The Martins are looking for £60k for 10% of the business.

They sell 75% online and 25% at festivals. They’ve generated £4.3m over the decade since launching, when James had a law firm startup. With £150k profits.

They also have their own festival attended by 2,000 people every year.

Jenna says there were arguments on family holidays when she was younger about who would put the awning on the caravan as they are so difficult.

Touker says he could pick up the phone to China and order stock for his warehouse. “There’s no barrier to entry.”

Next up are James and Sarah Martin will pitch Glawning, which sells luxury cotton bell-tent awnings for campervans.

Founded in 2013, they will talk up their durable, waterproof, flame-retardant nature – and say they take only 10 minutes to pitch.

The family business has branched out into car awnings, wood burners and tarps.

They are from Yorkshire – but it’s not THAT James Martin from the White Rose County!

Steven Bartlett knows the founders of the highest-profile dating apps and says there is a market for this.

Zee says she has seen success on social media just by explaining the problem in a video and how she intends to solve it.

Peter Jones is surprised by the £3m valuation, given that she has little traction and hasn’t built a successful business before.

Touker Suleyman is out as he knows little about dating apps.

Jenna Meek is also out.

Peter Jones is also out as there are a lot of competitors but compliments her pitch.

Deborah Meaden is worried by the barrier to entry – “your competitors could just see what you are doing and copy it” – and she’s out.

Steven says this is a perfect business for him but a £150k bet is too steep for him.

Zee cites Tim Ferriss, who Steven apparently knows, and says he has spoken about this problem before.

After some back-and-forth, Zee and Steven agree a deal – £150k for 30% of the business!

‘Zee’, as she is known, wants to change the game and says she is creating the next unicorn. It has 5,000 downloads so far.

She is looking for 150k for 5% of the business.

It takes a commission from dates scheduled and also integrates dating doaching – helping people to be better dates.

Deborah Meaden asks about revenue and Zee gives her a spiel.

“Is that your way of saying your pre-revenue?”

The answer: “We’ve done £48 of revenue so far!”

First up in the Den is Zaahirah Adam with hati – she is preceded by a coffin!

hati is a dating app launched in 2025. Adam founded the startup after a bad experience with being ghosted.

It forgoes text messaging in favour of a five-minute phone call between people who are matched to see if they hit it off. hati also eschews static photos in favour of voice and video profiles.

Users must also be verified by three friends to guard against catfishing.

It’s been a long-held dream of Jenna Meek to appear on Dragons’ Den – and one which was realised earlier in this series.

When the REFY co-founder announced that she would join the line-up as a guest Dragon in 2026 to her 14,000 Instagram followers, she wrote: “Been manifesting this one for a long time and it still doesn’t feel real that it actually happened. 

“It has always been a massive goal of mine to be on Dragon’s Den.”

The latest series of Dragons’ Den sees episode 5 tonight as guest judge Jenna Meek returns.

Cosmetic powerhouse Meek made her fiery debut earlier in the series. The CEO and co-founder of REFY Beauty joins Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Steven Bartlett and Touker Suleyman as they grill a fresh wave of hopefuls ‘chasing the deal of a lifetime’.

In this episode, pitches include a phone call-first dating app, a glam makeover to a camping classic, gut-friendly ferments and headphone kits for kids. 

TalkTalk Business completes split from TalkTalk Group

Published: February 26, 2026 at 3:35 pm

Author: Chris Maguire

Business technology provider, TalkTalk Business, has formally completed its separation from TalkTalk Group.

It marks a significant milestone in its evolution as an independent managed network service provider.

Ruth Kennedy, CEO at Salford-headquartered TalkTalk Business, said: “This marks the beginning of the exciting next phase for TalkTalk Business.

“We are now operating as a fully independent organisation with the agility and focus needed to deliver our strategy at pace.

“Our evolution into a managed network service provider is central to our growth ambitions.

“By combining our connectivity heritage with broader technology expertise and strong strategic partnerships, we are building a business designed specifically to support customers with secure, end-to-end solutions.

“This separation gives us the clarity and momentum to drive that forward.”

Following the sale of TalkTalk Business Direct in 2023, TalkTalk Business maintained access to certain core TalkTalk Group systems while rapidly developing its own independent operating environment.

The Financial Conduct Authority has chosen 4 companies to test how their crypto stablecoin services work with proposed regulation in a safe environment.

The stablecoins cohort is part of the FCA’s commitment to supporting growth and innovation in UK financial services. 20 applications were received and the FCA has chosen Monee Financial Technologies, ReStabilise, Revolut and VVTX.

The Regulatory Sandbox programme allows firms to trial stablecoin products in real world conditions with appropriate safeguards. It will help the FCA assess its proposed policy in a live environment and ensure future rules are clear, effective and support responsible innovation.

What are the key steps to growing internationally?

Published: February 26, 2026 at 2:29 pm

Author: Chris Maguire

BusinessCloud joined forces with GM Business Growth Hub for our latest roundtable on the key steps to growing internationally.

The Manchester offices of RSM hosted the discussion, in which several Greater Manchester businesses shared their experiences of trading overseas.

Tom Dunlop is the founder of LegalTech Summize, which has offices in Boston and San Diego.

He said: “When you’re thinking about going abroad to a new market prove it out from the UK first. Make it repeatable before you put feet on the ground. If you put feet on the ground, I would bring your own staff in the business first for a while. Don’t just hire in that country.”

Zoe Brimelow is brand director of Manchester-headquartered packaging manufacturer and consultancy Duo. Brimelow said: “Really play on the Britishness of your brand. It worked massively for us.”

Other speakers included; Ged Tyrrell; Tim Przybysz; Susana Cordoba; James Wild; Marc Balduin; Simon Boyd; Tom Armenante; Janine Smith; Arran Kirkup; Nikki Foster Le-Grys; Ricardo Seixas; Daniel Shackleton; Fergal O’Connor; and Manish Mehta.

Kinfolk has raised more than £5m to develop its agentic AI HR platform.

The London firm says outdated ticketing systems continue to be used by human resources teams, whereas those using chatbots can only provide answers rather than truly help staff.

Its platform combines agentic AI in Slack, request management, lifecycle automation and analytics to manage employee support and people programmes.

The seed round was led by AlbionVC, with participation from PROfounders Capital and existing investors Ascension and Emerge, as well as Tony Jamous, founder and executive chairman of OysterHR.

Tattvam AI is building an AI system that understands circuit structure and autonomously solves complex design tasks, reducing chip development cycles.

Purpose-built chips can deliver up to 100x performance improvements over general-purpose hardware such as GPUs for their targeted applications, while consuming significantly less power.

UK-based debt recovery firm Lawton Hathaway has partnered with fast-growing European digital debt collections specialist Debtist, marking the company’s formal entry into the UK market and reflecting growing international interest in the UK debt recovery and lending sector.

Under the agreement, Debtist UK Ltd will operate in the UK as an authorised representative of Lawton Hathaway, allowing it to work within the UK’s regulatory and compliance framework and giving lenders and financial institutions greater reassurance that work is being carried out within a fully compliant and regulated environment.

Cross-border collaborations like this are becoming more common in the sector, as firms look to expand into new markets while navigating complex regulatory environments.

Debtist is one of the biggest debt collection groups in Europe, focused on helping businesses recover unpaid invoices efficiently through technology, automation and multi-channel communications, across Europe.

A Manchester-based dental surgeon has launched one of the first smile-based emotional wellbeing apps.

Dr Paul Pantiru says he is offering a new, science-informed approach designed to help users begin to regulate their emotional state in under four minutes.

The app, Radismile, provides short, guided audio experiences built around smiling, breath and nervous-system regulation to help interrupt stress and emotional fatigue.

Seraphim, a pioneering SpaceTech investment group, has announced the latest closing of its oversubscribed early-stage venture fund, exceeding its previous $100 million target.

Key investors include the British Business Bank (BBB),The National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF). alongside new strategic corporate backers such as Arabsat, join existing partners Eutelsat, NEC, and SKY Perfect JSAT. This latest closing further strengthens Seraphim Space’s global network of partners and its ability to back the next generation of visionary SpaceTech entrepreneurs.

Building on the success of Seraphim’s preceding SpaceTech focused venture fund, which delivered top-decile performance globally, this latest fund’s focus remains on seed and Series A investments in transformational businesses driving the next generation of commercialisation and technological acceleration in the Space sector.

HealthTech startup Holly Health has received peer-reviewed validation for its digital coaching platform. 

Research published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR) confirms that Holly Health meaningfully improves subjective well-being in people living with multiple chronic conditions.

The research, conducted with University College London (UCL), tracked 565 users over 12 weeks and found significant improvements in life satisfaction, happiness, sense of purpose and anxiety across all age groups, including older adults.

The study also identified how the platform drives change. The app’s chatbot, habit-tracking tools and small-goals framework were found to reduce feelings of loneliness, build self-compassion and support sustained behaviour change. 

Northern-focused venture capital firm PXN Ventures has reopened applications for PraeSeed, its cohort-based investment programme designed to bridge the funding gap for preseed founders across the North of England.

Applications are now open with PXN Ventures recruiting a third cohort of 10-12 startups who will secure places on the six-week programme. Up to eight will receive £200,000 each from NPIF II – PXN Equity Finance, which is managed by PXN Ventures as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II.

Since launching in 2024, PraeSeed has already invested a total of £3m into 15 startups across Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire, Cumbria, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle, Durham and Sheffield.

85% of businesses funded in the 2024 cohort have since raised additional funding.

A London PropTech has secured a £69 million funding deal to fuel the expansion of its AI-powered rental marketplace across the UK.

Dwelly says it leverages AI to significantly enhance the user experience throughout the entire letting cycle, streamlining tenant-landlord matchmaking, maintenance and rent collection.

The firm secured the debt and equity investment to continue its acquisition of lettings agencies. To date it has snapped up eight and currently manages over £200m in GMV. 

Chelsea have agreed a deal with IFS which they hope will see the AI software firm boost performance on and off the pitch.

The multi-year global partnership sees IFS elevated to principal partner with immediate effect, featuring on the front of the Blues’ shirt for the remainder of the 2025/26 season.

It marks the beginning of a long-term collaboration that places advanced AI agents at the heart of football performance, operational excellence and fan engagement, according to the club.

Be bold and brave to win international business

Published: February 25, 2026 at 4:44 pm

Author: Chris Maguire

Firms must be bold, brave and unafraid of risk if they want to succeed internationally.

That was one of the key messages at BusinessCloud’s latest event in association with VirtualNonExecs.

VirtualNonExecs is the UK’s largest community of board advisors, giving corporate partners unparalleled access to the boardrooms of over 50,000 SMEs.

The Leeds office of Eversheds Sutherland hosted Wednesday’s business breakfast, entitled ‘How to scale internationally’.

The audience of 70 delegates heard from two panels of international experts and business leaders.

Alexander Celik is the CEO of Sowerby Bridge-based material science company Rosehill Polymers, which is set to hit £50m turnover this year.

Rosehill was established in 1998 and Celik joined in 2005, growing the firm’s export from 25 per cent to 80 per cent

He told the audience “Don’t be afraid to take risks and be bold. Find products that are novel, interesting and desirable.

“Having an understanding of the cultural elements of each individual market is important.”

Peter McCormack is a partner at Eversheds Sutherland and the head of the firm’s international commercial product group.

He said: “We’ve got around 3,000 people in 70 offices in 30 jurisdictions around the world. Advising clients on multi-jurisdictional contracts, legal issues and needs is really what we do and stands us apart from the competition.”