw in me and my inventions.

“His time, knowledge and guidance have been invaluable. While now is the right time to regain full ownership of my business, I look back on the amazing journey we’ve taken together over the last 14 years with deep gratitude and happy memories.”

Days after The Graduate Guide was acquired by Apprentify Group, co-founders Peter Wood and Marlene Leiss have announced their next venture.

The UCL graduates built the The Graduate Guide into a fast-growing community platform of 30,000 graduates, with many going on to land roles at the UK’s fastest-growing startups.

Now the entrepreneurs have revealed details of their latest venture – Calibr – to shake-up the UK’s scale-up space.

Calibr is being built in partnership with Apprentify Group; the UK’s 30th fastest-growing company.

Peter Wood explained: “We’re taking the assessment, onboarding and development systems that work at enterprise level and bringing them into the scale-up world – where the stakes are higher and talent mistakes cost 10x more.”

Apprentify Group, which consists of  Apprentify, Netcom Training, The Juice Academy, Flourish and ioda, is on a mission to redefine early-career pathways through a blend of community, employability and upskilling.

Frasers Group shares jump after £70m Barclays buyback scheme.

Monzo CEO ‘ousted over IPO plans’ .

Fulham FC extends Bob deal.

TT Electronics shares plunge as DBAY snubs takeover deal.

Frontier Developments CEO leaves after 27 years at firm.

Tech-first PR firm Pathos, founded by comedian, in £20m IPO.

Pimberly secures £5m in funding as it steps up UK & US expansion.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

A fledgling Manchester entrepreneur was inspired to found his startup after suffering a football injury one weekend.

Marketer Wesley Clarke-Sullivan injured his back playing five-a-side and was unable to move the next day. He spent hours trawling through clinic websites, manually comparing availability just to find the earliest appointment nearby.

“The initial idea came from a friend who works at a major private healthcare insurer. He explained that many policyholders struggle to book appointments – not because care isn’t available, but because the process is confusing, fragmented and stressful,” he explained to BusinessCloud. “When patients can’t easily use their insurance, they’re less likely to renew.

“The football injury experience then made the problem very real.”

He opted to take redundancy from his role in September – and MediMo was born shortly after.

Author: Richard Whittle, economist at the University of Salford

This move brings contactless cards in line with services such as Apple Pay, which are already unlimited.

The idea here is that phone security features provide greater protection from fraud. And with device payments on the rise perhaps the overall impact of changing card contactless limits will be limited. 

Yet for many, the £100 limit may act as a psychological bulwark against higher spending. Particularly at times like Christmas, where the lead-up momentum and subsequent sales may encourage us to spend more than we want to.

Author: Chris Jones, managing director at PSE Consulting

Lifting the contactless limit is not really about letting people spend more with a tap. It is about shifting responsibility across the payments ecosystem. By lifting the contactless cap, the FCA is stepping away from a blunt, one-size-fits-all rule and putting the onus on banks and card providers to manage their own risk exposure levels.

That significantly raises the bar for the industry. Higher or unlimited contactless only works if firms have robust fraud detection, real time transaction monitoring and strong customer controls in place. The technology already exists, but adoption is uneven. Providers that invest in behavioural analytics and dynamic risk scoring will be able to move faster and with confidence.

For consumers, the real win is not higher limits, but greater control. Being able to set personal thresholds, switch contactless on or off instantly, and manage settings through an app delivers far more value than mandating a simple ceiling.

Banks that treat this as a trust building opportunity will strengthen customer relationships. Those that rush to increase limits without clear safeguards and communication risk eroding confidence and attracting scrutiny from both regulators and customers.

Author: Jonathan Frost, director of global advisory for EMEA at BioCatch

The direct impact is clear, giving consumers greater convenience while maintaining fraud protection; however, FCA estimates indicate the change could cause up to £31.3 million per year in additional contactless fraud, representing a 131% increase. 

The core question is whether raised limits will trigger long-term impacts, such as shifts in criminal behaviour. In Spain, higher-value contactless transactions require a PIN to combat fraud.

There is also a broader ecosystem impact to consider. Some retailers are reluctant to accept contactless payments due to the abuse of chargeback fraud.

This friction risks undermining the very convenience the policy is designed to deliver.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

The £100 limit for contactless payments is to be removed, with banks and payment providers to be allowed to set their own limits from March 2026.

The Financial Conduct Authority says that they must demonstrate strong fraud controls to do so.

The move will allow them to better respond to changing consumer demands, inflation and new technology, the FCA said.

They are also being encouraged to let customers set their own limit, or turn contactless off altogether, as many high street banks already do.  

Existing consumer protections remain in place, while consumers must be reimbursed in unauthorised fraud cases, such as if their card is lost or stolen.