ANS Academy, which is part of Manchester-headquartered digital transformation company ANS, has become the first apprenticeship provider to be awarded a ‘strong standard’ across all categories under the new Ofsted assessment framework.

The recognition underscores the industry-leading quality of the provider and its role in developing future technology talent, as demand for digital skills continues to rise across the UK.

The Ofsted report highlights the Academy’s excellent performance across inclusion, leadership and governance, achievement, curriculum and teaching, and participation and development.

Inspectors also praised ANS’s ‘Academy-as-a-Service’ offering, which provides the same high-calibre apprenticeship training to other employers, including ANS’s partners and customers.

Launched in 2024, it supports organisations in developing skills across Infrastructure, cyber, DevOps, and AI, building a diverse pipeline of technical talent across the wider technology ecosystem.

Richard Thompson, CEO of ANS, said: “As the first apprenticeship provider to achieve such consistently strong results under the new framework, the Academy’s continued success is a real testament to our focus on developing the next generation of technology talent.”

Manchester-based marketing agency Trunk has been announced as the official creative partner of Sale Sharks.

Trunk will support Sale Sharks across a number of initiatives, utilising its significant sponsorship experience working with brands including TeamViewer, Jack Daniels and Greene King.

This includes collaborating on and sponsoring a new digital fan engagement initiative, plus making improvements to the Sale Sharks website following research with fans.

As part of their sponsorship, Trunk will also maintain pitch-side branding at the CorpAcq Stadium.

Jon Butler, CEO at Trunk, said: “We’re committed to proving the impact that sponsorship can have for businesses and clubs and working with Sale Sharks was a natural choice for us. There’s a real synergy between teamwork on the pitch, and the way we deliver results for clients in the office.”

Luisa d’Aprano, commercial director at Sale Sharks, added: “We’re delighted to welcome Trunk to the Sharks family as our official creative partner. The team has already demonstrated their expertise with the club and their award-winning work for other brands.”

 

Author: Chris Maguire

Jenna Meek last night fulfilled her long-held dream of lining up alongside regular Dragons Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman, Peter Jones and Steven Bartlett.

The 33-year-old was the first in a revolving door of guest Dragons to appear in the show, following the departure of Sara Davies.

Meek may have seen her Instagram followers soar from just under 14,000 to 15,400 following her appearance on the show but was she a hit or a miss?

BusinessCloud’s Chris Maguire kept watch on Jenna Meek, which ended with her making her debut Dragons’ Den offer.

A Dragons’ Den-style competition launched by disgraced former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is to be dissolved within days.

Pitch@Palace was launched in 2014 and described as an accelerator and incubator. It held events around the country where founders would pitch for investment, with some of them then selected to pitch investors at St. James’s Palace.

UK operations were suspended in 2019 and later dissolved. However despite the growing scandal around Andrew and his affiliation with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, Pitch@Palace Global remained open.

Andrew, now stripped of his royal titles and income, was said to be attempting to sell the international operation – but interested party Dutch company Startup Bootcamp pulled out last year.

According to reports, almost all of the £220,990 cash it held in its accounts in March 2024 had been withdrawn 12 months later.

Documents to dissolve its international branch have been filed with Companies House, and will become active on 3rd February.

IG Group Holdings plc has completed its acquisition of Independent Reserve, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Australia, for an initial enterprise value of £86.8m.

The bolt-on transaction accelerates its entry into cryptocurrency markets in the Asia Pacific region.

FTSE 250 firm IG provides online trading platforms and educational resources to clients, including access to c.19,000 financial markets worldwide.

The deal is further to regulatory approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Roundhouse, an AI company with an Ethereum-denominated treasury, has listed on the Aquis Growth Market.

The company has raised gross proceeds of £1.106 million through the placing and has a market cap at IPO of £10,009,909.

Its services are around AI infrastructure, platform licensing and consulting.

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Thank you for joining us for the first episode of series 23 of Dragons’ Den.

Three out of four investments ain’t bad!

Jenna says she is getting annoyed at all the talk of making money.

She agrees to Gulshen’s offer as she believes in the mission. “That’s all I care about!”

Deborah says Gulshen has the perfect partner in Jenna and has never been more thrilled to not invest in a business herself.

Steve is out as he doesn’t have the experience needed to scale a franchise model. He says she will find someone willing to support a mission-driven business.

Jones agrees. Making money isn’t the object as the investor isn’t going to be taking dividends and everything needs to be reinvested.

“Sadly, that means I’m out.”

Touker is also out.

“Have you upped your price to £15k because you’re coming on Dragons’ Den?” asks Jenna.

Gulshen says she hasn’t.

Jenna says she doesn’t know anyone who has this kind of money to spend on a franchise.

Gulshen is willing to change the price, but Jenna just doesn’t see the numbers stacking up.

Gulshen has passion but says she needs help to scale the model.

The revenue can be £4-5k a month with four classes a week, she says.

Touker says: “So I can make 50k a year. My overheads would be 10k a year. It would cost me 15k up front. So a lot of it would be pro bono.”

Gulshen has generated £83k to date.

She says consultancies have advised her to charge £25k.

Hannah, Gulshen’s instructor, demonstrates a move with Jenna.

Gulshen takes the Dragons through some of the attacks she’s experienced and which caused her to take up self-defence.

Hannah is one of the franchisees.

Each franchise has been sold for around £3k but will cost £15k in the future.

Gulshen experienced intimidation as a pharmacist including hair pulls.

She says a woman is killed every three days.

Whole-day sessions are offered alongside a six-week programme that offers a variety of skills. The startup aims to drastically reduce statistics on violence against women and girls.

Active with franchises across UK, Ireland, Belgium and Australia already, she wants to place a female self-defence instructor in every town and city across the world.

She is seeking £25k for 10% of the business.

 

Former pharmacist Gulshen Bano is last to step into the ring with her women-only self-defence venture.

Strike Back is based in Birmingham and runs confidence-building self-defence courses and training for girls and women – taught by female instructors – from the age of ten.

“We’re a story, a culture, a movement… not just a plant drink.”

Deborah says other similar businesses might say the same and, as she prefers oat, she won’t be investing.

“We’ll make it away,” says Karmen in the lift.

“At the end of the day, nothing’s going to stop us.”

Jones: “There’s no real background here and you’ve come in at a £4m valuation.” He’s out.

Jenna is also out.

Touker respects the “personal mission” but isn’t convinced he will even get his money back and is out.

Deborah loves plant-based products and asks them to convince her to ditch oat milk for this.

 

Steve warns her “out of love” that the potential investment sounds too good to be true.

Karmen talks of her struggles and tribulations and thanks God for her drive.

Steve says the business is too early for him.

Karmen is a nurse and lost her mum in 2023.

She went into Yosef’s coffee shop with her brother and they got talking.

Karmen says she has a potential offer on the table of £2m at a £25m valuation.

Jones is sceptical – “It’s a business that doesn’t exist yet.”