A company named Abby Connect has launched a worldwide warning about the irresponsible development of – and broken conversation around – AI.

The campaign, which has begun with billboards in San Francisco, is a response to the approach of companies such as Artisan AI – which went viral with its own West Coast adverts urging companies to stop hiring humans and instead adopt autonomous agents.

Abby Connect says its own campaign is also intended to be provocative and designed to expose the risks of reckless AI.

The virtual receptionist service has been built with humans in mind, it says, and has 20 years of operation ‘serving the frontlines of human connection’.

Now it says it has had enough of attention-grabbing headlines touting the removal of humans from the workplace – a narrative it describes as “dangerous”.

 

Author: Chris Maguire

A beauty technology firm, which won record investment on Dragons’ Den, has today closed a £9.5m ($12m) Series A funding round.

yuv, a London-based company transforming professional hair colour, set an all-time record for both the amount of financing offered and the valuation achieved in the show’s 22-season history when the show was aired in October.

Steven Bartlett and Sara Davies offered a combined £500,000 for 2 per cent equity – valuing the company at £25m.

The latest $12m Series A investment was led by Nineyards Equity, a Sweden-based growth equity firm focused on companies delivering both financial returns and positive ESG impact, with strong participation from yuv’s founder Francisco Gimenez, existing investor VNV Global, and a network of strategic angels.

Millions of crypto owners have gained stronger legal protection as the Property (Digital Assets etc) Act received Royal Assent this week.

England, Wales and Northern Ireland are among the first countries in the world to confirm in law that digital assets – such as cryptocurrency or non-fungible tokens – can now be recognised as personal property. 

This will provide greater protections and ensure they are treated like traditional assets.  

FTSE 100 firm Halma has acquired E2S Group Ltd for £230 million.

Founded in 1992, E2S designs and manufactures notification, initiation and detection devices primarily used in highly hazardous environments in heavy industries and complex manufacturing. 

Headquartered in London, it also has operations in the USA and France.

 

SkinBioTherapeutics plc, a life science group focused on skin health, has reported a 284% increase in full-year revenues to £4.6m.

The Newcastle firm said adjusted EBITDA was a £400k loss, narrowed from £2.1m in 2024, with an operating loss improvement of 61% to £1.1m (2024: £2.9m loss).

Market expectations for the year ending 30th June 2026 are revenue of £6.2m and adjusted EBITDA of £700,000.

Simon Hewitson, who only joined the company in April, stepped down as COO for personal reasons following the year-end period.

Emily Bertram, who was appointed group finance director in April, is to be promoted to CFO and also to the board.

The Information Commissioner’s Office has provided an update on its action to tackle cookie compliance, which has brought the vast majority of the UK’s most used websites into compliance with rules on the use of advertising cookies.

This has given an estimated 80% of UK internet users over the age of 14 – equating to around 40 million people – greater control over how they are tracked for personalised advertising, it said.

Its assessment focused on three key areas of compliance: whether non-essential advertising cookies were stored on users’ devices before users could exercise their choice to accept or reject them; whether rejecting non-essential advertising cookies was as easy as accepting them; and whether any non-essential advertising cookies were placed even though a user had not consented to them.

The ICO says that as a result of this work, 979 of the top 1,000 websites met the ICO’s compliance checks at the time of their most recent test, with only 21 websites identified as still failing.

Greater Manchester-based Squosh Compacting is set to scale its waste management technology.

The tech cuts carbon emissions, reduces costs and boosts recycling rates for businesses and public sector organisations. 

Its service mounts compactors directly onto collection vehicles, increasing bin capacity by at least 50%, reducing collection frequency and delivering significant carbon savings for clients.

 

Sedulo Group is celebrating a record year after recording revenues of £24.5 million.

The business advisory firm said revenues had grown 20% in the year to 31st October 2025 compared with the previous 12 month-period.

The EBITDA for the same period was £3.2m, an 18% increase on the previous year’s result of £2.6m.  The group is now operating at a run rate approaching £26m, it said.

Two-time Olympic triathlon champion Alistair Brownless OBE has joined Redrice Ventures as associate partner.

He’ll be co-lead of the Redrice Sports Collective, partnering with former tennis star Andy Murray.

Redrice provides capital, advice and connections to early stage businesses.

Brownless said: “As a founder and operator myself I’ve learnt plenty about entrepreneurship. I’ve experienced the challenges that many founders face.

“Redrice now gives me the platform to sharpen and scale that work, and to learn from one of the best teams in the space while backing a new generation of founders who are building companies that genuinely change (and lengthen) people’s lives.

“Teaming up with Andy feels exactly right. Two Olympic champions united by the belief that movement and wellbeing should be accessible to everyone.

“The ambition for the Sports Collective is big, and I can’t wait to get started. Excited for what’s ahead.”

French CRM firm Brevo has become Europe’s newest unicorn after announcing a £438m ($583m) funding round,

Paris-based Brevo is a customer relationship management company that was founded in 2012 by Armand Thiberge in India and France to help businesses of all sizes build stronger customer relationships.

The company, previously known as Sendinblue, has grown to our 600,000 customers around the world and surpassed $233m in ARR this October.

The latest fundraise sees General Atlantic and Oakley Capital join Brevo’s existing investors.

CEO Thiberge said: “Today marks a monumental milestone in Brevo’s journey: I am proud to announce a $583m funding round, officially welcoming Brevo into unicorn territory.

“A warm welcome to our new partners, General Atlantic and Oakley Capital.

“Our commitment remains stronger than ever: Product is our North Star. Every single day, we push ourselves to build a more powerful, intuitive, and impactful Brevo.

“Although we celebrate how far we’ve come… it still feels like day one at Brevo. The real journey starts now.”

Manchester-based eCommerce agency PushON has marked its 20th anniversary by reporting 40 per cent year-on-year revenue growth.

PushOn was originally founded in 2005 by Simon Wharton and Roy Wilding as a specialist SEO agency.

The agency quickly expanded into a full-service eCommerce offering, including website development, maintenance and digital marketing.

A breakthrough contract with Bench Clothing pushed PushON into Adobe Commerce (Magento) development, laying the groundwork for the agency’s eCommerce specialism.

High-profile work followed, including projects for Virgin Credit Cards, Hyundai, Silver Cross, Brandon Hire Station, Ryman, and the development of Nottingham Forest’s official site.

Wharton stepped down as managing director in 2017 to make way for Sam Rutley. Alex Hogan, who began as a PPC executive 10 years ago, is now an associate director.

Wharton said: “When Roy and I started PushON, we had the belief that we could do things differently and better, and that belief still drives the business today.

“Our culture has always been informal, open and collaborative. We give people opportunities, and they grab them.

“That approach has carried us through 20 years, and I’m proud that so many talented people have built long careers with us.”

US tech giant Qualcomm has acquired Elevear, a leader in AI-powered adaptive active noise cancellation and advanced audio technologies.

Elevear is based in Aachen, Germany, although co-founder Elfed Howells works out of the UK and is an alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University.

Howells said: “We are over the moon to become part of Qualcomm. What a journey, what a team, and what a result.”

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon brand is the principal shirt sponsor for Manchester United’s men’s, women’s, and academy teams.

A spokesman for Qualcomm said: “By integrating Elevear’s innovations into our Snapdragon sound platforms, we’re reinforcing our commitment to delivering premium, personalised, and immersive audio experiences for consumers worldwide.”

KKR has completed the £4.7 billion acquisition of Spectris plc.

The deal was agreed in the summer following a bidding war between US private equity companies KKR and Advent.

It has now completed after the court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement was delivered to the Registrar of Companies today. Trading of Spectris shares on the London Stock Exchange’s main market has therefore been suspended.

Spectris CEO Andrew Heath will retire at the end of the year, with Andrew Williams set to take over as interim CEO.

 

Liverpool is set for ‘transformational’ regeneration after Mayor Steve Rotheram revealed plans to create a Mayoral Development Corporation.

The MDC will fast-track schemes in partnership with Liverpool Council leader Liam Robinson via devolved powers which could see 17,500 homes and 5 million sq ft of commercial space delivered in the next 15 years.

The proposed development zone, which would be the first of its kind in the region, would focus on building on the momentum created by Everton Football Club’s new Hill Dickinson Stadium at Liverpool Waters.

This zone, which would encompass 174 hectares of mainly brownfield land from the River Mersey to the city’s Pumpfields and commercial business districts, would also bring together a trio of major schemes.

The Central Docks development, including a new urban park, backed by a £55 million government grant – alongside £26m direct investment from Peel Waters – is due for completion in 2028.

The emerging £1 billion development at King Edward Triangle will also be encompassed within it, as well as Liverpool’s first major Grade A office scheme in a decade at Pall Mall.

The proposal builds on the Liverpool Strategic Futures Panel’s Final Report, published last March, which recommended steps to establish a regeneration delivery vehicle.

Five Wealth, a Manchester-based wealth management firm, has appointed Glenn Urquhart as its new COO.

Bringing over 20 years’ experience in financial services operations, strategic planning and transformation, Urquhart joins Five Wealth from Verso Wealth Management, where he was head of operational service delivery.

He will lead on the implementation of process and technology change as well as the potential integration of acquisitions.

The news follows a period of significant progress for the firm, including surpassing £1bn in assets under management (AUM) in 2025.

Plans have also been set to double AUM again within the next three to four years.

A new landmark investment summit will showcase the North of England on the global stage, to unlock new investment and jobs for regions across the North.

The Great North Investment Summit is announced today by The Great North, a partnership founded by northern mayors to create prosperity and opportunity.

The Summit will take place on Monday 18 May 2026, ahead of UKREiiF, The UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum, in collaboration with UKREiiF, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and the Office for Investment (OfI).

The Summit will be dedicated to promoting the North’s investment opportunities, which could add £118bn to UK PLC with the right investments.

SEED Innovations reported a NAV of £11.2m (6.0p per share) as of 30th September 2025, as the AIM-listed investor pivots towards humanoid robotics and AI.

The Guernsey-based firm has also appointed Jim Mellon as its non-executive chair and its cash stood at £3.1 million.

The business is finalising an adviser hire to support deal flow, as it looks to pursue selective investments as the robotics market nears real-world adoption.

AJ Bell has reported a record year, with revenue up 18% to £317.8 million and profit before tax rising 22% to £137.8m, highlighting the strength of its scalable platform model.

Customer numbers jumped 19% to 644,000 and assets under administration hit £103.3 billion, driven by £7.5bn of net inflows and supportive markets, while its in-house investments arm grew AUM 31% to £8.9bn.

Shareholders are set to benefit from a 14% increase in the total dividend and a new share buyback of up to £50m.

The Manchester-based firm now plans to step up brand and product investment in FY26.

Retail group Princes Group will join the FTSE 250 Index on 22nd December, less than two months after its IPO.

The Liverpool-headquartered firm listed on the London Stock Exchange on 31st October with a market capitalisation of £1.16 billion.

It exports its products to more than 60 countries and has more than 8,000 customers globally across large food retailers, B2B partners and the foodservice industry.

Eloise Veljovic has been recruited by Palatine as their new head of investor relations.

She joins from Pomona Capital, where she spent the last two years as a director, responsible for investor relations in Europe and the Middle East.

Prior to joining Pomona, Veljovic also worked at Alpstone Capital and Hollyport Capital.

She will work closely with the Palatine partners across their three fund strategies: Buyout, impact and growth credit.

Veljovic said: “Palatine have a strong reputation with investors based on their returns and their open and transparent method of working with their investors which has been borne out by their recent successful fundraise for their fifth buyout fund.”

Gary Tipper, group managing partner, said: “I am confident Eloise will help us strategically position Palatine for future growth across all our fund strategies and ensure we are able to successfully raise further vintages for our buyout, impact and growth credit funds.”

Veljovic will formally take up her position at Palatine in January 2026.