Author: Chris Maguire

Former Dragons’ Den star Piers Linney; Manchester City Council leader Bev Craig; Henri Murison, chief executive of The Northern Powerhouse Partnership; and entrepreneur Richard Harpin have all been recognised in the King’s New Year Honours list.

Several tech leaders have also been recognised, including Lorna Armitage and Dr Andrea Cullen, co-founders of cyber security training company Capslock, who have been awarded MBEs for services to cyber security.

One of the most eye-catching awards in an MBE to former Dragons’ Den star and tech entrepreneur Piers Linney, from Bacup, in Lancashire.

He’s the co-founder and executive chair of Implement AI and the award is for services to small business, to entrepreneurs, to investors, to banking and to diversity and social mobility.

Highly-rated leader of Manchester City Council, Cllr Bev Craig, has been awarded an OBE for services to local government.

Cllr Craig, who has been the leader since 2021, said: “To receive on OBE is a huge privilege, and to get awarded it for what I’ve been able to give back to our city is all the more special.”

Cllr Craig was one of a number of people from BusinessCloud’s 2025 Northern Leaders list to be included in the New Year Honours list.

Henri Murison, chief executive of The Northern Powerhouse Partnership, was awarded an MBE for services to the economy while Kathy Cowell OBE DL, Chair of Manchester University NHS FT (MFT), has been honoured as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to the NHS.

Author: Chris Maguire

Serial entrepreneur Alex Depledge MBE has stepped down as the CEO of Resi, the largest residential architect in the UK.

She founded Resi in 2016 and has announced she’s taking a place on the board and joked she now plans to work 50 hours a week instead of 80!

Depledge has played an increasingly influential role in business in recent months after Chancellor Rachel Reeves appointed her as the first-ever entrepreneurship advisor to the Treasury.

Entrepreneurs now have a direct line to government and Depledge is actively looking at ways to reduce barriers for businesses, entrepreneurs and investors.

Writing on LinkedIn she said: “After a decade as CEO of Resi, I’m stepping back from the role and moving to the board. It’s the right time.

“Joe Whitworth and Nic Yeeles have been doing a brilliant job in their new posts as CEO of Resi Design and CEO of Resi Labs.

“This past year has been a tough one personally. One of those ‘keep showing up while life happens in the background’ years.

“What could very easily have been an annus horribilis has ended feeling hopeful, and genuinely exciting.”

Author: Chris Maguire

It’s the Christmas blockbuster of 2025 that got the AI world talking.

On Christmas Eve – traditionally one of the quietest news days of the year –  American AI company Groq confirmed it had entered into a ‘licensing agreement’ with the world’s most valuable company, US chip giant Nvidia.

Nvidia – which was founded in 1993 – became the first company in the world to reach a market valuation of $5tn in October 2025.

The size of the deal hasn’t officially been confirmed but it’s widely speculated to be $20bn, making it Nvidia’s largest-ever deal by some margin.

As part of the deal, Groq’s ‘genius’ CEO and founder Jonathan Ross joined Nvidia, along with COO and President Sunny Madra and several members of the Groq team.

If Huung and Ross are the stars of this Christmas blockbuster, the supporting cast is similarly impressive.

Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett – who is sitting pretty having made a seven-figure investment into Groq – described it as ‘absolutely insane’.

He was persuaded to invest on the advice of his friend – media mogul Scott ‘Scooter’ Braun.

Author: Patrick Killeen

The year of 2025 has seen new unicorns, multi-million pound investments, significant IPOs and huge acquisitions in what has been a busy year of dealmaking.

BusinessCloud has identified the game-changing tech deals that we’ve reported on in 2025.

The London Stock Exchange saw market leaders including Deliveroo and Alphawave delist after acquisitions following acquisitions by US companies in 2025.  but gained momentum late on in the year with IPOs from Shawbrook, Princes Group and The Beauty Tech Group.

Elsewhere, Amazon pledged to invest billions into the UK and NVIDIA bet £500m on  UK AI data centre startup Nscale.

Author: Patrick Killeen

The pace at which technology is emerging is showing no signs of slowing.

If the last few years were about experimenting with AI, 2026 will be about living with the consequences.

From agentic systems and instant payments to deepfake-driven fraud and AI-powered cyber attacks, technology is now moving deeper into business operations than ever before.

Business leaders across FinTech, cybersecurity, software and investment have shared their predictions for the year ahead.

Author: Chris Maguire

Luke Massie has stepped down as the CEO of UK FinTech VibePay.

Massie, who founded VibePay to connect people, brands, sellers and banks with real-time messaging and instant payments, said it was time for the ‘next chapter’.

In April, VibePay was acquired by global pay by bank platform Banked with support by long-time investor Candy Ventures, founded by billionaire Nick Candy.

A statement from VibePay said: “After leading Vibe from inception to becoming one of the UK’s pioneering open banking companies, our founder and CEO Luke Massie is stepping down.

“Luke now leaves the company to pursue new interests as Vibe continues to grow and innovate.

“VibePay would like to thank Luke – and wish you all the best for what’s next.”

Massie, who had recently become a first-time dad, said: “What a ride. It’s time for me to let go of what I started and begin writing the next chapter.

“VibePay has some really cool stuff coming early next year and the team remain committed to the mission.

“To everyone who’s played their part in the journey and personally helped me over the years, thank you.”

 

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Sofant Technologies has raised £6.25 million investment.

The Scottish tech firm, behind antenna terminals for satellite communications, said the raise – led by EMV Capital Partners – will see it transition from multi-year R&D into a commercial launch and production.

The round includes significant participation by Scottish Enterprise, the National Security Strategic Investment Fund and other investors.

 

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.”