Bourn has raised £3.5m to scale its Flexible Trade Account, a secured working-capital product designed to modernise the traditional business overdraft for SMEs.

The round includes a strategic minority investment from NatWest Group alongside backing from McPike Global Family Office, Haatch, Love Ventures, Portfolio Ventures and Aperture, with the funding set to expand product functionality, hire across the team and accelerate partnerships with banks and platforms.

The FinTech has already been piloting the solution with Investec and is now integrating across ERPs, accounting systems and B2B marketplaces to reach SMEs inside the workflows they already use.

Author: Chris Maguire

Only 14 per cent of SMEs in the UK are now female-led, down from 19 per cent in 2021, according to government data.

Serial entrepreneur Debbie Wosskow OBE, who is the co-chair of the UK’s Invest in Women Taskforce, said the drop equates to tens of thousands fewer women running businesses across Britain.

She said: “If women started and scaled businesses at the same rate as men, the UK economy would gain £250bn.

“We need to stop treating women-led firms as a DE&I ‘nice to have’.

“They deliver stronger returns, drive jobs, and fuel growth in overlooked sectors.

“If we want a thriving economy, we must change the system – tax policy, childcare, capital access, to make it possible for more women to build and grow.

“Because every lost female entrepreneur is a lost opportunity for Britain.”

Wosskow identified rising taxes; wage pressures; and capital barriers as three of the biggest reasons for the decline.

Author: Chris Maguire

Regional private equity firm NorthEdge has made a number of senior promotions.

Dan Matkin, Liam May and James Hales have been promoted to partner and Jordana Cropper has been promoted to director.

NorthEdge, which has offices in Manchester and Birmingham, has a reputation for backing entrepreneurial and ambitious management teams in the technology, healthcare and business services sectors.

Outside of the firm’s deal activity, the portfolio has also continued to deliver strong growth – with average EBITDA growth of 36 per cent year-on-year in its core sectors.

Ray Stenton and Keven Parker, joint managing partners of NorthEdge, said: “These promotions represent a significant investment in what has always been our most important asset – our people.

“Following a strong year of performance across the business and portfolio, it is great to celebrate that success with these well-deserved promotions.

“We look forward to working with Dan, James, Liam and Jordana in their new roles, as we continue to deliver on our mission of building better businesses, and communities, across the UK regions.”

 

SysGroup plc has reported a fall in half-year revenues and profits.

The cloud, cybersecurity and AI transformation firm, headquartered in Manchester and formerly based in Liverpool, has reduced headcount from 111 in FY23 to 80.

For the six months ended 30th September 2025, revenue was £9.9m, down from £10.2m in H1 FY25.

Adjusted EBITDA was £200,000 (H1 FY25: £400,000), while loss before tax was £1.6m (H1 FY25: £1.1m).

Net cash at 30th September 2025 was £3.1m (2024: £4.6m).

Cybersecurity now represents a significant and fast-growing revenue stream for the group, today comprising 47% of revenue in the period.

The CEO of Physiomics plc is to step down next year.

Peter Sargent will leave the mathematical modelling, data science and biometrics company – which supports the development of new therapeutics and personalised medicine solutions – with effect from 29th May 2026.

The company has commenced its search to appoint a new CEO. Dr Jim Millen, currently non-executive chairman, will be available to resume the position of executive chairman from the date of Dr Sargent’s departure, for as long as required.

Dr Millen was formerly the CEO of the company from 2016 to 2024, during which time he grew the business from total income of under £300k to a peak of over £900k, as well as securing a major contract with long-term client Merck KGaA and kicking off the company’s personalised medicine initiative.

4imprint Group plc has appointed Paul Forman as a non-executive director and its next chair.

Forman is an experienced director of both listed and private-equity backed businesses. He has held chief executive roles at three FTSE 250 businesses – Essentra PLC, Coats Group PLC and Low and Bonar PLC – and is also a former non-executive director of Brammer PLC and Tate and Lyle PLC.

He is currently chair of Topps Tiles PLC, Britain’s largest tile specialist group, and Natara and Winder Power, two private equity-backed industrial groups.

He will begin as a NED on 1st January 2026 and take up the chair role from 16th March 2026.

On that date, Paul Moody will step down as chair and from the board.

Aspire Technology Solutions has secured a fresh £200 million round of investment led by private equity investor LDC to accelerate the company’s expansion and support an ambitious acquisition strategy.

The provider of managed IT, cyber security and modern workplace solutions said LDC has reinvested for a significant minority alongside new minority co-investor Federated Hermes. 

In the three years since LDC’s original investment in 2022, Aspire has delivered strong and sustained growth, with revenue up 158% and headcount increasing 55%. The company has also expanded its UK reach and completed two strategic acquisitions.

The latest investment positions Aspire to accelerate its plans and advance toward its £100m revenue target for 2030.

Eight North of England startups have become the latest to receive investment from the PraeSeed programme.

The summer programme for early-stage businesses lasts six weeks and is led by the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II) and PXN Ventures, created by a merger between Praetura Ventures and Par Equity.

Now eight of the 12 businesses have each won £200,000 funding. They hail from Newcastle, Durham, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield and Lancaster.

NVM Private Equity and eComplete have backed a £31 million management buyout of Noted Aromas.

Durham-based Noted Aromas is a rapidly scaling direct-to-consumer fragrance brand.

eComplete is an eCommerce specialist and majority shareholder behind The Beauty Tech Group PLC – the parent company of CurrentBody – which was admitted to the London Stock Exchange in October with a market capitalisation of £300m.

As part of the pre-deal process, Megan O’Sullivan has been appointed managing director, bringing strong leadership credentials from the eCommerce and beauty space, having held several senior roles at THG. 

AND Digital plans to expand its US business after a year of growth.

The provider of AI, data and digital platform services says it saw a fourfold increase in revenue Stateside in 2025 – putting the company on a solid path toward building a $100 million–plus Americas business in the coming years, it says.

Recently announced as a premier partner with Snowflake after being recognised for its expertise in delivering high-quality data and AI solutions to accelerate business impact, it also recently joined forces with Dynamic Yield by Mastercard, an AI-native personalisation suite that helps brands activate emotionally intelligent, real-time campaigns across web, app and email.

Ascentra Labs, a company building AI tools for consultants and corporate strategy professionals, has raised $2m in seed funding.

The round was led by NAP with participation from prominent founder-angels including Alan Chang (CEO of Fuse, former Revolut CRO) and Fredrik Hjelm (CEO of Voi).

Ascentra was founded by Paritosh Devbhandari, a former Mckinsey consultant who previously led AI product sales at QuantumBlack, and Oliver Thurston, former head of machine learning at Mathison AI, in London at the start of 2025.

A West London GP surgery has become the first in the UK to trial Mirror, an AI-powered patient scribe that captures the key points of a medical consultation and turns them into clear, plain-English notes for patients to take home.

Golborne Medical, part of the NeoHealth Primary Care Network, is launching the pilot under the leadership of Dr Yasmin Razak, Principal GP NeoHealth PCN and Education Lead for West London.

As part of the trial, the practice will offer a cohort of patients’ free access to the Mirror app to use during their appointments, enabling the surgery to gather real-world feedback on the tool’s impact.

IRIS Software Group has appointed a new CFO and president for North America.

The provider of accountancy, payroll, HR and education solutions has named Jens Ulrik Knudsen as its finance chief.

Meanwhile Shemin Nurmohamed will lead the company’s North American expansion as president and GM, Americas.

A new Government-backed Investor Corridor event in Leeds will spotlight the region’s growing strength in HealthTech and MedTech innovation this week, showcasing 15 active investors with some of the UK’s most promising early-stage startups. 

The event will position Leeds as a growing hub for global health and life sciences innovation.

Run by the UK Tech Cluster Group (UKTCG), the event in Leeds on 4th December is designed to open up access to investment networks often concentrated in London and the South East. It will provide a platform for emerging health and medical technology startups with an AI and data focus from across West Yorkshire to pitch their innovations, share progress and gain feedback.

Some of the UK’s biggest listed banks are slightly on the rise today after the Bank of England confirmed the major lenders had passed its latest stress tests and lowered the benchmark tier-one capital requirement.

Lloyds (1.51%) and Standard Chartered (1.28%) are two members of the FTSE 100 which have seen their shares increase. NatWest is also up.

Land Securities (2.33%) and British Land (2.26%) have also moved higher, with telecommunications giant Vodafone (1.54%) up too, just a day after Virgin Media was hit with a big Ofcom fine.

Victrex (6.41%) is the standout riser in the FTSE 250 after announcing its ‘profit improvement plan’, whilst the FTSE 100’s Rightmove (-1.58%) and Auto Trader (-1.58%) have fallen. 

Among the sharper FTSE 250 decliners, Foresight Group Holdings (-7.37%) is down despite its positive half-year results which were published this morning. 

Oxford Nanopore (-6.40%), XPS Pensions (-4.50%), Ithaca Energy (-3.40%) and Ceres Power (-2.87%) are also in the red today.

Save My Exams has forecast a 41% rise in revenue for 2025 as more students move revision online. 

The London-based EdTech platform, launched in 2017, expects to hit 2.5 million registered users and is predicting a 95% year-on-year jump in registrations by the end of the year. 

Covering qualifications from GCSE and IGCSE through to A Level, IB, AP, National 5 and O Level, the company has built its content around specialist teacher-led resources. 

Growth has been supported by faster expansion into the US, the launch of its AI marking tool Smart Mark and a broader product offer aimed at teachers.

TSB has named Serene, AVIEL Intelligence and Tunic Pay as winners of its 2025 Innovation Labs programme, with all three FinTechs now set to work with the bank as suppliers within its fraud prevention efforts. 

The programme, delivered with FinTech Scotland, focused on finding practical tools to tackle a rising fraud problem after UK Finance data showed criminals stole more than £620 million in the first half of 2025. 

Serene will pilot predictive behavioural intelligence to spot and protect vulnerable customers earlier, AVIEL Intelligence will apply AI-augmented intelligence gathering to detect emerging fraud patterns and mule accounts, and Tunic Pay will help TSB pause and assess suspicious transactions without slowing legitimate ones.

YFM Equity Partners has appointed Adam Milner as its new portfolio director, strengthening its national portfolio team and increasing capacity to support value creation across more high-growth businesses. 

Milner joins from Endless, where he spent six years managing SME growth and MBO investments, after senior industry roles and seven years at KPMG. The hire follows several recent appointments across the Leeds-based firm’s investment and portfolio teams, including new investment managers in London and Leeds. 

YFM invests £3 million-£15m in fast-growing UK companies and manages more than £750m in funds through offices nationwide.

Intelligent Core has raised £2 million in a funding round led by Fuel Ventures, with participation from Plug & Play Tech Center and Helion Partners, following a £500k raise earlier this year. 

The AI-powered company provides real-time, autonomous intelligence for industrial sectors such as energy, oil and gas, water, manufacturing and transport, using live sensor and equipment data to deliver instant visibility, forecasting and automated decision-making. 

Its INTELLIGENT CORE platform is designed to run in the cloud, on-premises or at the edge, bringing AI directly into remote and mission-critical environments. 

The fresh capital will be used to scale the team, push forward hardware product development and support larger global deployments, as the London-based company targets modernising legacy industrial infrastructure and helping operators cut costs, downtime and emissions.

True Potential Group has appointed Laura McCall as its first chief people officer, making a permanent hire into a newly created executive role. 

She will take up the position in early 2026 and be based at the wealth manager’s headquarters in Newcastle, leading a values-led people strategy as the group enters its next growth phase under CEO Gerry Mallon. 

McCall brings 17 years of senior HR experience in financial services, including roles at Scottish National Investment Bank, Martin Currie, NatWest and Baillie Gifford. 

True Potential, which manages close to £37 billion of platform assets and supports more than 590,000 clients, says the appointment reinforces its focus on investing in people alongside its tech-driven advice model.