Author: Patrick Killeen

The British Business Bank (BBB) is set to make a £25 million investment in Kraken Technologies, marking its largest-ever direct investment.

The funding is part of a wider package aimed at helping high-growth UK companies scale up at home rather than turning overseas for backing.

The announcement was made by Business Secretary Peter Kyle during a visit to the company’s London headquarters, where he unveiled a broader set of measures designed to support the government’s Modern Industrial Strategy, including regulatory reform and new funding commitments for priority sectors. 

It follows reforms to the BBB’s mandate, giving it greater flexibility to take larger, higher-risk stakes in strategically important scale-ups.

It also comes shortly after it was revealed that Kraken would demerge from Octopus Energy Group.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Listed firm Big Technologies has agreed a £38.5 million settlement with former investors, leading to a 20% jump in its share price.

Big Technologies plc – trading as Buddi – is currently suing its founder Sara Murray OBE for hundreds of millions of pounds after accusing her of forgery and deliberate falsification of documents to push through the company’s £577m IPO in 2021.

Murray was dismissed as CEO of Big Technologies in March over the accusations, and her assets have been frozen amid the subsequent and ongoing £320m High Court battle. Murray – who founded and sold comparison website Confused.com earlier in her entrepreneurial career – launched people monitoring specialist Big Technologies in 2005. It provides the Buddi electronic tagging system to the prison service, among other products.

She led a management buyout for £12.3m in 2018 and the five former shareholders in the firm brought legal action against it, claiming they had been forced to sell their holding during the MBO and were therefore denied the opportunity of cashing in from the float.

Big Technologies initially denied the accusation but, following its accusations against Murray, has now accepted it. It said late last year that the potential forgery could “materially adversely impact the position of the company in the… litigation [brought against it by the former shareholders]… [we] are unlikely to be able to successfully defend material elements of the claim”.

It has agreed to pay £31.5m immediately and a further £7m in 18 monthly instalments. Its share price jumped around 20% on the news, with its market cap topping £300m.

Author: Patrick Killeen

A social media ban for those under 16 in the UK could come into effect.

The government is launching a wide-ranging consultation on children’s online safety and wellbeing, as ministers weigh new measures to limit the impact of mobile phones and social media on young people. 

The proposals come as the UK looks closely at international approaches, including Australia’s landmark ban on social media for under-16s, which came into force in December.

Under the Australian rules, platforms such as Meta, TikTok and YouTube are required to take “reasonable steps” to prevent young teenagers holding accounts, with potential fines of up to A$49.5 million (£24.6m) for non-compliance. 

The policy is already facing legal challenge, with Reddit filing a case in Australia’s High Court arguing the ban unlawfully interferes with implied constitutional protections and that Reddit should be exempt under the law’s definition of social media.

The review will look at options including raising the digital age of consent, introducing “phone curfews”, restricting potentially addictive features such as infinite scrolling and “streaks”, as well as assessing whether a social media ban for children could be effective.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Funding Circle has achieved its FY26 revenue target a year ahead of schedule, causing the SME lending platform’s share price to rocket by over 17% to 148p in the first half hour of trading today.

The London-based FinTech beat FY25 forecasts, supported by faster growth across its expanding range of products.

The company’s revenue for the year was approximately £204 million, up 28% year-on-year, while profit before tax rose sharply to around £20m from £3m the year prior, beating current market expectations of £191m revenue and £17m profit. 

Creo Medical Group plc has reported 50% revenue growth to £6m (FY24: £4m) for the year ended 31st December 2025.

The Cardiff-based medical device company, which is focused on minimally invasive surgical endoscopy for pre-cancer and cancer patients, also reported a 20% reduction in underlying operating costs to £18.4m (FY24: £23.8m).

Underlying operating loss reduced by more than 40% to £13.3m (FY24: £22.3m).

Listed Cambridge firm Bango moved to positive EBITDA despite a reduction of revenue in 2025.

For the 12 months ended 31st December 2025, the payments insights company reported revenue of $52.2m (FY24: $53.4m).

The firm said that it successfully executed on key strategic priorities of strong growth in recurring revenue and continued opex and capex reductions. This resulted in positive cash EBITDA of approximately $2.3m, a $2.5m improvement from the negative cash EBITDA of FY24.

4imprint Group plc says it delivered resilient operational and financial performance in 2025 amidst a volatile macroeconomic environment.

The personalised merchandise firm, headquartered in London with a major operational hub in Wisconsin, USA, reported group revenue of $1.35bn (2024: $1.37bn) for the year ended 27th December 2025.

Profit before tax is expected to be not less than $149m (2024: $154m).

Both revenue and profit before tax are above the upper end of the current range of analysts’ forecasts.

London-listed 4imprint says it made solid operational progress in 2025, despite a challenging market backdrop. Total order count was down 3%, whilst average order value for the year was up 1% compared to 2024. New customer order count was 12% below prior year in 2025. Existing customer order count was flat for the year.

Kromek Group plc, a developer of radiation and bio-detection technology solutions has reported a huge increase in half-year results.

For the six months ended 31st October 2025, revenue increased substantially to £15m (H1 2025: £3.7m) at the North East firm.

Adjusted EBITDA was £6m (H1 2025: £2.3m loss) while profit before tax was £3.1m (H1 2025: £5.7m loss).

Cash and cash equivalents at 31st October 2025 were £1.2m (30th April 2025: £1.7m) while the company secured a revolving credit facility of £6m – of which £1m had been drawn as at 31st October 2025 – during the period. It also secured a £500,000 asset finance facility.

Author: Chris Maguire

Retail giant Timpson and musicMagpie have announced a partnership that will allow customers to trade in their old smartphones and get paid in minutes.

Following a successful four-month trial, the service is now available in over 1,300 Timpson stores across the UK, enabling customers to hand over their device in-store, have it assessed in front of them and have funds transferred within minutes.

It’s estimated that 73 per cent of UK adults have at least one unused smartphone at home with an average trade-in value of around £250.

musicMagpie was acquired by electrical retailer AO World in December 2024.

Steve Oliver, managing director and co-founder of musicMagpie, said: “Adding Magpie to 1,300 Timpson stores across the UK is a huge milestone for us and will take our reach and convenience for customers far beyond anything we’ve tried before.

“It’s great to see that so many customers are choosing to trade in their old phones in a way that’s as good for the planet as it is for their wallets.”

Eagle Eye Solutions Group plc expects its full-year FY26 profits to be ahead of current market expectations.

The SaaS technology firm – which provides personalised, real-time marketing solutions – reported group revenue of £22.4m for H1 FY26 (H1 FY25: £19.3m).

“H1 margin performance has exceeded the board’s expectations due to the group’s ongoing SaaS transformation and cost optimisation,” it stated. “This will allow the board to upgrade profit expectations, while continuing to selectively invest in growth initiatives during Q3.”

Author: Patrick Killeen

WH Smith shares climbed more than 11% to around 699p today after the retailer said it plans to appoint former Balfour Beatty boss Leo Quinn as executive chairman from 7th April.

Quinn brings over 20 years of experience as CEO of UK publicly quoted companies to the FTSE 250 firm, most recently as group chief executive of Balfour Beatty.

He has led major business turnarounds and delivered strong shareholder returns, including over £5 billion of total shareholder value.

The announcement comes after a turbulent period for the retail giant, following an accounting issue in its North American business which led to a significant share price fall over the past few months.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Seat Unique and Gloucestershire County Cricket Club have agreed a new four-year extension to their commercial partnership, continuing a relationship that first began in 2021.

The renewal follows what both parties described as a strong period of growth in hospitality and premium ticket sales, alongside wider increases in digital engagement at the club.

Seat Unique, a premium ticketing marketplace for sport, music and live events, has worked with Gloucestershire to market and sell official hospitality packages and enhanced matchday experiences.

It has been backed by many of England’s sporting stars, including Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Harry Kane.

The Isle of Man Government has launched a new National AI Office (NAIO) to help coordinate how the Island adopts AI in a practical and responsible way.

Backed by £1 million of funding, it will build on the Activate AI programme, which the government says delivered around £2m in productivity savings in 2025.

Led by Digital Isle of Man, the office will focus on creating a national AI strategy, improving AI skills and literacy, helping businesses use AI, setting clear safety guidance and using AI to make public services more efficient.

A London-based DeepTech startup developing biomanufacturing technology for the global chemicals industry has raised £1.7 million in pre-seed funding to scale its cell-free enzyme reactor platform.

The round for Anzen Industries was led by LocalGlobe and Creator Fund and will help the company shift operations to the US, where it plans to establish its first manufacturing site and pursue new industrial partnerships.

The move will see Anzen build a biomanufacturing facility in California, producing high-value molecules used in cosmetics, fragrance and food, alongside applications in critical minerals processing.

Co-founded by scientists Amy Locks and Pedro Lovatt Garcia, the business combines proprietary enzyme reactors, immobilisation methods and AI-driven design to look to improve efficiency and reduce the cost and complexity of producing hard-to-make chemicals.

Beazley has acknowledged Zurich Insurance’s £7.7 billion takeover offer, saying it has not yet had the chance to consider it.

Zurich’s improved proposal of 1,280 pence per share was made public at around 1pm today and Beazley shares have spiked by over 40% since.

The insurance giant and FTSE 100 firm said that it will update shareholders in due course and urged them to take no action.

Sage has launched a £25,000 prize draw for sole traders as it steps up efforts to encourage preparation for Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax, due to begin in April. 

The FTSE-listed software firm’s competition is aimed at helping ease the cost of a tax bill for one winner, as millions of self-employed workers face the shift to quarterly digital reporting for the first time.

The announcement follows new research from Sage and IPSE suggesting that seven in ten sole traders are still unprepared for the change, just three months before the deadline. 

Under the new rules, sole traders will be required to keep digital records and send updates to HMRC every quarter, replacing the once-a-year system many currently use.15

Author: Patrick Killeen

Eolas Medical has raised $12 million (£8.9m) in a Series A round led by Acton Capital, as it looks to scale AI in the NHS.

The Belfast-based business will also look to scale its point-of-care knowledge platform as it expands internationally.

The clinician-led HealthTech is already used across 400+ UK clinical sites and in 85% of NHS acute trusts, helping frontline teams access local guidance, policies and medicines information “up to 10 times faster” than traditional intranets and document systems.

It ranked 21st in BusinessCloud’s HealthTech 50 for 2025 and was born out of its founder’s frustrations.

Angel Capital Scotland (ACS) has appointed a new board of directors, with Niki McKenzie, joint managing director at Archangels, named as chair.

The move follows the appointment of Margaret Morton as the firm’s first chief executive in September 2025 and is being positioned as the next step in the organisation’s development as Scotland’s national association for business angels.

McKenzie brings more than 14 years’ experience at Archangels, having previously worked in banking and structured finance at KPMG and Lloyds Banking Group.

She also sits on the board of St Andrews Innovation and is a trustee of National Museums Scotland.

She is joined on the new board by Lynne Cadenhead (TRICAPITAL Angels and Women’s Enterprise Scotland), Fraser Lusty (Equity Gap) and Professor Niall MacKenzie (University of Strathclyde).

The board refresh sees long-serving chair Jock Millican step down after 14 years, having overseen the transition from LINC Scotland to Angel Capital Scotland and the recruitment of Morton as CEO.

Cares Laboratory, the innovation-led developer of specialist laundry and household cleaning products behind the Vamoosh brand, has appointed Claire White as technical manager.

The hire comes as the Barnsley-based business looks to ramp up its technical and product development capabilities. 

White joins from Selden Research and brings 18 years’ experience in formulation, applied chemistry and regulatory compliance, alongside early career experience in the pharmaceutical sector. 

The firm said the hire comes as it looks to accelerate its product pipeline, with Vamoosh now its best-selling product and stocked in more than 5,000 UK retail outlets, including B&M, The Range, Pets at Home and Asda.

Author: Patrick Killeen

ElevenLabs is in talks to raise fresh funding in a deal that could value the voice AI company at around $11 billion, according to the Financial Times.

If agreed, the round would almost double its most recent valuation of $6.6bn and make the London-based business the UK’s most valuable AI startup.

Sources told the FT that the company is seeking to raise hundreds of millions of dollars, just four months after a secondary share sale that valued the business at $6.6 billion.

It also comes under a year on from a Series C funding round which valued it at $3.3bn.