Bite-size news and insight from UK business and tech – including funding, deals and appointments
Published: January 14, 2026 at 12:56 pm
Green Economy, part of The Growth Company, has appointed Stuart Roberts as associate director as it expands its national presence.
Roberts brings more than 15 years’ experience across business development, sustainability consultancy, the built environment, commercial energy solutions and education.
In the role, he will lead business development, grow the Greater Manchester firm’s consultancy and commercial services, as well as oversee strategic partnerships supporting green tech development and public-sector policy delivery.
Green Economy provides end-to-end support to businesses as the UK decarbonises.
The business looks to help organisations cut emissions while also supporting growth across the green technologies and services supply chain.
Published: January 14, 2026 at 12:26 pm
AI-powered credit technology company Abound has expanded into the UK mortgage market after acquiring Ahauz, a specialist lender focused on shared equity mortgages.
Under the deal, which is Abound’s first acquisition, Ahauz will continue operating with its existing specialist focus, while gaining access to Abound’s capital and its AI-led underwriting approach.
This uses Open Banking data (with customer consent) to assess affordability beyond traditional credit scoring models.
The London-based FinTech said the move is aimed at building a broader suite of homeowner finance products, giving borrowers access to more flexible mortgage and loan options designed to better reflect real household circumstances.
Published: January 14, 2026 at 12:14 pm
BDO has strengthened its North West forensic and valuations services team with the return of Dan Turner, who joins the firm’s Manchester office as a partner.
Turner, who began his career at BDO, brings extensive experience in forensic accounting, valuation work, commercial litigation and international arbitration after roles at HKA, PwC, FTI Consulting and Grant Thornton, including eight years in the UAE.
The hire comes alongside the appointment of valuations specialist Michael Wong in the Midlands.
It follows a wider wave of senior progression across the North West, with 231 promotions, including two new partners.
Published: January 14, 2026 at 12:01 pm
Nourished, the flagship brand from British HealthTech scale-up Rem3dy Health, has launched its personalised nutrition gummies in selected Boots stores.
Customers can use the brand’s AI-powered “Find Your Formula” quiz online, with an in-store rollout across six flagship locations from 14–22 January, including its first retail launch in Ireland.
The products are made using Rem3dy Health’s proprietary UK-developed 3D printing technology, allowing up to seven active ingredients to be combined into a single gummy.
Founder and CEO Melissa Snover said the Boots partnership will help simplify supplement shopping for consumers who are often overwhelmed by traditional vitamin aisles.
Published: January 14, 2026 at 11:33 am
Start Up Loans, part of the British Business Bank, has delivered more than £250 million in funding to over 25,000 entrepreneurs across London since the programme launched in 2012.
In 2025 so far, founders in the capital have taken out 1,500 loans worth £20m, showing strong demand for early-stage finance.
Hackney tops the table as London’s most entrepreneurial borough by volume of loans, ahead of Lambeth and Lewisham, while the City of London ranks last with just 19 loans worth £212,400.
The programme also continues to back underrepresented founders in the capital, with 42% of loans going to women and 44% to black, Asian and other ethnic minority founders, alongside strong take-up from both Gen Z and over-50 entrepreneurs.
Published: January 14, 2026 at 11:17 am
An AI-powered LegalTech that helps lawyers review complex contracts faster and more accurately has appointed Sigurjón (Sjonni) Ísaksson as its new CTO.
The promotion follows a major year for London-based Definely, including a $30 million Series B raise, expansion into North America and multiple product launches.
Ísaksson joined in 2024 as head of AI and led the development of new products Enhance and Cascade.
The business integrates directly into Microsoft Word, aiming to support lawyers working on high-pressure, high-stakes deals without forcing them to switch platforms.
Published: January 14, 2026 at 10:56 am
Klarna has launched instant peer-to-peer payments in 13 European countries, allowing customers to send money to friends and family directly through its app.
The move is designed to push the FinTech giant further into everyday banking, building on the launch of Klarna Balance accounts and rapid uptake of its debit product, Klarna Card, which has attracted more than 4 million sign-ups in four months.
Users can send money using a phone number, email, QR code or saved contact, with Klarna carrying out fraud and eligibility checks before the transfer is made.
The business plans to expand the service to non-Klarna users and cross-border payments, and is also exploring stablecoin-based transfers in the future.
Published: January 14, 2026 at 10:31 am
York-based Phoenix Software has won a £75 million contract with the Ministry of Defence to improve oversight and control of its software spending.
The three-year Value Added Software Agreement (VOSA) will centralise the purchase of off-the-shelf software and become the main route for managing “tail spend” across the department.
Phoenix said the deal will bring greater transparency and efficiency to procurement, while offering the MoD a simpler route for buying software. The contract runs until August 2028.
Published: January 14, 2026 at 10:08 am
MedTech Nuclera has secured a $12 million (£9m) financing extension, taking its Series C total to $87m (£65m).
The round was led by Elevage Medical Technologies and Jonathan Milner, alongside existing investors including the British Business Bank and GK Goh.
The funding will help Nuclera add new antibody testing features to its eProtein Discovery system, so researchers can produce and check antibodies in-house faster.
This upgrade will support the growing use of AI in drug development by helping teams generate the reliable data needed to train and improve new biologics models.
The Cambridge-headquartered firm, which also has offices in Boston, US, is developing a benchtop system that helps researchers rapidly produce and screen functional proteins for drug discovery.
Published: January 14, 2026 at 9:45 am
Revenue at listed firm Xaar rose 16.6% on a like-for-like basis to £60.3 million for 2025, driven by growth in newer products and markets.
Printhead revenues increased 28.9%, while improved volumes and cost control helped lift gross margins, with adjusted profits expected to be slightly ahead of expectations.
The Cambridge-based business ended the year with around £4.8m net cash, down from £8.2m after £3.1m of capital investment.
It said its specialist inkjet technology is increasingly being applied beyond ceramics, including areas such as jewellery wax, and the board remains optimistic about further opportunities.
Separately, the company has appointed Berenberg and Singer Capital Markets as joint corporate brokers with immediate effect.
Its shares are up by over 8% to 100.72p after 90 minutes of trading today.
Published: January 14, 2026 at 9:29 am
London-listed Cirata has reported a record year for its Data Integration business, with bookings of $13.2 million (up 181% YoY) and a standout Q4 delivering $9.8m – the strongest quarter in the company’s history.
The Sheffield-headquartered firm, which also has a presence in California, also secured its largest-ever OEM contract ($6.7m) via IBM and its largest direct deal ($3.1m) with a major US insurer.
Its shares have risen by over 16% in the first hour of trading today.
The now-rebranded company, which was hit by a scandal which saw its share price plummet nearly three years ago, has sharply reduced costs, with annualised overheads now at 31% of its historic peak, and management expects to be cash flow positive in Q1 FY26.
CEO Stephen Kelly said FY25 was a “foundational year”, helped by the DevOps divestment and the launch of Cirata Symphony, as the business focuses fully on data integration and orchestration for Global 2000 customers.
Published: January 14, 2026 at 9:10 am
Startup Holly Health has secured its first major white-label partnership in the public leisure sector, teaming up with GLL to embed its technology into the new “Live Better” platform.
The integration is set to go live this month and will roll out the London startup’s evidence-based habit-change coaching to around 362,000 members across GLL’s “Better” leisure centres nationwide.
The HealthTech provides personalised digital health coaching to help people build long-term habits through behavioural science and AI.
Through the partnership, it will work as a built-in digital “personal health coach” inside the Better UK app, offering “always-on” support for nutrition, movement, sleep and mental wellbeing, including for users who may not be able to access facilities in person.
Published: January 14, 2026 at 8:58 am
Private telehealth provider Doctor Care Anywhere (DCA) has partnered with mental health platform HelloSelf to widen access to personalised, clinically guided mental health support through direct GP referral.
The new relationship will allow the London firm’s clinicians to refer patients straight into HelloSelf’s tailored service, which combines therapy, coaching and AI-supported care.
HelloSelf provides personalised “SelfPlans”, designed using measurable outcome data, clinical oversight and the individual needs of each patient.
Published: January 14, 2026 at 8:45 am
YFM Equity Partners exited SharpCloud following its acquisition by global research and decision provider Lumivero.
The Leeds-based firm first invested in SharpCloud in 2019, supporting the business at a key stage in its journey as it strengthened its team, accelerated product development and scaled its enterprise SaaS platform.
Since that investment, London-headquartered SharpCloud has expanded its customer base across blue-chip corporates and government organisations.
It now serves more than 100 organisations globally and has over 18,000 users.
The platform has also been developed to support enterprise-wide adoption and deeper workflow integration, helping customers improve decision-making and risk management across large organisations.
Published: January 14, 2026 at 8:37 am
The UK Business Secretary will tell business leaders today that he wants the UK to go ‘toe to toe’ with America on growth.
Labour has come under fire for its increased taxation of businesses in successive Budgets, while it has doubled down on technologies such as AI, despite their potential to sweep away many existing jobs.
However, Peter Kyle is expected to be bullish in a speech to business leaders at Bloomberg today – including Google owner Alphabet, Facebook parent company Meta, Ford, Heathrow, Blackrock, McKinsey, BP, AstraZeneca and Greg Jackson, CEO of Octopus Energy – in which he will outline the Government’s Industrial Strategy changes.
A new update is expected to confirm £79 billion of investment commitments and 50,000 new, well-paid jobs secured in the last quarter.
Kyle will also confirm the names of three new business leaders to join the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council: Amelia Gould (general manager, maritime at Helsing), Keith Anderson (CEO, Scottish Power) and Dana Strong (CEO, Sky).
Published: January 14, 2026 at 8:19 am
GlobalData Plc has set a date for its planned move to the main market of the London Stock Exchange after reporting a rise in annual revenues.
The UK data giant initially announced a plan to move from the junior AIM market in February 2025; however those plans were delayed as it was individually targeted by PE firms KKR and ICG last summer.
When those talks collapsed, it said it expected to make the transition to the LSE main market before the end of 2025.
Now it says admission will take place at 8am on 5th March.
Published: January 13, 2026 at 4:58 pm
Shares in FTSE 250 firm Gamma Communications rose by more than 4% to 919p today after the European business communications technology provider said it expects to deliver yearly EBITDA in line with market expectations.
The progress has been supported by “material year-on-year growth” and a positive contribution from its recent German acquisitions.
In its scheduled trading update for the year ended 31st December 2025, the London-based firm said it had ended the year with net debt of £9.4 million, reflecting the £152.2m acquisition of STARFACE in February 2025.
It still expects to deliver adjusted EBITDA of £140-143m for the year.
The business has also today appointed Chris Jagusz (pictured) as an independent non-executive director.
He brings more than 35 years’ operational and advisory expertise across the sector, including two decades at BT Group and senior leadership roles at Eurotel, Daisy Group, SSE Telecoms, Azzurri Communications and AIM-listed Redcentric.
Published: January 13, 2026 at 4:30 pm
Trustpilot shares jumped more than 10% today after the review platform reported a strong FY25 performance, with bookings expected to rise 22% year-on-year to $291 million (£217m).
ARR is forecast to climb 28% to $296m (£220m) and the group said adjusted EBITDA is projected to come in ahead of market expectations.
The Copenhagen-based business, which is listed in London, also highlighted its focus on trust and integrity, saying it implemented new AI-enabled fraud detection and removed 7.8m fake reviews.
The company’s full-year results are due on 17th March but today’s announcement saw its share price rise by 10.3% to 207.6p.
It comes as a welcome boost for the firm, which has seen its stock drop by over 21% in the past 12 months, although its market cap still stands at £828m.
Published: January 13, 2026 at 3:55 pm
SuperAwesome has acquired California firm Starglow Media as part of a ‘strategic expansion’ into audio.
The deal marks the London-based company’s first acquisition since its management buyout from Epic Games and strengthens its ability to help brands safely engage youth audiences across audio, gaming, creators, YouTube, mobile games and connected TV.
Launched in 2023, Starglow Media has quickly built what it calls the world’s largest independent ecosystem of kids and family audio content, generating more than 120 million annual listens across 45+ shows.
Its portfolio includes premium IP such as Paramount’s Blue’s Clues and Dora the Explorer, alongside original shows including Mysteries About True Histories.
It has worked with major brands such as Disney, Netflix, Toyota, Hasbro, Paramount and Penguin Random House.
Published: January 13, 2026 at 3:29 pm
Redcar-based EnviroTech Nova Pangaea Technologies has appointed experienced energy executive Stewart Stewart as its new CEO.
Stewart brings more than 30 years of experience commercialising breakthrough low-carbon technologies and scaling venture-backed businesses across the UK and the US.
In his new role, he will lead the business through its next phase of growth, including the development of its first commercial-scale plant, as the company works to decarbonise the aviation sector.
The firm, which was founded in 2008, is behind a novel process for producing sustainable aviation fuel from waste biomass.
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