Bite-size news in business & technology, from big breaking stories to funding, appointments & deals
Risers:
ITV – +15.29%
Oxford Nanopore Technologies – +10.32%
Ceres Power Holdings – +4.78%
Goodwin – +3.77%
Ithaca Energy – +2.88%
Fallers:
Rightmove – -13.79%
International Consolidated Airlines Group – -8.98%
Baltic Classifieds Group – -7.83%
ME Group International – -7.38%
Auto Trader Group – -4.76%
Author: Patrick Killeen
Shares in Rightmove have dropped by over 14% today after the UK’s largest online property platform lowered its profit guidance.
The company, which is a member of the FTSE 100, has said it will ramp up investment in AI and digital transformation to strengthen long-term growth.
It now expects operating profit to rise between 3% and 5% in 2026, down from an earlier forecast of around 9%, reflecting what it described as “accelerated technology investment to build an even stronger platform”.
Independent 53-year-old travel agency Millington Travel has become the fourth business to join Hays Travel’s retail portfolio in 2025.
The Leicester-based company, which operates 14 branches across the Midlands, will continue trading under the Millington Travel name, with all jobs secured following the acquisition.
Led by Nick Bland and Nigel Armitage since 2005, the business has built a strong reputation for expertise in long-haul, cruise, and tailor-made holidays.
Hays Travel chair Dame Irene Hays praised the firm’s commitment to service and family values, calling the acquisition “a natural fit”.
Xeros Technology Group, the sustainable tech company behind innovations that reduce the environmental impact of clothing, has raised £3 million through a share placing and initial subscription at 1.75p per share.
The funding round, comprising over 171m new ordinary shares, will support the listed company’s next stage of development as it continues to commercialise its patented cleaning and fabric care technologies.
The firm is also offering shareholders the chance to participate in a £2m follow-on subscription and a £1m retail offer, both at the same issue price.
Global EdTech and assessment solutions provider RM has signed a three-year contract with Trinity College London to deliver digital e-marking services for the awarding body’s internationally recognised music and drama exams.
The partnership will use listed Oxfordshire-based firm’s cloud-based e-marking platform, enabling examiners to assess performance videos securely online, apply detailed marking criteria and provide richer, more personalised feedback to candidates.
The system also allows for multiple students to be assessed independently within the same video
Scottish business systems specialist Eureka Solutions has been acquired by Pine Services Group, part of the Evergreen family of managed IT and software companies.
Founded in 2004, the East Kilbride-based firm is a provider of cloud-based ERP and integration solutions for mid-market organisations, with expertise in Oracle NetSuite, Sage 200 and iplicit systems.
The deal strengthens Pine’s international presence and marks its first acquisition in Scotland, expanding its reach into the UK’s fast-growing ERP market, which is projected to hit $81.3 billion by 2026.
Eureka Solutions’ 74-strong team will continue to operate under its existing brand, building on its track record as a five-time Sage Developer of the Year and Oracle NetSuite 5-Star Partner.
A new report from global growth consultancy Think & Grow has revealed that women hold just 18% of board positions across the UK’s fastest-growing technology scale-ups, despite 94% of board members acknowledging the importance of diversity.
Over a third of companies (36%) surveyed have no female representation at board level, exposing a major gap between intent and implementation.
The report, Breaking and Remaking the Next Generation of High-impact Boards, shows that early-stage companies significantly trail listed tech firms, where women make up 41% of FTSE 350 tech company boards due to stricter diversity rules.
The findings suggest that scale-ups are missing out on both performance and innovation gains linked to diverse leadership teams.
University of Cambridge spinout Cambridge Photon Technology (CPT) has raised £1.56 million to advance its photon-multiplier technology, which increases the efficiency of silicon solar panels by converting wasted sunlight into usable energy.
The funding includes £926,000 in equity investment and a £630,000 grant from Innovate UK, with backing from Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, Spectrum Impact, Tybourne Capital, Providence Investment Company and SourceSquared.
CPT’s innovation acts as a “drop-in solution” that fits into standard solar modules without redesign, converting high-energy photons normally lost as heat into infrared light that panels can absorb.
The company plans to use the investment to accelerate product development and bring its breakthrough technology to market.
Financial data specialist FE fundinfo has acquired Oxfordshire-based Contengo, which provides advanced performance reporting, analytics and data migration tools for independent financial advisers (IFAs).
The deal will see Contengo’s technology integrated into FE fundinfo’s Nexus platform, creating a new command deck that gives advisers real-time insights and streamlined access to client and business data.
The move will look to enable IFAs to deliver faster, more personalised advice through enhanced data connectivity and AI-driven portfolio performance analysis.
Midlands-founded Rem3dy Health has raised £1.4 million in new funding from Borski Fund and Future Planet Capital Regional.
The announcement was made during Birmingham Tech Week’s Scale-Up Summit and will accelerate global expansion and R&D for the company’s Nourished brand, which uses 3D printing technology to create personalised nutrition products.
Healthcare innovator Trellus Health plc has signed a 12-month contract with one of the world’s largest clinical research organisations (CROs) to use its Trellus TrialSet platform.
The agreement, focused on immunology and inflammation, aims to optimise recruitment and enrolment for two late-stage clinical trials by helping identify and support participants with lower resilience.
This is the listed firm’s second major CRO partnership and it includes upfront and milestone payments tied to participant engagement and recruitment outcomes.
It follows Trellus’s earlier Patient Support Program agreement with Johnson & Johnson.
Ethtry PLC has confirmed receipt of an additional £1.305 million from the outstanding balance of its £3.24m share subscription announced last month.
The company, which very recently changed its name from Igraine PLC, will issue 522m new ordinary shares, which are expected to be admitted to trading on the Access segment of the Aquis Growth Market on Tuesday.
This brings the firm’s total issued share capital to 2.21 billion ordinary shares.
Global data engineering company Innodata reported third-quarter revenue of $62.6 million, up 20% year-over-year, with adjusted EBITDA rising 17% to $16.2m.
For the first nine months of 2025, the company, which helps major technology firms develop and deploy generative AI solutions through high-quality data, platforms and services, saw revenue reaching $179.3m, a 61% annual increase.
The firm has also promoted Rahul Singhal to president and chief revenue officer and added Daniel H. Callahan and General Richard D. Clarke to its board.
Elon Musk has won approval from Tesla shareholders for a potential $1 trillion pay package.
Musk, who has a vision of transforming the electric vehicle firm into an AI and robotics giant, won more than 75% support for the largest corporate pay package in history.
He must achieve several goals to claim the 12% in stock, equivalent to $1tn.
The firm must deliver 20m vehicles, be running a million robotaxis, sell a million robots and earn $400bn in core profit.
Investors to oppose the plan include Norway’s sovereign wealth fund and proxy firms Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services.
Author: Patrick Killeen
ITV plc has confirmed that it is in preliminary discussions to sell its media and entertainment (M&E) business to Sky for £1.6 billion.
The strategy focuses on building a UK-based streaming giant but excludes ITV’s production arm.
This division covers the company’s existing broadcast channels and operations, which rely heavily on advertising revenue.
Sky, which is owned by US giant Comcast, becomes the latest in a string of businesses to explore an acquisition of ITV.
The news follows Liberty Global’s decision last month to sell roughly half of its long-held 10% stake in the broadcaster.
Author: Patrick Killeen
A new £2 million Health Innovation Leeds Incubator has been launched to accelerate the growth of the region’s booming HealthTech sector.
The initiative has been launched to strengthen Leeds’ position as one of the UK’s leading health innovation hubs.
Unveiled by Leeds City Council leader, Cllr James Lewis, at the West Yorkshire Health Tech Cluster’s Driving the Future of Innovation event, it is funded by the West Yorkshire Healthtech Investment Zone.
It will be led by Nexus at the University of Leeds, in partnership with Leeds Beckett University and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, working closely with Leeds City Council.
The programme is open to businesses of all sizes, with a particular focus on supporting local start-ups and SMEs.
Author: Jonathan Symcox
A listed University of Leeds spinout is in danger of going under this month.
Tissue Regenix Group appointed a new leadership team in October following the discovery of errors in previously reported revenues. Trading in its shares on London’s AIM market has also been suspended as it plans to restate its 2024 revenue figures.
After reviewing the company’s finances, Tissue Regenix Group said this morning they had uncovered a “substantial backlog of creditors and very limited cash balances”.
“Accordingly, the company has an urgent need to raise capital by the end of November. Without additional funding the Company will not be able to continue to trade,” it warned.
“The company is in discussion with its major shareholders and has clear indications of support to raise approximately £5m by way of a convertible loan note. Any fundraise will be subject to shareholder approval.”
CyanConnode Holdings plc has entered into a further $5.25 million unsecured convertible loan note agreement with Smart Sustainability Solutions.
CyanConnode designs, develops, and sells narrowband radio frequency mesh and cellular networks which empower the Internet of Things.
Middle Eastern climate technology company Smart Sustainability Solutions is a wholly owned subsidiary of a publicly listed, Abu Dhabi-based global investment group.
The loan note follows two similar agreements with the lender completed earlier this year, which together totalled $15m.
Online property portal Rightmove plc has reaffirmed its 2025 guidance of revenue growth of approximately 9% – within the existing guidance range of 8-10% growth.
It is also introducing guidance for 2026 of 8-10% revenue growth and underlying operating profit growth of 3-5%.
Risers:
Helios Towers – +12.52%
RS Group – +5.61%
Sainsbury’s – +5.10%
Hochschild Mining – +4.55%
OSB Group – +4.28%
Fallers:
Hikma Pharmaceuticals – -13.16%
Smith & Nephew – -11.12%
TBC Bank Group – -10.94%
Ashmore Group – -9.29%
Goodwin – -7.33%
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