A new £140 million fund designed to support the growth of small and medium sized businesses in the East of England has been launched today by the British Business Bank.

The launch of the East of England Investment Fund means the British Business Bank is now delivering targeted finance across every UK nation and region outside London. 

Covering  Essex, Suffolk, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire , the fund will provide much-needed access to finance for small and medium-sized businesses, offering loans from £25,000 to £2 million and equity investments of up to £5m to help businesses start, scale and grow.

 

The CFO of WPP plc is leaving to take up the role of CFO at Diageo plc.

The global advertising powerhouse said Joanne Wilson has a 12-month notice period and ‘a date for her departure will be agreed in due course’ – specifically once a successor has been appointed.

London-based media group WPP, known for owning global names such as Ogilvy and PR agency Burson, has recovered some of its share price this year after a dramatic slump in 2025.

Diageo is a global producer and distributor of beer, Scotch whisky and other spirits.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Losses at Aurrigo International plc widened in its latest half-year results amid a move to a far bigger HQ in Coventry.

However the self-driving technology leader grew revenues in the six months ended 30th June 2026.

In April Aurrigo said it would triple the size of its headquarters with a move to Power Park, which will serve as its UK hub for advanced engineering, autonomous vehicle development, high-volume manufacturing and ongoing automotive activities, with a test track also installed.

 

Author: Jonathan Symcox

An AI healthcare firm with a deep presence in the NHS has revealed its UK expansion plans after raising a mammoth $340 million in funding.

Australian firm Heidi’s next phase of growth will see a deepening of adoption across the NHS, private healthcare settings and health systems globally, while expanding how it supports clinicians throughout their workflows. 

This includes helping with the administrative work that surrounds a patient visit, resulting in faster completion of follow-up tasks alongside improved clinical note-taking. The roadmap also includes building the regulatory and clinical safety foundations required to support these capabilities.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Shares in Mission Group PLC climbed 10% today despite this morning’s announcement of a change to its CEO and chair roles.

Non-executive chair David Morgan MBE intends to step down from the board at the end of the year. Current CEO John Carey will move to executive chair.

Morgan’s tenure has seen the group rebuild its balance sheet and also strengthen its board and senior leadership team, culminating in the appointment of group CEO Carey – although it issued a profit warning at the start of the year.

Mission has since undergone a strategic growth plan focused on the simplification of its agency portfolio and cost base, AI innovation and the expansion into select new growth markets. 

This morning the company also reported its results for the six months ended 30th June 2026.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Shares in Oxford Biomedica shares rose 6% today after it reported half-year results.

The listed cell and gene therapy pioneer, which is targeting profitability, reiterated previous full-year guidance as it reported a 9% increase in revenues to £79.8 million for the six months ended 30th June 2026.

With 17 new clients signed in H1 2026 – more than 30% above the total number signed during FY 2025 – it said adjusted operating EBITDA improved to a £2.5m loss from £3.9m in H1 2025, driven by stronger revenues and continued cost discipline.

 

Author: Jonathan Symcox

The Leeds Digital Festival is set to go region-wide in the coming years after a decade of major expansion in its home city.

The 11th edition of the annual festival, which now counts more than 200 events under its umbrella, is taking place this week and next.

This is the first edition under the directorship of Deb Hetherington after founder Stuart Clarke MBE moved to a chair role in its organising body Leeds Digital and handed the reins to Deb Hetherington.

Hetherington wears many hats, with specialisms in developing innovation ecosystems through real estate as well as advising growing companies. She has served as an executive director at Leeds Digital since 2019.

She was joined on stage at the launch of this year’s Leeds Digital Festival by West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin – and there was a special significance given her plans in the coming years.

A founder who nearly lost his company in 2019 before selling it two years later has launched an exit preparation platform.

Leigh Wells, based in Warwick, founded data consultancy Comma Group and sold it to Amplifi in March 2021.

Having watched others arrive at the table unprepared, he is building The Founders Exit – described as an AI-native platform that helps owner-led businesses become exit-ready before they enter a live sale process.

Northumberland-based Dragonfly Advanced Materials has secured £500,000 in investment from Northstar Ventures, alongside a £500,000 grant from Innovate UK’s investor partnership programme, to support the scaleup of its novel aerogel manufacturing technology.

A Newcastle University spinout, Dragonfly’s innovation has the potential to reduce production costs and unlock new industrial applications for one of the world’s most advanced materials. 

The patented process also reduces reliance on expensive, environmentally challenging solvents, while using a simplified, scalable manufacturing approach. 

The funding will be used to increase production capacity, grow the sales and development team, and support continued work with industrial partners as Dragonfly progresses joint development opportunities towards future licensing agreements.

Car Finance 247, one of the UK’s leading digital motor finance platforms, has appointed Alan Smith as its new commercial director.

Smith joins Car Finance 247 with more than two decades of experience across the motor finance and automotive sectors. He will lead the company’s commercial engagement with lenders and also assume responsibility for the B2B segment of the business, supporting the growing team on its dealer introduced relationships and proposition.

Smith previously spent 11 years at Evolution Funding Ltd, where he held a number of senior leadership positions and played a key role in developing lender relationships and distribution strategies. Prior to that, he served as operations director at Jigsaw Finance for three years and spent six years with Pentagon Group as group finance & insurance manager.

Nuclera, a biotechnology company enabling access to innovative protein technologies, has appointed experienced life-sciences executive Carl Raimond as CEO.

Dr Michael Chen, Nuclera’s co-founder and former CEO, transitions to the role of chief scientific and business officer, continuing to provide scientific leadership while supporting market development and strategic partnerships.

Nuclera is applying its cell-free protein synthesis and digital microfluidics capabilities to accelerate the speed of protein science, with current focus areas including full-length IgG antibody screening, challenging membrane protein synthesis, and soluble protein expression.

Raimond joins Nuclera from Thermo Fisher Scientific, where he served as president of proteomic sciences following its acquisition of Olink Proteomics.

He previously served as president of Olink Proteomics, helping lead the company through its $3.1 billion acquisition by Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2023.

Sarah Porter has stepped down as CEO of InspiredMinds! and World Summit AI, the company and international summit series she founded a decade ago and grew into one of the world’s largest AI for good communities.

Porter built InspiredMinds! around a conviction that decisions about AI should be both inter-disciplinary and democratic. Through World Summit AI and Intelligent Health, she brought together big tech, researchers, startups, policymakers, government heads and industry leaders.

The company’s growth culminated in its acquisition by Growth Catalyst Partners, a New York-based private equity firm, in 2024, for an undisclosed sum.

Widely considered one of the best-connected figures in AI globally, Porter says the exit closes a chapter defined by building bridges across a fast-moving and often fractured industry.

Porter said stepping down from the CEO role would allow her to speak more publicly about the direction of AI and the decisions being made now about its development and use.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

SkinBioTherapeutics plc has appointed both its interim CEO and chair on a permanent basis as it recovers from a crisis earlier this year.

The Newcastle firm, developing gut-based products which promote skin health, is showing signs of recovery after also reporting its full-year results.

Rachel Parsonage has agreed to become permanent CEO while former acting chair Alyson Levett has also been appointed on a permanent basis.

Last month the Newcastle firm appointed a new interim CFO following the departure of Emily Bertram, who triggered a probe into the actions of ex-CEO Stuart Ashman.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

An entrepreneur who co-founded Lancaster EV charging software firm Fuuse has launched a new EV venture.

Will Maden served as CIO then COO of Fuuse before leaving the business – which earlier this year was ranked the fifth fastest-growing company by the Northern Tech Awards – in 2025.

Now he has raised £850,000 with help from Fhunded Angels for TOGL, which enables companies with fleets of electric-powered vehicles to intelligently manage when their EVs draw power from the grid.

Maven Capital Partners has led a £3 million investment in Applied AGI, a business specialising in advanced AI and machine learning technologies for real-world operational deployment in defence and security sectors.

The funding round includes investment from the Maven VCTs; Maven Cognition, Maven’s specialist EIS Fund; and a syndicate of angel investors.

AAGI develops AI-powered vision technology for defence and other specialist applications, helping machines detect and understand objects in complex environments, including situations with poor visibility or limited data. By improving how information is gathered and interpreted, AAGI supports better decision-making and operational performance for defence and security organisations.

It works with a range of UK defence organisations and leading defence contractors, including the Ministry of Defence, the Royal Air Force and Leonardo.

Manchester FinTech Raisin UK has appointed Jules di Mambro as CEO following regulatory approval from the Financial Conduct Authority.

The London-based executive succeeds Steven Amos, who leaves the firm after seven years including the last four as CEO. During his tenure, Amos played a key role in growing and scaling the UK business. 

Amos leaves Raisin UK to pursue new opportunities, writing on LinkedIn: “I want to extend my deepest thanks to the entire Raisin family (past and present), our board, our partners and of course our customers, for an unforgettable journey.

“I am thrilled to pass the leadership to Jules di Mambro. I have no doubt that under his guidance, Raisin UK will continue to break new ground.”

Sprive, an AI-driven consumer FinTech app, has closed a £7.7 million Series A funding round.

The company, which was founded in 2019 by former Goldman Sachs bankers Jinesh Vohra and Saad Hashim, allows customers to use cashback earned by paying for everyday shopping through the app to automatically overpay their mortgage – allowing them to cut interest charges and even shorten their mortgage terms. 

The app – which featured on our most recent PropTech 50 ranking – also scans the market allowing customers to easily switch to cheaper mortgage deals.

The company featured earlier this year on the BBC television programme Dragons’ Den. 

Newcastle-based performance intelligence company Leaf Signal has published UK State of Tracking 2026, an audit of conversion tracking accuracy across 500 of the UK’s leading Shopify websites. 

The audit checked whether those sites send Meta, Google Ads and GA4 the data they need to optimise and report accurately. Where they didn’t, they diagnosed why, using automated diagnostics and AI monitoring alongside manual verification of every result. 

The headline finding was that 98% of brands audited had at least one crucial tracking issue – meaning a significant portion of the UK’s fastest-growing eCommerce brands are making ad targeting, bidding and budget decisions on inaccurate signal data.

A Manchester-based AI-native company that streamlines operational workflows has passed five million cases processed for regulated firms in under three years – built entirely without a sales team, marketing function or paid acquisition. 

Saber was founded in January 2024 by Jakub Lenski and Mitchel Shephard after completing a one-off audit for a law firm. Tasked with auditing a 200,000-claim book by hand – a job estimated to take six weeks to complete 10% of – Saber produced a one-off automation workflow that processed the entire book in under three days. 

Saber has since evolved into a Manchester team of 32 – mostly engineers – and a product that saves 96.3% of time per case. Concerns over AI’s accuracy can be a barrier to adoption, making human oversight a key component of Saber’s design. 

Huddersfield-based Software as a Service firm Adventoris is celebrating 14 new client wins as it makes four internal promotions to bolster the team.

The client wins include beauty and personal care brands, food and drink firms, building and electrical companies, a lab equipment distributor, manufacturers and the US and Canadian entities of a household goods company.

Adventoris has promoted four team members to strengthen its departments across customer support, implementation, development, and finance and HR.

Joel Burnett, who has been with Adventoris for nine years, is now head of customer success and support; Michael Ghatt is stepping into the role of implementation team leader; Jordan Lewis becomes finance and HR manager; and Phil Copland has been promoted to solutions architect.

Adventoris currently supports 230 clients on its flagship platform, SwiftCloud, facilitating £64 million worth of orders from approximately 145k orders per month.

SwiftCloud helps businesses save time, reduce manual order processing and increase both monthly sales volumes and average basket values.