Author: Chris Maguire

Chris Baguley has announced he’ll be leaving his role as corporate MD at Cheshire-based property lending giant Together at the end of the year.

Baguley, who joined Together in 2006, will be exploring a number of non-exec roles in early 2027.

He said: ”I’ve worked with the best people in the industry, some who have gone on to new ventures, but most who still remain as part of our incredible business.

“After the best 20 years in my career, I have taken the decision to retire from Together at the end of this year, to explore a number of non-exec roles in early 2027.“Not an easy decision as I absolutely love our business, together with the wonderful people I get to work alongside every day.

“I simply couldn’t be more proud of the business we have built in the last 20 years.”

Baguley, who previously worked for Manchester Building Society and Yorkshire Bank, joined Together to set up the bridging finance arm of our business.

Several years later he played an integral part in the creation of the company’s corporate team.

Together is a UK-wide specialist property lender with a loan book of £8bn and is a major employer in Stockport and Greater Manchester with more than 850 staff.

Author: Chris Maguire

Tributes have been paid to Abi Godfrey, a director of Grant Thornton’s North West corporate finance business, who has died at the age of 34

Godfrey, who led the company’s national pharma and life sciences sector, joined Grant Thornton in 2024 after 11 years at Deloitte.

Peter Terry, a partner at Grant Thornton UK and practice lead in the North West, said: “We are deeply saddened by the passing of our friend and colleague Abi Godfrey, director in our North West corporate finance business, who led our national pharma and life sciences sector.

“As a young female leader just breaking through to partner at Grant Thornton, she was an inspiration and motivation to many, both inside and outside the firm.

“She had so many wonderful qualities – we will miss her energy, fun, kindness and humility. We hold her family, friends and colleagues in our thoughts at this most difficult of times.”

Private equity-backed UK accountancy firm Gravita has appointed former BCLP global leader Lisa Mayhew as CEO.

The London firm has recently expanded to five UK offices and has seen more than 400% headcount growth since 2022. It is backed by PE firm Tenzing.

At BCLP, Mayhew served as firmwide managing partner and global co-chair, overseeing 32 international offices and growing revenue from $350m to $900m.

She succeeds interim CEO Heather Swanston, who will return to her role as chair of Gravita’s board.

YFM Equity Partners has urged Liverpool City Region tech founders to come forward as it has capital to invest.

The North-focused investor says Liverpool is producing a growing number of companies ready for their next phase of growth, particularly those using technology to drive scale, efficiency and international reach.

YFM, which invests £3m-£15m in growth-stage businesses, has backed Liverpool City Region success story Protein Works helping it grow from a small challenger brand into a global, multi-million-pound business.

London-based payments FinTech Navro has appointed Anna Andreeva as CFO, strengthening its leadership team as it scales internationally.

Andreeva joins from senior finance roles across payments and financial services, including Mews and Mollie, and will lead Navro’s financial strategy during its next phase of growth.

The appointment follows Navro’s recent launch of a ‘world-first’ statutory & tax payroll payments service, covering 95 countries.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Eagle Eye Innovations, a provider of drone training, operating and consulting services, has secured investment from private equity investor LDC to support its expansion plans.

Headquartered in Lincoln and founded in 2013, EEI provides a variety of services to organisations requiring skilled, regulatory-compliant drone operators across multiple sectors including the built environment, utilities, infrastructure, agriculture, logistics, media, security and defence. 

LDC is backing EEI’s management team, led by founder and CEO Siôn Roberts, COO Dom Smith and CCO Alex Kasperczyk, as they expand the business in the UK and internationally.

Rob Clarke, previously CEO of CTC Aviation, will join as non-executive chairman, bringing extensive experience in commercial pilot operations and aviation operations consultancy, and Sir Chris Harper will remain on the board as non-executive director. 

UK personalised video startup Sendr has launched what it claims to be the world’s first personalised video at scale for eCommerce.

Early campaigns have delivered a 33% uplift in recovered abandoned-cart revenue compared to email, it says, using personalised videos that address shoppers by name, show the exact product they left behind and link straight back to checkout.

Initial use cases include influencer-led eCommerce brands such as Paris Fury and Pete Wicks, but it can be used by any brand or retailer across any stage of the eCommerce journey.

Sendr had previously been deployed by brands including the FT as an enterprise sales tool but given estimates that abandoned carts cost eCommerce retailers trillions each year, personalised video at scale is a breakthrough in eCommerce.

Having launched in 2025, Sendr has already raised £600,000 in pre-seed funding.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Experts have reacted with disbelief after it was revealed that Rachel Reeves’s Budget was accessed almost 25,000 times before its official publication due to an Office for Budget Responsibility leak.

An investigation by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) showed official forecasts by the OBR were downloaded on “at least” 24,701 occasions in the hour before Ms Reeves delivered her 26th November Budget.

This was much higher than the 43 occasions reported in an initial review.

The UK Space Agency has awarded contracts to three UK companies to investigate producing these advanced materials in Low Earth Orbit, where the conditions – including microgravity, natural vacuum, and extreme temperatures – can create products that are difficult, expensive, or impossible to manufacture on Earth.

The research supports in-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing (ISAM), which the government identifies as a priority capability area for UK leadership, growth, and national security.

Each study will assess technical feasibility, mature key technologies, and develop credible routes to market.

The three contracts are:

BioOrbit Ltd (£250,000) – The ‘PHARM’ study will design an end-to-end mission to manufacture drugs in microgravity. Microgravity enables the formation of more perfect, reproducible protein crystals for drug formulations that cannot be achieved on Earth, enabling cancer treatments to be given at home. BioOrbit is working with relevant regulatory bodies to ensure that this mission can be readily commercialised.

Space Forge Ltd (£300,000) – The ‘2Forge2Furious’ study will demonstrate how semiconductor seed crystals could be produced commercially in orbit, with the aim of improving the efficiency, reliability and power density of high-power electronic devices, including telecommunications, data centre infrastructure, EV charging and quantum computing.

OrbiSky Ltd (£295,000) – The ‘SkyYield’ study will design a payload to process ZBLAN fluoride glass in microgravity. ZBLAN is a specialist optical fibre that can transmit light with up to 100 times less signal loss than traditional silica fibre, with significant potential for telecommunications and medical imaging.

Author: Mark Rothwell, chief executive, Furza

There’s no escaping it – AI is reshaping the workplace.

Headlines often focus on jobs being ‘replaced’ by algorithms or automation, stoking fear and uncertainty.

However, while technology undeniably changes the employment landscape, framing AI as a threat rather than an enabler overlooks a key truth – that the talent of tomorrow will not be defined solely by what humans are unable to do, but by how we adapt, collaborate and innovate alongside machines.

The future of work may look different from what we expect, but it’s far from bleak.

The question isn’t whether AI will replace jobs; it’s whether we will shape a future where talent, technology and curiosity work together to create something better.

Imperial spinout Nanomox has raised £2.4m to produce high-performance materials and recover metals from waste sources.

Founded by Francisco Malaret and Jason Hallett in 2020 and based on the former’s PhD research, it has built a process – based on ionic liquid chemistry – to create finely tuned metal oxide particles with exceptional control over crystallinity, shape and size.

These are traits critical for performance in UV protection, electronics and catalytic applications.

The seed funding is a mixture of equity and grants. Led by TSP Ventures and Boast Trading LLC, with participation from Imperial College Enterprise Fund 3, SNØCAP VC, the Circular Innovation Fund, EIT RawMaterials and several UK angels, it includes backing from the Innovate UK Investor Partnership programme.

Nanomox says it will establish Catalyst 1, its first commercial pilot plant and R&D facility, to scale production to tonnes per month and begin supplying cosmetic industry partners.

xWatts has raised £1.6m seed funding to slash non-domestic energy waste.

The London startup is described as an intelligent energy management platform and has tripled revenues over each of the past two years.

xWatts focuses on complex estates with heavy energy loads, such as healthcare, universities and industry. It connects directly to on-site energy systems and builds real-time digital models of each facility and automatically adjusts assets.

The funding was led by Cambridge Enterprise Ventures alongside Cambridge Angels, Parkwalk and R42. It will be used to expand around Europe.

LHV Bank returned 99% growth in deposits and 136% in loans, recording a profit after tax of £5m and a 5% return on equity in its 2025 annual financial results.

The bank recorded £1.1bn in customer deposits and £0.7bn in lending, marking a strong year of growth in its second full year since launch across both retail and business services.

In 2025 it launched the UK’s first current account into the market since 2021 with a commitment to track and match Bank of England base rate.

The account offers travel-friendly, fee-free debit cards with competitive exchange rates on spending abroad and a full range of payment options. On the retail side, direct and platform customer numbers rose to over 30,000.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

BT Group has announced leadership succession within Openreach and BT International.

The telecoms giant says BT International CEO Bas Burger has decided the time is right for him to leave BT after 18 years of service, including nine years on the executive committee.

He will be replaced on 1st April by Clive Selley, currently CEO of BT’s wholly-owned fibre and cable installer unit Openreach.

Katie Milligan, currently deputy CEO of Openreach, will become CEO.

Primorus Investments plc has changed its CEO.

Matthew Beardmore has transitioned to a non-executive director role with immediate effect.

Hedley Clark has transitioned from NED to executive director.

Tekcapital Plc, an intellectual property investment group, has conditionally raised £1.5 million via a share placing.

The placing proceeds will strengthen the company’s balance sheet and support the continued execution of its investment strategy across both existing and new portfolio companies, with a particular emphasis on opportunities in generative artificial intelligence.

A Manchester entrepreneur has been reflecting on her remarkable achievement of running 100 marathons in 100 days across South East Asia.

41-year-old Hannah Cox is the founder Better Business Network and the Better Business Summit.

Although not a professional athlete she embarked on a 4,200km run across India by following a forgotten colonial boundary called the Inland Customs Line in India.

Her journey – known as Project Salt Run – was inspired by her late father, Deric Cox, who was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata) before moving to the UK in 1953.

Fittingly, she reached her destination by arriving in her father’s childhood home in Kolkata, on the India Bangladesh border.

Cox’s incredible exploits have raised more than £85,00 for her chosen four charities – 1% for the Planet, Frank Water, ClientEarth, and Big Change.

 

Fractile is to invest £100m to scale production of AI chips.

The London chipmaker will invest the money over the next three years to build a hardware engineering facility in Bristol and testing lab for software.

The government said it will support work on next-generation systems designed to run advanced artificial intelligence models faster than current hardware.

It added that it will assemble Fractile’s chips into full AI systems.

Eleco Plc has acquired Kivue, a provider of project portfolio management software and associated services, for an enterprise value basis of £2.3m – £1.84m cash and £460,000 of equity.

Eleco is an AIM-listed specialist software provider for the built environment.

Reading-based Kivue’s Perform platform provides immediate and automated, visual portfolio insights, governance, risks and portfolio performance for project teams and enterprise-level executives.    

Primarily focused on the private sector with some public sector clients, notable customers include London City Airport, Aon, Bentley, Virgin Atlantic and The Government of Jersey.

Its most recent annual results showed £1.5m in revenue and adjusted EBITDA of £200,000.

Listed Nottingham-based eCommerce business Huddled Group plc has raised £740,000 via a share placing and retail share sale.

Huddled Group buys surplus stock from manufacturers and retailers before selling it online at a fraction of the usual price through its brands DiscountDragon, Nutricircle and BOOP Beauty.

It claims to have saved millions of items from being unnecessarily wasted, while it has donated and distributed hundreds of thousands of items to food poverty charities in the UK.

The funds raised will be used will be used to further strengthen the group’s stock and working capital position across its various brands, as well as provide additional working capital to fund the expansion into new channels such as KwikSales and marketplaces such as Amazon and Temu.