Steven Bartlett says the balls are “absolutely banging” but questions the sugar content.

Laura says they are looking to reduce this and that the balls release energy in the body throughout the day.

Deborah Meaden questions her retail presence and all the stores are in Northern Ireland, with Tesco impending at the time of filming.

Laura tells Jenna Meek that her goal is to become a household name throughout the UK.

Northern Irishwoman Laura is a busy mum and says her products are perfect for packed mornings and busy days in the office.

They are stocked in 150 retail stores as well as online.

The market is currently more protein focused – oats are more natural.

She is looking for £50k for 5% of the business.

“My product has balls,” she jokes.

First to pitch is Laura Murphy, founder of Oatco Superfuel.

Launched in 2024, it sells ‘super bites’ – energy balls made from oats and dates – which come in caramel crisp, pistachio crisp, peanut butter crisp and rainbow cookie flavours.

Each pouch contains two balls, and a £22 box contains seven pouches. 

It also sells oat pouches to which you must add milk then wait for two hours or more. These come in banana biscuit, choco boost and berry boost flavours.

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Peter Jones CBE

Steven Bartlett

Deborah Meaden

Touker Suleyman

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 reaches its halfway point tonight before taking a break.

Cosmetic powerhouse Jenna Meek – who made her fiery debut earlier in the series – returns as a guest judge in her third episode.

The CEO and co-founder of REFY Beauty joins regular Dragons Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Steven Bartlett and Touker Suleyman as they put another set of business hopefuls to the test.

This episode features an oat-powered snack range, a father and son’s DIY gadget, real-world hide-and-seek adventures and a sun-shielding lip care range.

Shares in TP ICAP climbed almost 9% today after the global markets tech company revealed record results and announced an £80 million share buyback.

The FTSE 250 firm reported a rise in revenue and profits – but hinted that it is reconsidering an IPO of its data business.

TP ICAP, headquartered and listed in London since 2000, connects buyers and sellers in global financial, energy and commodities markets. The firm operates from more than 60 offices across 28 countries, supporting brokers with technology.

 

Shares in online travel agent On The Beach have tanked today after it suspended its annual profit forecast.

After the online travel agent reported a ‘significant slowdown in demand’ because of the Middle East conflict, it shed 13.5% of its value over the course of the day, finishing at 167 pence per share.

Although the Manchester-headquartered company has ‘limited exposure’ to destinations in the Middle East, it has suffered a significant drop in demand for holidays to Turkey, Greece, Cyprus and Egypt in particular.

On The Beach said the ongoing uncertainty will impact its profitability.

On The Beach floated in 2015 and hit a high of more than 600p in 2018. Its current valuation – lower than that seen during COVID even, when all international travel was effectively suspended – is down 25% in the year to date, and 37% over the last six months.

 

A property trading and investment group has hailed a ‘major milestone’ after trading over £1billion since forming 15 years ago.

London-headquartered Castle Property Group has now traded more than 7,000 properties throughout the UK, equating to over £1bn worth of residential transactions.

The group, which includes the UK’s leading cash-buying company We Buy Any Home, is run by CEO Elliot Castle and includes a dynamic network of property-focused businesses which specialise in making property experiences faster and smarter, aiming to complete on transactions much quicker than the rest of the residential market.

Experience agency Identity has acquired Coda, a specialist healthcare communications agency.

The partnership creates IdentityCoda, strengthening Identity’s ability to support pharmaceutical and healthcare organisations with compliant, high-impact events and experiences across global markets.

Founded in 2015, Coda says it has built a reputation for delivering technical excellence and creative clarity across global healthcare meetings, congress programmes, and hybrid experiences.

Trusted by some of the world’s top pharmaceutical companies, the agency delivers over 100 programmes annually.

Luxury cruise retailer Panache Cruises has appointed Juliana Nasmith to head up its new Australian operation.

The tech-enabled company is preparing to launch in Australia in May and is now actively searching for an office in Sydney and recruiting a team of up to 10 staff.

Experienced Juliana Nasmith, who has previously worked for Luxury Escapes and Helloworld Travel during a 25+ year career in the travel industry, has started as head of sales and operations in Australia.

James Cole, founder and CEO of Panache Cruises, said the company was investing a six figure sum in the Australian launch and said recruiting Nasmith was ‘pivotal’.

RedCloud, a Nasdaq-listed technology company headquartered in London which is building AI infrastructure for global trade, has appointedRaju Datla as CFO.

Datla previously served as RedCloud’s chief strategy officer, and his background includes senior roles at global financial institutions including Deutsche Bank.

Automotive Insights, a fast‑growing consumer market intelligence tech company which provides ‘just in time’ data, has announced three senior appointments as it accelerates its expansion plans.

The Manchester‑based business has appointed Richard Walker, former director of data & insights at Auto Trader, as executive director of research, data & insights.

Joining him is Needa Khan, appointed director of product & client services, whose background spans the London School of Economics and The Insights Family.

Safe Hammad has joined the board as a non‑executive director following his investment in the company.

Combat Medical, a medical device company optimising the delivery and efficacy of cancer therapeutics, has raised £2.6 million in the first close of a Series A financing to advance its hyperthermic intravesical chemotherapy treatment, HIVEC, through phase 3 clinical trials and toward FDA registration.

The round was led by T&J Meyer Family Foundation, and included investment from Varia Ventures, NW Angel Fund and non-institutional family offices and individuals.

A company whose software helps optimise the design of offshore windfarms has raised £750,000 in the first investment by the new North East Accelerate Fund, which is managed by Mercia Ventures.

Kinewell’s solutions have been used on projects worldwide and the company won the King’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade last year. The investment will unlock a further six-figure sum in grant funding, bringing the total raised to over £1m. It will enable Kinewell to accelerate technology development and commercialisation, and to almost double in size within the next six months with the creation of ten new jobs.

Kinewell, which is based in Wallsend, North Tyneside, was founded by engineer Andrew Jenkins while studying for a PhD at Newcastle University. The first product, launched in 2015, helps to optimise the design of cable layouts.

The technology – which combines AI, supercomputing power and advanced algorithms – can assess millions of different options and identify the most effective materials and layouts in minutes. It typically saves 20% on the costs of the cabling system while cutting months off the development time.

The company now also offers software to design turbine layouts and transmission systems. Its latest products take account of the interactions between all three – cabling, turbine and transmission systems – and claim to reduce the cost of offshore wind farms by 6%, which can make all the difference when securing investment for a project.

Kinewell currently employs 12 staff and has a client base that includes global players such as Equinor, SSE Renewables, Parkwind and Eurus Energy. The Accelerate funding is its first external investment. The company is currently working on three grant-funded innovation and development projects.

AmpliSi, a University of Sheffield spinout addressing the critical limitation in today’s lithium-ion batteries, has raised a £2m pre-seed funding round, led by Northern Gritstone and Clean Growth Fund.

Its proprietary porous silicon anode material is designed to replace graphite used in conventional batteries. This enables lighter, longer-lasting batteries for a range of applications, including EVs and energy storage systems.

The company aims to target the mobility sector, addressing demand for electric-vehicle batteries with higher energy density.

Author: Chris Maguire

Online travel agent On The Beach has suspended its annual profit forecast after reporting a ‘significant slowdown in demand’ because of the Middle East conflict.

Although the Manchester-headquartered company has ‘limited exposure’ to destinations in the Middle East, they’ve suffered a significant drop in demand for holidays to Turkey, Greece, Cyprus and Egypt in particular.

On The Beach say the ongoing uncertainty will impact their profitability forcing them to suspend its annual profit forecast.

The company’s share price dropped by 10 per cent in early morning trading on the back of the news.

In a statement to the London Stock Exchange this morning ahead of its annual general meeting a spokesman said: “The timing of when the conflict will end and the shape of recovery in demand to these destinations are unknown. Both will impact group profitability and as a result the group is temporarily suspending its guidance of £39m to £43m Adj. PBT for the full year.

“Despite the volatile environment, the company continues to trade profitably and generate cash because of its asset light model with significantly lower fixed costs, commitments and exposure to increases in variable costs versus the asset heavy tour operators.

“The board remains confident in the delivery of the group’s medium-term ambition of £2.5bn TTV, £100m EBITDA, £85m PBT and 38.7p EPS.”

The timing of the Middle East conflict comes after On The Beach enjoyed a record 2025, with bookings up 10 per cent and bookings from repeat customers up 19 per cent

The Information Commissioner’s Office has today published an open letter to social media and video‑sharing platforms operating in the UK, calling on them to strengthen age assurance measures so young children can’t access services that are not designed for them.

The open letter sets out the ICO’s expectations that platforms with a minimum age must move beyond relying on children to self-declare their ages, which they can easily bypass.

Instead, platforms should make use of the viable technology that is now readily available to enforce their own minimum ages and prevent these children from accessing their services, the ICO said.

Tesla Energy Ventures Limited has been granted a licence authorising it to supply electricity to domestic and non-domestic consumers in Great Britain.

The energy regulator Ofgem said that the licence has been formally approved by its governing body, the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority.

It follows a robust application, assessment and approval process conducted over seven months, from July 2025 to March 2026, in line with statutory requirements, Ofgem said.

Tesla Motors Limited, a separate company incorporated in England and Wales, was granted an electricity generation licence in June 2020. 

This licence was not relevant to Tesla Energy Ventures Limited’s application or Ofgem’s assessment or approval.

Tesla Energy Ventures, based in Manchester, can now supply electricity to homes and businesses.

The Financial Conduct Authority has banned Sendsii Ltd from operating after it was suspended by tax authority HMRC late last year.

The London FinTech is required to return all funds held for or on behalf of existing customers, the FCA said, and it has now been prevented from conducting any regulated activity.

Customers of the remittance provider who are yet to receive money have been advised to contact the financial regulator’s supervision hub.