Publisher Collective has appointed Andrew Buckman as its new CEO as it enters the next phase of growth following its merger with Snigel.

Buckman replaces Christian Jeschko, with Jeschko remaining as chief operating officer focused on growth initiatives and publisher partnerships.

Buckman brings nearly 30 years of industry experience, including a long career in MarTech and a previous role as CEO of Sublime, which exited to Azerion.

His initial focus at the Bath-based firm will be on integrating teams and systems, strengthening publisher relationships and driving sustainable profitability.

IBM and the All England Lawn Tennis Club have agreed a multi-year renewal of their long-running technology partnership, extending a collaboration that spans more than 36 years.

The renewed agreement will focus on expanding Wimbledon’s global reach and deepening fan engagement through AI-powered digital experiences across its website and mobile app.

IBM’s watsonx technology underpins features such as predictive insights and interactive match tools, which helped drive a 16% increase in digital engagement in 2025.

The partnership has been widely recognised for innovation and will continue to play a central role in shaping Wimbledon’s digital strategy from 2026 onwards.

The UK government has unveiled a new £210m-plus Cyber Action Plan aimed at strengthening the security and resilience of online public services.

The plan, overseen by a newly established Government Cyber Unit, is designed to protect services such as benefits, tax and healthcare from an increasing range of cyber threats.

It supports wider ambitions to digitise public services, making them easier to access while reducing reliance on phone calls and paperwork.

The strategy also sets tougher cyber resilience expectations for suppliers working with government.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Global online marketplace Fruugo saw revenues decline sharply in 2024 as new European regulations and platform changes led to a company slump, according to newly filed accounts.

The Ulverston-based eCommerce group reported turnover of £56.4 million for the year to 31st December 2024, down from £78m in 2023, as gross merchandise value and order volumes fell across the platform.

The firm said the decline was driven by a reduction in active retailers and fewer transactions following regulatory intervention under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Fruugo operates an international marketplace connecting consumers with retailers across more than 40 countries.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Inflexion-backed Axiom GRC has strengthened its push into the US with the acquisition of AssurancePoint, a specialist provider of SOC and ISO audit and advisory services for mid-sized organisations.

Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Atlanta, AssurancePoint has built a fast-growing business focused on technology-enabled assurance services.

Following the acquisition, the company will be integrated into IS Partners, Axiom GRC’s US platform, expanding its audit and assurance capabilities and accelerating growth across North America.

The deal marks the London-based firm’s second US acquisition since the group formally launched in May 2025, backed by £500 million of private equity funding.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Media and entertainment group Global has acquired a majority stake in Gary Neville’s sports media group The Overlap.

The Overlap has become one of the world’s most popular football and sports destinations since launching in 2021, with more than 38 million monthly views on YouTube, and it recently announced it had achieved 2.2 billion views across all platforms in 2025. 

Described as a strategic partnership, the new company will be co-chaired by Gary Neville and Global Group CEO Simon Pitts, with Scott Melvin as lead executive director.

 

Author: Patrick Killeen

Communicate Technology has appointed Paul Bryce as its new CEO as the cybersecurity and IT network specialist looks to build on a period of rapid growth following acquisitions and private equity backing.

The appointment comes after the Teesside-headquartered firm delivered 102% year-on-year growth, driven in part by the successful integration of Blaze Networks, which it acquired last year, and investment from private equity firm Rockpool in 2024.

The business provides cybersecurity, managed IT and network solutions to organisations across the UK.

Bryce brings more than 30 years’ experience in the managed service provider sector and joins the company from a background that includes being a founding member of Node4.

During his time in senior leadership roles at Node4, he helped scale the business from start-up to more than 1,100 employees and £190 million in annual revenues, while playing a key role in 10 acquisitions and three rounds of private equity investment.

In his new role, Bryce will be responsible for leading Communicate through its next phase of growth, with a focus on long-term value creation, strategy and culture.

Founder and outgoing group CEO Tony Snaith will remain on the board as a non-executive director.

Professional services giant Accenture has agreed to acquire London-based AI specialist Faculty as it looks to strengthen its applied AI and decision intelligence capabilities.

Founded in 2014, Faculty works with public and private sector organisations to design, build and deploy AI systems, with a strong focus on safety, ethics and real-world outcomes.

The business employs more than 400 AI professionals, who will join the New York-listed firm following completion of the deal, while Faculty’s decision intelligence platform Frontier™ will be integrated into Accenture’s product suite.

A Cardiff-based developer of precision LED lighting systems for commercial greenhouses and vertical farms has received a £2.5 million investment from Foresight Group.

The funding for Bloemteknik was delivered through the British Business Bank’s Investment Fund for Wales alongside Foresight’s Growth VCTs, and will support its product development and international expansion.

Founded in 2023, the company has already deployed more than 25,000 lighting fixtures across multiple markets and recently brought its autonomous lighting platform, GreenFingers, to market.

Bloemteknik has also secured more than £700,000 in Innovate UK grant funding to further advance the technology.

Kromek has secured a £6 million funding package from HSBC UK to support the next stage of growth at the Sedgefield-based medical imaging and radiation detection specialist.

The revolving credit facility will provide additional working capital as the company scales production across its imaging and CBRN detection divisions and continues to invest in next-generation detector technology.

Founded in 2003 as a spin-out from Durham University, the business operates across medical imaging and defence-focused detection systems and reported 37% revenue growth in the year to April 2025.

The firm supplies customers in 64 countries and operates manufacturing and R&D facilities in the UK and the US.

Foresight Enterprise VCT non-executive chair Michael Gray is set to step down later this year.

Gray, who joined the board in 2017 and became chair in January 2024, will leave the role following the London-based company’s upcoming annual general meeting.

Deputy chair Kavita Patel will succeed him as chair, with the listed company also considering appointing an additional director as part of its wider succession planning.

The business has invested in UK firms across a variety of sectors, including Red Flag Alert, MyWay Digital Health and Hexarad.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Cred has appointed Matt Trueman as its new CEO as the FinTech looks to accelerate growth and expand its product offering in 2026.

Trueman joins the next-generation credit app from credit management consultancy Arum, where he was managing director, and will lead the business through what the company describes as its next phase of rapid expansion.

His remit includes scaling new customer accounts and lending volumes, while driving wider adoption of the Cheshire-based firm’s “Credit on Demand” proposition.

The appointment comes as the business continues to position itself as an alternative to traditional borrowing products.

Its app combines elements of a personal loan, credit card and overdraft into a single flexible credit account, aiming to allow users to access a guaranteed credit line with one transparent interest rate, no hidden fees and flexible repayment options.

Author: Patrick Killeen

London-based VIRTUS Data Centres has appointed Adam Eaton as its new CEO as it continues to expand its portfolio across the UK and Europe.

Eaton joins from Global Switch, where he most recently served as executive group director for Europe, and will take up the role with immediate effect

In his previous role, he was responsible for the company’s operations across the key FLAPM markets – Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Madrid – and led a series of transformation initiatives aimed at improving performance and supporting long-term growth.

His career spans more than 20 years across the data centre, cloud and managed services sectors.

VIRTUS is part of ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC), a global data centre platform with operations across Asia and Europe.

Eaton replaces Thomas Ee, group chief operating officer of STT GDC, who has been serving as interim CEO of the firm for the past nine months.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Flexible workspace technology group essensys has reported a sharp fall in revenues for the year to 31st July 2025.

However, the AIM-listed firm returned to EBITDA profitability following cost-cutting measures and a strategic reshaping of the business.

It posted revenue of £19.2 million for FY25, down 21% from £24.1m the previous year, largely reflecting the previously flagged downsizing of a single large strategic customer.

Despite the drop in sales, the London-based company returned to positive adjusted EBITDA of £1.3m, compared with a £900,000 loss in FY24, helped by cost reductions and an improved operating model.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Co-founder Sarat Pediredla has stepped down as CEO of hedgehog lab.

Pediredla has served as CEO since the tech consultancy was founded in 2007. He has gradually stepped away from day-to-day operations over the past 12 months.

The company will be led by Malcolm Seagrave, who was appointed UK managing director in September 2024 alongside CTO Joe Thompson.

Pediredla is planning to spend more time with his family after suffering from ‘burnout’ in 2023 and 2024. He will remain involved with the business in an advisory role for the next 12 months.

hedgehog lab, which took investment from BGF in 2023, has operations in London, Leeds, Edinburgh and Sofia. The consultancy counts Deliveroo, Under Armour, Aviva and AJ Bell among its clients.

Author: Patrick Killeen

EdTech firm myHappymind has secured a minority investment from LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group, as it looks to scale its digital mental health and wellbeing programmes for children and young people.

Founded in 2017 by CEO Laura Earnshaw, the Cheshire-based business provides preventative mental health support to schools through interactive, curriculum-linked digital content.

It now works with more than 1,900 schools across the UK, offering programmes designed to help children build resilience, improve emotional regulation and develop positive mental wellbeing habits from an early age.

The investment will support myHappymind’s next phase of growth, including expansion into more schools in the UK and internationally, alongside continued product development.

Centaur Media Plc is to sell its Econsultancy division to Uptime App Limited.

Centaur will now comprise a single trading business, Influencer Intelligence Limited, which includes the Influencer Intelligence and Fashion & Beauty Monitor brands. The sale is part of its plan to significantly downsize its central cost base and support functions.

Centaur is looking to return up to £64 million to shareholders at a price of 48p per share. It says it will need to effect a capital reduction which requires court approval and as a result has extended the time required to return capital to shareholders, with this now likely to take place in March 2026.

The group’s net cash stands at £67m, which includes the initial consideration for the Econsultancy disposal.

Retailer Next is celebrating a fantastic Christmas trading period and increased its guidance for full-year profits.

In the nine weeks to 27th December, full-price sales were up 10.6% versus last year, which compares to its guidance for the quarter of 7%.

UK sales were up 5.9%, with international sales climbing 38.3%.

It is increasing its guidance for full-year profit before tax (to the end of January 2026) by £15m to £1.15 billion.

Full-price sales growth forecast for 2027 is now expected to climb 4.5%, with PBT forecast to be £1.2bn, up +4.5%.

Supply@ME Capital plc is to acquire an inventory ownership business.

SYME’s platform is used by manufacturing and trading companies to monetise their inventory. It has entered heads of terms to buy Société Financière Européenne’s inventory ownership business.

This comprises independent stock companies, together with the relevant contractual arrangements, intellectual property rights and operating infrastructure.

The proposed acquisition forms part of London-based SYME’s strategy to evolve its business model towards direct inventory ownership and capital deployment.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Claire’s and The Original Factory Shop have been placed into administration, putting up to 2,500 jobs at risk.

Owner Modella Capital blamed ‘alarming’ weak Christmas trading and government policies for the decision to prepare the high street retailers for entering insolvency proceedings across UK and Ireland.