French CRM firm Brevo has become Europe’s newest unicorn after announcing a £438m ($583m) funding round,

Paris-based Brevo is a customer relationship management company that was founded in 2012 by Armand Thiberge in India and France to help businesses of all sizes build stronger customer relationships.

The company, previously known as Sendinblue, has grown to our 600,000 customers around the world and surpassed $233m in ARR this October.

The latest fundraise sees General Atlantic and Oakley Capital join Brevo’s existing investors.

CEO Thiberge said: “Today marks a monumental milestone in Brevo’s journey: I am proud to announce a $583m funding round, officially welcoming Brevo into unicorn territory.

“A warm welcome to our new partners, General Atlantic and Oakley Capital.

“Our commitment remains stronger than ever: Product is our North Star. Every single day, we push ourselves to build a more powerful, intuitive, and impactful Brevo.

“Although we celebrate how far we’ve come… it still feels like day one at Brevo. The real journey starts now.”

Manchester-based eCommerce agency PushON has marked its 20th anniversary by reporting 40 per cent year-on-year revenue growth.

PushOn was originally founded in 2005 by Simon Wharton and Roy Wilding as a specialist SEO agency.

The agency quickly expanded into a full-service eCommerce offering, including website development, maintenance and digital marketing.

A breakthrough contract with Bench Clothing pushed PushON into Adobe Commerce (Magento) development, laying the groundwork for the agency’s eCommerce specialism.

High-profile work followed, including projects for Virgin Credit Cards, Hyundai, Silver Cross, Brandon Hire Station, Ryman, and the development of Nottingham Forest’s official site.

Wharton stepped down as managing director in 2017 to make way for Sam Rutley. Alex Hogan, who began as a PPC executive 10 years ago, is now an associate director.

Wharton said: “When Roy and I started PushON, we had the belief that we could do things differently and better, and that belief still drives the business today.

“Our culture has always been informal, open and collaborative. We give people opportunities, and they grab them.

“That approach has carried us through 20 years, and I’m proud that so many talented people have built long careers with us.”

US tech giant Qualcomm has acquired Elevear, a leader in AI-powered adaptive active noise cancellation and advanced audio technologies.

Elevear is based in Aachen, Germany, although co-founder Elfed Howells works out of the UK and is an alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University.

Howells said: “We are over the moon to become part of Qualcomm. What a journey, what a team, and what a result.”

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon brand is the principal shirt sponsor for Manchester United’s men’s, women’s, and academy teams.

A spokesman for Qualcomm said: “By integrating Elevear’s innovations into our Snapdragon sound platforms, we’re reinforcing our commitment to delivering premium, personalised, and immersive audio experiences for consumers worldwide.”

KKR has completed the £4.7 billion acquisition of Spectris plc.

The deal was agreed in the summer following a bidding war between US private equity companies KKR and Advent.

It has now completed after the court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement was delivered to the Registrar of Companies today. Trading of Spectris shares on the London Stock Exchange’s main market has therefore been suspended.

Spectris CEO Andrew Heath will retire at the end of the year, with Andrew Williams set to take over as interim CEO.

 

Liverpool is set for ‘transformational’ regeneration after Mayor Steve Rotheram revealed plans to create a Mayoral Development Corporation.

The MDC will fast-track schemes in partnership with Liverpool Council leader Liam Robinson via devolved powers which could see 17,500 homes and 5 million sq ft of commercial space delivered in the next 15 years.

The proposed development zone, which would be the first of its kind in the region, would focus on building on the momentum created by Everton Football Club’s new Hill Dickinson Stadium at Liverpool Waters.

This zone, which would encompass 174 hectares of mainly brownfield land from the River Mersey to the city’s Pumpfields and commercial business districts, would also bring together a trio of major schemes.

The Central Docks development, including a new urban park, backed by a £55 million government grant – alongside £26m direct investment from Peel Waters – is due for completion in 2028.

The emerging £1 billion development at King Edward Triangle will also be encompassed within it, as well as Liverpool’s first major Grade A office scheme in a decade at Pall Mall.

The proposal builds on the Liverpool Strategic Futures Panel’s Final Report, published last March, which recommended steps to establish a regeneration delivery vehicle.

Five Wealth, a Manchester-based wealth management firm, has appointed Glenn Urquhart as its new COO.

Bringing over 20 years’ experience in financial services operations, strategic planning and transformation, Urquhart joins Five Wealth from Verso Wealth Management, where he was head of operational service delivery.

He will lead on the implementation of process and technology change as well as the potential integration of acquisitions.

The news follows a period of significant progress for the firm, including surpassing £1bn in assets under management (AUM) in 2025.

Plans have also been set to double AUM again within the next three to four years.

A new landmark investment summit will showcase the North of England on the global stage, to unlock new investment and jobs for regions across the North.

The Great North Investment Summit is announced today by The Great North, a partnership founded by northern mayors to create prosperity and opportunity.

The Summit will take place on Monday 18 May 2026, ahead of UKREiiF, The UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum, in collaboration with UKREiiF, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and the Office for Investment (OfI).

The Summit will be dedicated to promoting the North’s investment opportunities, which could add £118bn to UK PLC with the right investments.

SEED Innovations reported a NAV of £11.2m (6.0p per share) as of 30th September 2025, as the AIM-listed investor pivots towards humanoid robotics and AI.

The Guernsey-based firm has also appointed Jim Mellon as its non-executive chair and its cash stood at £3.1 million.

The business is finalising an adviser hire to support deal flow, as it looks to pursue selective investments as the robotics market nears real-world adoption.

AJ Bell has reported a record year, with revenue up 18% to £317.8 million and profit before tax rising 22% to £137.8m, highlighting the strength of its scalable platform model.

Customer numbers jumped 19% to 644,000 and assets under administration hit £103.3 billion, driven by £7.5bn of net inflows and supportive markets, while its in-house investments arm grew AUM 31% to £8.9bn.

Shareholders are set to benefit from a 14% increase in the total dividend and a new share buyback of up to £50m.

The Manchester-based firm now plans to step up brand and product investment in FY26.

Retail group Princes Group will join the FTSE 250 Index on 22nd December, less than two months after its IPO.

The Liverpool-headquartered firm listed on the London Stock Exchange on 31st October with a market capitalisation of £1.16 billion.

It exports its products to more than 60 countries and has more than 8,000 customers globally across large food retailers, B2B partners and the foodservice industry.

Eloise Veljovic has been recruited by Palatine as their new head of investor relations.

She joins from Pomona Capital, where she spent the last two years as a director, responsible for investor relations in Europe and the Middle East.

Prior to joining Pomona, Veljovic also worked at Alpstone Capital and Hollyport Capital.

She will work closely with the Palatine partners across their three fund strategies: Buyout, impact and growth credit.

Veljovic said: “Palatine have a strong reputation with investors based on their returns and their open and transparent method of working with their investors which has been borne out by their recent successful fundraise for their fifth buyout fund.”

Gary Tipper, group managing partner, said: “I am confident Eloise will help us strategically position Palatine for future growth across all our fund strategies and ensure we are able to successfully raise further vintages for our buyout, impact and growth credit funds.”

Veljovic will formally take up her position at Palatine in January 2026.

Author: Chris Maguire

Zally CEO Patrick Smith has spoken of his ‘regret’ over 11 previous business failures.

The award-winning entrepreneur said he’s been completely ‘open’ about leaving a trail of unpaid creditors earlier in his career following several business failures.

Smith founded Zally three years ago in Manchester and recently moved its HQ to San Francisco as it prepares for a US raise.

The startup is on a mission to help people to authenticate themselves without the need for passwords.

In recent months, Smith has been attracting the sort of attention he probably wouldn’t want.

It started when a newspaper article from his native Norway began to do the rounds, cataloguing 11 of his previous business failures.

It’s important to stress that they date back more than a decade and to a period of Smith’s life that he preferred not to talk to me about and doesn’t go into detail about on LinkedIn

The article sparked a flurry of calls to me and was the subject of much debate in Manchester’s tech ecosystem.

Smith said: “It relates to events from more than a decade ago, which I have been open about and (have) always taken full responsibility.

“Some of the businesses I ran in my early twenties were dissolved, leaving creditors unpaid, which I wholly regret.”

An engineering group has confirmed that it is in talks to acquire graphene specialist Versarien plc after it served a notice of intention to appoint Leonard Curtis as administrators this week.

Versarien plc has been close to administration throughout 2025 and said in late September that it would run out of cash by November.

It looked set to be saved as a fellow listed company agreed a provisional £200,000 takeover deal in October – and that company has now been revealed to be Time To ACT.

That deal fell through, but talks are ongoing following Versarien’s update earlier this week.

Manchester ‘baby tech’ firm Dote has named Avril Murphy as its new CEO.

The company, which produces baby monitoring technology products, was founded in 2018 by Ste Senior to minimise stress for modern-day parents and raised £1.15m in seed funding in 2024.

Murphy said: “I’m honoured to share that I’ve been appointed CEO of Dote as we prepare for our global launch in 2026.

“I’ve spent my career launching and scaling consumer technology brands globally—across baby, beauty, and connected home.

“I’ve seen the highs and lows of building companies, experienced some succeed spectacularly and others struggle to survive.

“But I can honestly say: I’ve never been more excited about a company’s potential than I am right now.

“What Ste Senior and the team have built with Dote is extraordinary. We’re at this incredible inflection point where AI technology, genuine market need, and the right partnerships have all converged.

“We’ve personalised every aspect of modern life except the one that matters most – raising our children. That’s what we’re changing.

“I won’t lie – this is a lot of pressure. Taking the helm as we transition from startup to commercial business, executing a global launch, building a world-class team – it’s enormous. But I’m absolutely committed to doing what it takes.

“I’m grateful to Ste for trusting me with this role, to our investors who believe in the vision, and to our incredible team.”

Future plc has unveiled a boardroom reshuffle alongside full-year results that show the specialist media group’s revenue and EBITDA dropping slightly.

The FTSE-listed owner of titles spanning tech, gaming, homes and lifestyle said chair Richard Huntingford will step down after the annual general meeting in February 2026, ending an eight-year stint leading the board.

He will be replaced by Mark Brooker, currently a senior independent non-executive director, who has more than three decades of experience across capital markets and platform businesses, with senior executive roles at Betfair and Trainline, and has sat on Future’s board since October 2020.

The announcements were made as the London-based company published its annual results.

Revenue fell 6% year-on-year to £739.2 million, while adjusted EBITDA slipped 7% to £223.4m and adjusted operating profit dropped 8% to £205.4m.

Operating profit fell 9% to £121.9m and profit before tax slipped 11% to £91.9m.

Frasers Group plc has reported an increase in half-year revenues but falling profits.

Mike Ashley’s listed retail group reiterated its full-year profit guidance of £550 million to £600m despite a “challenging consumer environment”.

Describing performance in the 26 weeks ended 26th October 2025 as “a solid first half”, it added: “Although trading has improved compared to last year’s Budget-affected period, it is still weaker than FY24, with excess inventory in the sector continuing to weigh on the wider market.”

In a swipe at the UK Government and unions, the firm added: “As noted in our letter to the Unite Union General Secretary Sharon Graham on 3rd October 2025, given the significant cost increases imposed on retail by the Labour government, it would be reckless and irresponsible for Unite to implement a strike whilst demanding further above inflation wage increases. 

“We await the Union’s response to our latest communication following a breakdown in talks and urge them not to repeat their previous politically motivated actions against the group.”

Revolut has become the latest FinTech giant to tap OpenAI’s technology as it steps up its defences against financial crime.

The digital bank is partnering with the ChatGPT creator to strengthen both its fraud-monitoring tools and customer support.

The London Stock Exchange Group has also today announced a partnership with the AI firm to integrate its financial data and analytics into ChatGPT.

Two female tech founders have been recognised at the 2025 Tide everywoman Entrepreneur Awards, in association with BGF – the UK’s longest-running programme celebrating female entrepreneurs.

Julie Collison of Dublin-based Clear Strategy won the Scale Up Award, while Kent entrepreneur Emma O’Brien of Embridge Consulting took the Tech Innovator Award at the ceremony held on 2nd December at The Londoner Hotel in Leicester Square.

The awards highlighted women-led businesses across a wide range of sectors and growth stages, from early disruptors to established multi-million-pound companies.

DAS Fire, a specialist in fire detection and suppression for data centres, has made a trio of senior leadership changes as it moves into its next growth phase.

Dave Parry has been appointed managing director to lead the company’s expansion and oversee delivery across its technical and customer teams.

Long-time leader Stuart Parker is stepping back from day-to-day duties but will remain involved in a consulting role to support continuity and strategy.

Paul Darke becomes executive director, continuing to drive customer engagement and commercial partnerships.

Mining stocks dominate the FTSE 100 risers, with Antofagasta (+5.20%), Glencore (+4.68%), Fresnillo (+3.23%) and Anglo American (+1.96%) all moving higher in tandem.

Berkeley Group (+2.01%) is also on the rise.

Outside of the top five, Games Workshop (+1.43%), JD Sports (+1.39%) and Vodafone (+1.09%) are all up slightly again today.

On the downside in the FTSE 100, Sainsbury’s (-3.74%) is the sharpest faller after it announced late on yesterday that Qatar Holding LLC intends to sell up to 83.6 million ordinary shares in the business.

WPP (-2.11%), ConvaTec (-2.07%) and ICG (-2.05%) are all also lower today, while there are slight dips for Marks & Spencer (-1.35%) and Lloyds (-1.29%).

In the FTSE 250, Zigup (+14.39%) is the standout riser by a long way. The integrated mobility solutions platform providing services across the vehicle lifecycle saw H1 2026 revenue increase by 2.9% year-on-year to £929.6m.

Drax (+5.15%) and Hunting (+3.84%) are also on the up, while Ceres Power (+3.22%) and Oxford Nanopore (+2.84%) are recovering some ground after weakness yesterday.

On the fallers’ side, Spire Healthcare (-16.15%) is down after it announced that EBITDA for FY25 is expected to be around the bottom end of its guidance range of £270m to £285m.

There are also drops in Paragon (-5.63%), Trainline (-5.21%), DiscoverIE (-3.36%) and Frasers Group (-2.86%).

Away from the big indexes, SysGroup is down almost 4% after reporting a fall in evenues and profits this morning.