Author: Jonathan Symcox

Tech stocks around the world are falling following the success of the Democratic Party in the US midterm elections – and the UK is not immune.

With many Democratic candidates opposing the data centres which underpin AI, there are fears of a slowdown in the development of the technology due to tougher regulation after the party took firm control of the Senate and House of Representatives.

The subsequent sell-off saw trillions of dollars wiped off the value of major tech stocks, with the Nasdaq – home to some of the world’s largest tech firms – sinking 5.5% on Thursday. 

The trend extended overnight to the Asian markets, while those in Europe opened lower on Friday.

The London Stock Exchange’s FTSE 100 index is 2% down today despite being relatively light on tech and AI companies compared with the Nasdaq, Japan and South Korea.

 

Isomorphic Labs, an AI-first drug design and development company founded by DeepMind founder Sir Demis Hassabis, is reportedly raising $5 billion (£3.75bn) in fresh funding.

Isomorphic raised £1.6bn in Series B funding just this summer, following a $600m round completed in March.

It could be valued at $50bn (£37bn) by the fundraise if it completes on currently expected terms, according to Bloomberg. 

Sir Demis expects the company’s first clinical trials to start before the end of the year.

The crisis at Poundland could trigger a domino effect across Britain’s high streets, an insolvency expert has warned.

The stricken discount retailer could enter administration within days after owner Gordon Brothers rejected a rescue bid from its management team, backed by Ireland-based Martin Property Group, which would have saved its nearly 12,000 staff and potentially also a wider supplier base of 18,000 people.

Some of those suppliers exist solely to support Poundland’s operations – meaning they would immediately go to the wall – while others depend on the retailer for the majority of their business.

Insolvency expert Molly Monks, of Parker Walsh, said: “Poundland’s crisis is a stark reminder that the consequences of a major retailer’s financial difficulties extend far beyond its own shop doors.”

Nasdaq-listed US giant NetApp has completed its acquisition of Manchester AI firm PEAK AIO.

PEAK AIO was founded in Manchester by Mark Klarzynski and was designed to address some of the industry’s most demanding data-intensive computing challenges. 

The company’s core innovation, a next-generation metadata architecture and high-performance parallel file system, was developed to solve one of the defining infrastructure challenges of the AI era: enabling shared storage to scale alongside the GPU clusters that power modern AI workloads.

 

The Government is backing local journalism with a £6m Local News Fund.

The Local News Fund aims to strengthen communities and social cohesion, rebuild social trust and support local growth.

The majority of funding has been awarded to local print and online news outlets and independent local TV and radio stations, who received grants of up to £125,000. The money will be used to invest in community outreach projects, digital tools, apps and new multimedia services that can help these organisations reach new and younger audiences while developing more sustainable sources of income.

These grants have been evenly distributed across England and Wales, the Government said.

The remainder of the Fund has been awarded to seven organisations, including software developers and major industry players, to develop infrastructure that can benefit the sector as a whole, with grants of up to £275,000 awarded.

Meanwhile the ‘Inspiring the Future’ campaign, which encourages children to consider careers in journalism, has reached more than 11,000 students and engaged with more than 100 schools.

Finseta plc, which offers multi-currency accounts to businesses and individuals through a technology platform, has established a new strategic affiliate partnership and has conditionally raised £1.6m.

£1.5m of the funding comes from new strategic partner Homa Holdings Ltd.

Homa, which is based in the UAE – a key growth region for Finseta – will introduce prospective customers to Finseta for its currency exchange and international payments products. It is wholly owned by Amir Mehrad, a financial services entrepreneur who built and sold Effective FX, a boutique international payments and foreign exchange business.

Centriforce, a Liverpool manufacturer that turns waste plastic into underground cable protection, expects sales to pass £30m in its 50th year, up from £28m in 2025.

The company, which reprocesses more than 20,000 tonnes of discarded plastic a year, is now expanding into eight European markets and recruiting distribution partners.

Centriforce says growth is being driven by rising infrastructure spending – including power networks serving data centres – growing demand for recycled products, and investment in emerging markets.

Moorhouse, a management and transformation consultancy, has secured investment from private equity investor LDC following its sale by Expleo, a global engineering, technology and consulting services provider.

Founded in 2004, Moorhouse is headquartered in London and employs 220 people. It specialises in delivering complex, integrated transformation projects spanning strategy, people and technology, and operates across the public and private sectors, with longstanding client relationships in life sciences, energy, utilities & infrastructure, and healthcare & government.

LDC is backing Moorhouse’s management team, led by Partners Anna Rissen, Hinesh Patel and Leo Koshutova, alongside executive chair Karen Thomas-Bland. LDC’s investment will support Moorhouse’s growth strategy as an independent consultancy, through the expansion of its existing IP and products and targeted acquisitions.

Maven Capital Partners has exited its investment in iAM Compliant following the company’s acquisition by The Key Group.

The exit has delivered a strong return for three Maven-managed funds following a period in which iAM’s annual recurring revenue grew from approximately £600,000 to £3.2 million.

Maven invested a total of £3.5 million in iAM through a combination of funding from the first Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, Maven’s VCTs and Maven Investor Partners.

Funding from NPIF and the VCTs provided growth capital to support the company’s expansion, while a subsequent investment from Maven Investor Partners facilitated a partial ‘cash out’ in 2024.

iAM has developed a market-leading cloud-based software platform used by more than 3,500 schools. The business enables schools and multi-academy trusts to manage estates, facilities, statutory compliance, sustainability initiatives and capital planning through a single digital platform.

Alongside its core software offering, the company also operates a complementary eLearning and training platform serving education and enterprise customers.

Industrial components business Assembly Techniques has undergone a management buyout (MBO).

Founded in 1987 and based in Dukinfield, Greater Manchester, Assembly Techniques employs 50 people and has a turnover of £12.7m.

Carla Giles, managing director of Assembly Techniques, led the MBO after first joining the business in 2004 in a customer service role.

She was promoted to general manager in 2009 before becoming managing director in 2024.

The Culture Secretary has formally intervened in Sky’s takeover of ITV and tasked two regulators with scrutinising the deal.

Lisa Nandy recently said she had a number of potential public interest concerns after Comcast, the American owner of Sky, agreed a £1.6 billion deal in July to acquire the broadcast arm of ITV.

The deal, which includes ITV’s free-to-air channels and on-demand streaming service ITVX, would create the UK’s biggest commercial broadcaster.

Nandy has now issued a Public Interest Intervention Notice after considering representations from both Sky and ITV. 

YFM Equity Partners has strengthened its investment team in the North with the appointment of two investment directors on either side of the Pennines.

Oliver McRae recently joined the firm’s Leeds office from Traditum Private Equity, while James Warburton joined its Manchester office from Gresham House in the summer.

Both bring more than 15 years of experience in private equity, corporate development and advisory roles.

They will work with advisers, founders and management teams to back ambitious businesses across Yorkshire, the North West and the wider North.

Neil Inskip, partner and head of new investments in the North at YFM Equity Partners, said: “The North continues to be one of the most exciting regions in the UK for investment. We are seeing a strong pipeline of ambitious, high-quality businesses.”

Author: Chris Maguire

Triple amputee, record-breaking adventurer and military veteran Andy Reid MBE has been appointed ambassador for Hilary Meredith Solicitors in Alderley Edge.

Reid’s life changed forever on 13 October 2009 while serving as a corporal with the 3rd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

He stepped on a Taliban improvised explosive device and lost his right leg below the knee, his left leg above the knee and his right arm.

Reid has gone on to become one of Britain’s most inspirational veterans, undertaking gruelling endurance challenges, raising funds for military charities and sharing his experiences with audiences across the country.

His voluntary service to veterans and people with disabilities was recognised with an MBE in 2019.

In 2020, he co-founded the Standing Tall Foundation, a charity supporting veterans and vulnerable people facing some of life’s toughest challenges.

Hilary Meredith-Beckham, founder and CEO of Hilary Meredith Solicitors, said: “What happened to Andy in Afghanistan would have been enough to break the spirit of many people. But his story is not defined by what he lost that day. It is defined by everything he has achieved since.

“Andy embodies everything we stand for – courage, compassion and an absolute refusal to give up.”

Bruntwood has appointed Nuno Miller as its first chief technology officer.

The property giant says this marks a significant step forward in its ambition to make digital, data and technology a strategic differentiator for the business.

Miller will report directly to CEO Chris Oglesby, and work closely with the executive team to shape business strategy and lead the next stage of Bruntwood’s digital transformation. 

 

Supa, an AI-native platform in UK apartment block management, has raised £21 million in seed funding. 

The round includes equity funding co-led by 2150 and OpenOcean, with KOMPAS VC, Actia Capital Partners, and HEARTFELT, and a debt facility from a major UK lender. 

Supa is rebuilding block management by acquiring established local block management firms, keeping their identity, and rebuilding their operational layer with Supa’s proprietary AI operating technology infrastructure. 

 

World Wide Technology (WWT) has announced the launch of InfiniteAI, a programme to help UK and European AI startups scale.

Central to this will be the Infinite Innovation Centre, a physical space for AI founders to develop ideas into full-scale production. It is due to open its doors in March 2027, at the I-HUB at Imperial College London’s White City campus.

Alongside this, WWT has also announced an initial £35m investment to help fund equity-free access to sovereign compute power, as well as plans to help AI founders get direct access to enterprise buyers.

My Property Box, a specialist residential lettings and sales group, has secured follow-on investment from BGF to support the next stage of its expansion.

Founded by Ben Quaintrell in 2012, My Property Box provides lettings, property management and estate agency services across the North of England.

The funding follows BGF’s initial investment in 2024. Since then, My Property Box has completed eight acquisitions, taking the total completed to 18, and has expanded beyond its existing offices in Darlington and Newcastle, establishing a presence in North Yorkshire and Cumbria.

 

A FinTech company serving banks and specialist lenders has secured £1.5 million in funding.

Manchester-based Crediflow AI automates the manual work that goes into preparing and assessing business loans, which limits how many deals lenders can take on and makes smaller loans to SMEs expensive to underwrite.

The company has developed a platform that pulls together the information credit teams currently gather and process by hand, such as financial statements, bank transactions and borrower documents, and turns it into structured credit analysis.

 

The British Business Bank has announced a £2 million commitment from its Regional Angels Programme to South East Angels, the community for angel investors based in the South East of England.

South East Angels operate one of the most active angel syndicates in the UK, bringing together exited founders, business owners and industry experts who back ambitious early-stage tech startups with capital, experience and networks.

Founded in 2020 by Kristina Pereckaite with five founding members, the group has since brought together more than 100 members who have collectively invested over £7 million into 48 startups.

The funding will be co-invested alongside capital from South East Angels’ members, supporting founders building high-growth potential businesses across the South East and the wider UK.

FinTech giant Revolut has announced the close of its latest fundraising process, establishing a new company valuation of $115 billion (£85bn).

Just a year ago, an employee share sale valued Revolut at $75bn.

The transaction was led by Glade Brook Capital Partners, Coatue, Durable Capital Partners, T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., and Baillie Gifford – with participation from both long-standing partners and new global investors.

The London-headquartered firm, which has 80 million retail customers around the world, recently announced that it had secured its 34th banking licence in New Zealand.