Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is expected to ban under-16s in the UK from social media platforms.

Under-16s would be banned from creating accounts on the likes of TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram, while existing accounts would be suspended.

The Government also intends to stop children from livestreaming as well as chatting with strangers on gaming apps.

It follows Australia’s decision at the end of last year to ban under-16s from soial media.

Sources say Starmer is describing the UK’s plans as “Australia-plus”.

“This is a choice about whose side we’re on: families across the country, or a status quo that isn’t working,” he said, adding that his Government would “call time on a system that’s failing our kids”.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Frasers Group plc is plotting a £166 million hostile takeover of Australian footwear and apparel retailer Accent Group.

Mike Ashley’s retail group has been critical of Accent, listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, in which it already holds a 23% stake.

Accent operates more than 800 stores across Australia and New Zealand under the brands Hype DC, Platypus, Skechers and The Athlete’s Foot.

Australian firm Fresho has acquired Nation Wilcox, a provider of ERP software to food suppliers across the UK. 

Fresho’s platform brings together ordering, picking, invoicing and payments into a single system, using AI to automate order capture and reduce manual administration for wholesalers and food service caterers across its markets.

The acquisition establishes Fresho as the market-leading technology platform for food wholesalers in the UK, with a combined customer base of more than 400 businesses and over £2 billion in annual gross merchandise value (GMV) across the UK.

 

Author: Jonathan Symcox

The future is uncertain for IPG Energy – a regular star of our EnviroTech 50 ranking – after a technical blow halted its ability to commercialise its tech.

The London firm has developed Flameless Combustion technology – backed by academic institutions, government agencies and pioneering manufacturing and commercial partners – which delivers pollutant-free power from any fuel.

However CEO Toby Gill, who joined as a business development analyst in 2017 and moved through the ranks to become CEO in 2020, wrote on its website that in recent testing, it encountered an “unforeseen engineering challenge” which “limits overall system performance and means the unit is not yet ready for deployment with pilot customers”. 

“In light of this, the board has taken the decision to scale back the focus of the business. We will no longer be pursuing the commercialisation of our generator product and will instead concentrate on the underlying Flameless Combustion technology. 

“As part of this transition, the company will no longer maintain an operational team and will focus on how the technology can be taken forward through third parties.” 

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Craig Ganssle is tackling a huge problem in one of the world’s most important industries with his AI startup.

Farmwave is a vision-based AgriTech company focused on harvest loss which can save farmers tens of thousands of dollars a year – a vital lifeline for some of the hardest-working people around.

It has been a winding road to get here.

Craig spent eight years in the US military as a Marine Corps intelligence operator – and had planned to make a career out of it – before he was medically discharged in 2001. “I worked with technology and, actually, very early artificial intelligence in the military in 1995,” he tells BusinessCloud. “It was very slow back then!”

While working as a network engineer at telecoms giant Verizon he founded Basecamp Networks, which built wireless networks for high-density college campuses and stadiums. During a spell at Google he was one of the earliest users of augmented reality product Google Glass and recognised the potential for vision-based AI technologies in agriculture.

He sold the client base of his business in 2018 to focus on building Farmwave.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

boohoo group plc has mitigated a “future liability” with the sublease of its former US distribution centre.

The 1.1 million sq. ft distribution centre in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, opened in August 2023 and was operational for approximately 15 months. 

A manual, non-automated operation,  the group ceased operations there on 11th November 2024, with fulfilment of US orders returning to the UK.

The listed retail group, which trades as Debenhams Group, said it has incurred approximately $124 million of costs at the site, covering rent, operating costs and capital investment.

 

Blume, the UK’s leading client acquisition and marketing partner for personal injury and clinical negligence law firms, has appointed Fauzia Stanyard as its new chief operating officer.

Stanyard joins Blume with more than 20 years’ experience in operational, customer and commercial leadership roles at organisations including Three UK, Currys and Arqiva.

In her new role, she will report to CEO Alex Kenny and oversee operational delivery, customer experience and B2C strategy across the business.

Stanyard will also join Blume’s executive committee alongside Adam Fletcher, chief customer officer; Joseph Morgan, finance director; and Jemma Brereton, change and transformation director.

Author: Chris Maguire

London PropTech firm Dwelly has completed its sixth deal of 2026.

Dwelly, which announced a £69m ($93m) funding deal in February 2026, has added Move Property Sales & Lettings to its growing portfolio.

Following a series of acquisitions, Dwelly aims to consolidate and dominate the £100bn UK lettings market.

Dwelly was founded by Ilia Drozdov, Dan Lifshits and Dmitry Khanukov.

 Lifshits said the acquisition will add around 1,100 fully managed properties across three branches to its AI-powered rental marketplace.

The move also strengthens Dwelly’s footprint in Cheltenham and the wider South West.

Businesses across Greater Manchester are already expanding into international markets through the International Scale Up Programme, with companies such as Masumi Headwear and Content Chemistry growing their presence overseas. 

Applications are now open for Cohort 3, inviting a new group of ambitious companies to take their next step toward global growth.

Delivered in partnership by GM Business Growth Hub, the Department for Business and Trade, Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce and Greater Manchester Combined Authority, the fully funded programme provides coordinated, hands-on support for businesses looking to scale internationally.

Building on the momentum of earlier cohorts, the programme combines expert-led workshops with practical guidance on market entry, compliance, logistics, pricing and intellectual property. Businesses also benefit from tailored one-to-one support and introductions to international partners, helping them turn export plans into tangible results.

Cohort 3 will also benefit from an enhanced support model, with funded activity and specialist guidance available for up to 12 months. This extended support gives businesses the time and flexibility to embed and scale their international strategies.

Space Forge will receive £10 million from the European Space Agency’s General Support Technology Programme.

The Cardiff-based business is a leader of in-space manufacturing with a focus on producing semiconductors – the materials that power many modern electronic devices – in microgravity, where the environment enables the creation of materials with properties that cannot be achieved on Earth. 

The cash injection will be funded through the UK Space Agency’s investment in ESA, which will support a mission to design, build, launch and return ‘Pridwen’, a new fold-out heat shield system built to protect spacecraft returning to Earth.

The North East cyber ecosystem is set to take centre stage this month when global cyber security leader, Check Point, partners with CyberNorth to host the Cyber Leader Summit as an official fringe event as part of TechNExt 2026.

The collaboration represents a major endorsement of the North East’s growing cyber ecosystem and highlights the region’s increasing influence within the UK cyber security sector. Check Point’s decision to bring its established Cyber Leader Summit roadshow to Newcastle marks a significant coup for the region and a strong nod to the exceptional cyber talent developing across the North East.

Hot on the heels of its London event and following successful editions in Manchester, the Cyber Leader Summit will make its Newcastle debut during TechNExt 2026, bringing together cyber security professionals, technology leaders, innovators and policymakers for an afternoon of expert insight, discussion and networking focused on the future of cyber resilience and emerging technologies.

As a key contributor to the UK’s overall cyber strategy, CyberNorth leads the growing regional economic impact of a thriving cyber security community. With strong, well-established connections across multiple sectors, including quantum and CNI, CyberNorth is able to support partners through meaningful introductions, collaboration and access to a broad, engaged network.

Dreamdata, a B2B attribution platform that shows how B2B marketing drives revenue, has appointed software veteran and advisor Dave Kellogg to its board to help shape the company’s future growth strategy.

Kellogg is a respected thought leader and author of the widely followed Kellblog, where he writes about go-to-market-strategy, SaaS and enterprise software.

He brings more than 30 years of experience at CEO, CMO and board roles in companies ranging from zero to over $1 billion in revenue and some of the world’s leading enterprise software firms, including Business Objects, Planful and Salesforce.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Amplifi Capital has entered administration.

The London FinTech is behind the credit union introducer brand My Community Finance as well as sub-prime loan provider Reevo Money.

Authorised by the FCA, it raised £22.5m in 2024 from M&G Investments to drive growth of Reevo Money, while the year before it secured a financing facility of up to £100m from NatWest to drive the expansion of Reevo.

Robert Spence and Gareth Slater of Interpath Advisory were appointed joint administrators on 9th June 2026.

All existing loan agreements remain in place and will not change because of the administration. However, Amplifi can no longer issue new loans.

Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) announced Chloe Danton from Hodge Bank as the winner of its inaugural Venture AI Innovators Challenge, revealed during a showcase event at London Tech Week.

The competition, delivered in partnership with Tramshed Tech, brought together a cohort of emerging talent from across South East Wales to develop practical, innovative solutions which embrace tools like artificial intelligence (AI) to tackle real-world business challenges.

The winner was unveiled at an afternoon reception attended by leaders from technology, industry, government and academia, demonstrating CCR’s growing reputation as a hub for innovation and skills development.

The event formed part of London Tech Week and highlighted the region’s commitment to developing future-ready talent and driving economic growth through applied AI.

Following a ten-week programme, participants progressed from early idea development through to fully realised, pitch-ready solutions, supported by expert mentoring and access to industry insight. The final three were selected after a competitive shortlisting process, with judging led by an expert panel coordinated by Tramshed Tech.

Alongside Chloe, the final saw standout entries from runners-up Wei-Jei Yuan from EA Global and Jacob Newman from Safran Seats, whose solutions impressed judges for their creativity and real-world application. The winning solution, developed by Chloe stood out for its innovation, practical application and its potential to deliver measurable impact within its sector.

Cloud202 has launched Qubitz AI, a new agentic AI platform designed to help businesses move from AI experimentation to production, cutting development costs by up to 80% and reducing delivery times from months to weeks.

Unlike many AI development platforms that focus on prototypes or minimum viable products, Qubitz AI takes organisations through the full journey: identifying the solutions most likely to deliver a return on investment, and architecting the multi-agent system, testing it, and deploying a complete, governed, full-stack application, not a chatbot.

One organisation already benefiting from the platform is Halved.io, an always available learning support system that brings expert guidance to every student at the exact moment they need it.

Founder Andy James had previously spent thousands developing an application with another supplier, only to find the solution failed to meet the business’s requirements. Using Qubitz AI, Cloud202 refreshed the platform, incorporating responsible AI controls, security measures and GDPR compliance, for approximately 20% of the cost.

It says the project was delivered in just four weeks, compared with an estimated six months using traditional development and compliance processes.

Earthmark has launched a new brand directory displaying environmental performance data for thousands of UK and global businesses.

It underpins the ‘Earthmark’ for brands and marketplaces – a simple, trusted score integrated into online shopping experiences that helps businesses and consumers assess a company’s environmental performance at a glance.

The platform collects and aggregates data from publicly available sources of information and credible third parties such as SBTi (Science Based Targets Initiative) and B Corp. It then analyses this information to generate environmental performance scores for more than 25,000 brands globally, awarding each a score from zero to five.

Digital transformation consultancy Public Digital (PD) has made a series of board updates to strengthen its governance and position the company for its next phase of growth.

Sarah Clark has been appointed as a Non‑Executive Director, while Tim Brooks, former Chair, is standing down from the Board after eight years.

PD co-founder and current Partner Tom Loosemore has announced his forthcoming retirement and a new role as Non‑Executive Director from January 2027.

These changes follow the appointment in January this year of Lesley Cowley OBE, as PD’s new Chair, succeeding Tim Brooks.

Clark brings experience in digital transformation, organisational strategy and public service delivery to PD, including leadership roles at Barclays and PayPal. She has advised executive teams across sectors on scaling impact, improving accountability and building high‑performing digital organisations.

Former Head of the Civil Service Simon Case has joined AI startup Electric Twin, marking one of his first major roles since stepping down from government.

Electric Twin was founded by Dr Ben Warner, former Chief Adviser on Digital and Data to the Prime Minister, and Alex Cooper, a former military commander who helped establish the UK’s mass testing programme during the pandemic.

Case worked alongside Warner and Cooper inside Number 10 at the heart of the COVID response, where all three saw first-hand how major decisions affecting millions of people were made with incomplete information. This experience inspired Electric Twin.

Whilst in government, Case was a driving force on AI: he oversaw civil service reform on digital, data and science capability, and was the senior official overseeing the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park and the establishment of the AI Safety Institute (ASI).

Author: Jonathan Symcox

NCC Group plc has decided against a sale of its remaining cybersecurity business.

The Manchester firm said the sale of its Escode business for £262.8 million cash completed at the end of May and will allow it to focus on cybersecurity.

It says that arm of the business will remain as a listed entity.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Foresight Group has agreed to sell its public markets investment division, Foresight Capital Management, to Guinness Global Investors.

The disposal by the investment manager involves the transfer of all of FCM’s funds, totalling approximately £1 billion in Assets under Management – 7% of Group AUM as of 31 March 2026 – and 16 employees.

It said the deal helps to streamline Foresight’s operating model, enabling it to focus on its core real assets and private equity businesses.