Global data giant Experian has acquired KYC360 in the UK and Ireland.

It says the deal will significantly enhance its fraud and financial crime compliance capabilities.

KYC360’s suite of Customer Lifecycle Management (CLM) solutions will support Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB) processes – which allow clients to onboard, screen and perpetually maintain data across the entire customer base – when they are integrated into Experian’s Ascend platform.

Sheffield-based technology and IT firm, Simoda, is expanding its services to support clients across Europe, following a record year of growth and rising customer demand.

Founded in 2019, Simoda has enjoyed growth of 35% over the past 12 months and is now laying the foundations for an organic overseas expansion.

Simoda can deliver services across Europe from its base in Amsterdam and has already delivered site-wide fibre and CCTV installations for European clients, as well as a network refresh for a governmental body in France.

Capita plc today announced the launch of The AI Catalyst Stack, operationalising AI at scale and underpinning its ambition to become the first AI-enabled business process outsourcer (BPO).

It says the AI Catalyst Stack leverages Capita’s operational expertise and hyperscaler partnerships to embed AI in mission-critical services, driving faster transformation, reducing costs, and improving outcomes for citizens and customers.

Risers:

Goodwin – +32.69%
W.A.G Payment Solutions – +4.98%
Chemring Group – +3.30%
4imprint Group – +2.87%
Playtech – +2.63%

Fallers:

Fresnillo – -3.71%
Hochschild Mining – -3.57%
Oxford Nanopore Technologies – -2.79%
Endeavour Mining – -2.58%
Diageo – -2.35%

Lincoln-based Google Premier and Shopify Plus marketing agency eComOne has appointed Stephen Kenwright, co-founder and former chief commercial officer of Rise at Seven, as a non-executive director.

Kenwright co-founded Rise at Seven in 2019 and helped scale the agency to £7 million in annual revenue, more than 100 staff and offices in Sheffield, Manchester, London and New York before exiting after three years.

With over 13 years’ experience leading top-performing digital agencies, he will now support eComOne’s strategic growth as it aims to become the UK’s leading ecommerce specialist for search and paid media.

The appointment follows the company’s recent promotion to Shopify Plus Partner status, marking a pivotal moment in the agency’s expansion from its Lincolnshire base.

Praetura’s asset finance division, which provides flexible asset and loan funding to SMEs across the UK, has reported its strongest-ever quarter with £60 million lent in Q3 2025 – a 61% increase year-on-year.

The business, comprising Praetura Asset Finance and Kingsway Finance, offers funding from £10,000 to £5m to help companies acquire equipment, vehicles and other assets.

Growth was driven by rising demand from industries such as construction, manufacturing and healthcare, as more SMEs turn to alternative lenders.

With its loan book now exceeding £340m, the Greater Manchester-based firm is on track to break annual funding records for the fifth consecutive year.

JPMorgan Chase has given employees the option to use its in-house AI tool to help write year-end performance reviews, according to the Financial Times. 

The system, built on the bank’s large language model (LLM), is said to be able to generate review drafts based on employee prompts to help streamline what is often a time-consuming process across large organisations.

The rollout is part of the global giant’s broader AI adoption strategy, showcasing how machine-generated text is becoming increasingly common in corporate workflows. 

Employees are advised to use the tool as a starting point, remaining responsible for final submissions, and it will not be used for compensation decisions.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Nottingham-based Agilitas IT Solutions has entered administration, with Michael Magnay and Rob Croxen of Alvarez & Marsal Europe appointed as joint administrators.

Cameo Services has acquired the firm’s IT maintenance customer base in a move designed to ensure continuity of service for channel partners and end clients.

A statement on the company’s website read: “On 23 October 2025, Michael Magnay and Rob Croxen of Alvarez & Marsal Europe LLP were appointed as joint administrators of Agilitas IT Solutions Limited in administration (the “company”).

“The administrators encourage anyone who has an interest in the company’s stock or assets to contact them on: ins_agitsl@alvarezandmarsal.com.

“The affairs, business and property of the company are being managed by the joint administrators who act as agents of the company and without personal liability.”

The private-equity backed firm employs more than 100 people and posted a notice of intention to appoint administrators via Eversheds Sutherland last week.

In its FY25 results in June, the company reported a 26.4% revenue decline from £17.7 million to £13m, citing ‘significant challenges’ and the loss of one of its largest customers.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Former Manchester United and England footballer Jesse Lingard has joined London-based AI SportTech MAGIC AI as an investor, brand ambassador and on-screen trainer.

The fitness technology company, which is behind the award-winning MAGIC AI Mirror, has now raised just shy of £7 million.

With a combined social media following of more than 15m, Lingard’s move into the fast-growing AI fitness sector follows a wave of elite athletes investing in technology-driven health ventures. 

He joins a star-studded roster of MAGIC AI collaborators that includes Sir Alastair Cook, Strictly Come Dancing’s Katya Jones and Team GB Olympic champion Desiree Henry.

Global professional services network Forvis Mazars has made a major investment in its technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) practice with the appointment of Nathan Reay as TMT sector leader for the UK.

Reay, an experienced investment banker and former C-suite executive, brings more than 25 years of global strategy and M&A experience across Hong Kong, Sydney and London.

In his new role at the France-based firm, he will lead the expansion of the company’s TMT offering in the UK and contribute to international strategy as a member of the firm’s global TMT board.

He will also head the UK mergers & acquisitions team for the sector, drawing on a career that includes leading corporate strategy for multinational media companies, managing global tech and media investments, and sitting on the board of a technology-focused venture capital fund.

Author: Paul Holland, managing director for UK/ANZ Fleet, Corpay

The Autumn Budget is meant to be about stability and growth, but small fleets and van drivers are bracing for another round of cost increases. 

These are the people who keep Britain moving. They deliver our groceries, fix our boilers, keep the shelves stocked. 

Yet every Budget seems to treat them as an easy target. Fuel duty, taxes, higher wages, energy costs – all of it lands on small operators first, and they have the least room to absorb it.

The reality is that small businesses don’t have corporate buffers or deep pockets. They are family businesses, sole traders, and local employers. Every extra pound squeezed out of them is another pound that ends up in the weekly shop or the cost of a delivery. 

And while larger fleets can plan years ahead, the small firms are often making decisions month to month. They need breathing space, not another set of hidden costs.

This is why the Budget matters. The Government can choose to pile more weight onto these businesses, or it can give them the room to invest and grow. 

That means phasing in new taxes, offering SME-friendly incentives for EV adoption, and making infrastructure accessible beyond the big corporates. The van driver in Manchester or the builder in Birmingham deserves the same chance to go greener and save money as the multinational.

If the Chancellor really wants a healthier economy, the Autumn Budget cannot ignore the backbone of UK business. 

Stop treating small businesses like an ATM. Give them the stability they need, and the whole country will feel the benefit.

London-based FinTech ClearBank has signed a strategic framework agreement with a subsidiary of Circle Internet Group to advance the adoption of compliant, multi-currency stablecoin infrastructure across Europe. 

The collaboration will initially focus on expanding access to USDC and EURC, Circle’s MiCA-compliant, fully reserved stablecoins, through Circle Mint.

ClearBank also plans to become one of the first European banks to join the Circle Payments Network (CPN), allowing clients to move money globally at internet speed with blockchain transparency. 

The partnership aims to bridge traditional and digital finance to enable faster, lower-cost cross-border payments.

The Tide everywoman Entrepreneur Awards, in association with BGF, has announced its finalists for 2025 – a powerhouse lineup of female founders transforming industries and driving change across the UK economy.

Since launching in 2003, the awards have celebrated women who are reshaping sectors, creating jobs, and leading businesses with purpose.

This year’s finalists were selected from nearly 1,000 entries nationwide, representing a diverse mix of pioneering startups, scale-ups and established leaders spanning healthcare, beauty, hospitality, recruitment and food manufacturing.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Peter Kyle MP, has promised to use the power of AI and accelerate deregulation to unlock economic growth in one of his first major speeches following his recent promotion to the Cabinet.

Speaking with 200 technology leaders on Friday morning at The University of Sussex at the UKAI conference, Kyle outlined his vision for driving growth through innovation.

Comparing government to running a business, Kyle said that the route to getting out of the financial crisis was for the UK to innovate its way out.

“Look at Apple when they re-hired Steve Jobs….they were 90 days for insolvency… he didn’t just sit down and say what they can’t do… he threw everything at it,” he said.

Stockholm-headquartered Nordic Capital has agreed to acquire BMLL – an independent provider of harmonised historical order book data and analytics – in a deal that marks a major step forward for the Cambridge-founded company.

The deal, made in close partnership with BMLL’s management team and minority shareholder Optiver, is set to accelerate the firm’s next phase of growth.

It will also aim to strengthen the company’s mission to provide the market’s most trusted source of high-quality, analytics-ready data across major exchange-traded asset classes.

Founded in 2014 by Cambridge academics, BMLL delivers granular Level 1, 2 and 3 order book data and analytics covering global equities, ETFs, futures and US options.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Apple faces paying up to £1.5 billion in compensation after the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ruled that it abused its dominant market position by overcharging millions of UK iPhone and iPad users for apps and in-app purchases.

The case – Kent v Apple – was brought by Dr Rachael Kent, senior lecturer at King’s College London, who has made history as the first female Class Representative under the UK’s collective action regime.

The tribunal found that Apple had ‘imposed exclusionary practices’ and charged ‘excessive and unfair’ fees on app purchases, subscriptions and digital content over a ten-year period.

The ruling, in favour of Dr Kent on all aspects of her claim, concluded that users were overcharged for digital purchases made through popular apps including YouTube, Tinder, Fortnite and Candy Crush, among others.

The commission did not apply to transactions for physical goods or services such as Uber or Deliveroo.

Kromek Group plc has delivered a big increase in half-year revenues.

The Sedgefield company, a developer of radiation and bio-detection technology solutions, expects to report revenue for the six months ending 31st October 2025 of at least £14.5m (H1 2025: £3.7m). This includes revenue generated under the group’s enablement agreement with Siemens Healthineers of at least £8.2m.

The group expects to report profit before tax and positive adjusted EBITDA for the first half of 2026 compared with a loss before tax of £5.7m and an adjusted EBITDA loss of £2.3m for H1 2025.

Rosslyn Data Technologies plc has narrowed its losses.

The cloud-based enterprise spend intelligence platform, which is based in London, reported revenues of £3m, up from £2.9m in 2024.

The firm’s adjusted EBITDA loss reduced to £2m from £2.5m in 2024.

Rosslyn said it has developed new AI-powered initiative tracking and benchmarking tools this year.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

The week’s best-read stories include:

• the jailing of Sam Wall

• soaring sales at gifting firm IMP & Maker following Dragons’ Den appearance

• record-breaking appearance in the Den from yuv

• smear campaign accusation levelled at listed Playtech

A woman has today been  jailed for 28 months for a ‘prolonged, deliberate and calculated’ campaign of online abuse against high-profile figures from the business and tech industry.

Sam Wall, 55, who describes herself as a digital strategist, was the subject of a BBC Panorama documentary earlier this year.

The documentary heard how she targeted Naomi Timperley and Brad Burton online by making a series of false claims against them.

Wall pleaded guilty to sending false messages and two charges of stalking in 2024 and was finally sentenced today (October 24) at Minshull Street Crown Court after five previous adjournments.

Both of her victims were in court as she was jailed for 28 months in relation to the offences against Mr Burton, and 24 months in regards to Mrs Timperley.

She’ll serve the sentences concurrently, meaning she’ll be eligible for parole in 14 months.