Author: Jonathan Symcox

boohoo group plc has disposed of its Sheffield distribution centre for £90 million – a move which it says reduces its net debt to a ‘negligible level’.

The firm, which rebranded its trading face to Debenhams Group in 2025 – but failed to win shareholder approval to change the name of its listed entity – is transitioning from pure online retailer to a marketplace-led business model.

Debenhams Group – which owns the boohoo, PrettyLittleThing and Karen Millen brands – says the model is capital-lite, stock-lite, cost-lite and cash generative. Its ambition is for the marketplace to represent well over 50% of GMV.

Consistent with this strategy, it has sold the automation in its Sheffield distribution centre and reassigned the lease to Primark Stores Limited for a cash consideration of £90m.

Author: Chris Maguire

Could Manchester-based THG be about to sell some of its standalone brands in a bid to wipe out its debt?

The speculation has been fuelled by a paragraph in today’s upbeat interim results, which revealed group revenue was up 7.2 per cent in H1 2026.

In the outlook and guidance section of the report, THG said: “Following the successful sale of Claremont Ingredients in August 2025 for £103m, several of the group’s other non-strategic, standalone brands and assets have attracted bid interest.

“Should any sale occur at some point in the near future, it is expected that any proceeds would be higher than that for Claremont Ingredients, moving the group from net debt to net cash positive for FY 2027.”

THG doubled its money in the Claremont deal, which reduced its net debt from £330m to £230m in one stroke.

The eCommerce giant hasn’t revealed which of its brands have attracted ‘bid interest’ – or whether they’re even for sale – but it’s highly unlikely it would consider selling its crown jewel, Myprotein.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Private equity giant Accel-KKR has agreed a £207 million takeover of historic firm Eleco plc.

Eleco, founded in 1895, has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since the start of World War II.

Early in this century it entered the built environment software market with a series of acquisitions and in 2013 divested its remaining building systems and precast concrete businesses, making it a software-focused group.

CloudNC, behind AI software for precision machining, has raised £15 million in new investment capital.

Computer Numerical Control (CNC) is an automated manufacturing process where a computer program controls factory tools and machinery.

CloudNC’s lead product, CAM Assist, uses AI to greatly reduce the time required to create CNC machining strategies and toolpaths, allowing teams to move from design to production faster and enabling skilled operators to increase their output.

 

Author: Jonathan Symcox

McLaren has bucked UK automotive industry trends after announcing a £450 million investment into its technology centre in Woking.

The supercar maker is reportedly creating 1,000 jobs here as it looks to overhaul its product line-up under new chief creative officer David Woodhouse, who has experience at Nissan and Ford. It currently employs 2,500 people.

That could include more everyday-style models such as SUVs, rather than its current line-up of supercars such as the F1 and GT models.

The 1,000 new jobs at McLaren, as first reported by the Financial Times, will include indirect and agency workers.

The news comes a day after Jaguar Land Rover announced that it would be cutting 4,000 jobs globally over the next two years. 

 

Author: Jonathan Symcox

The Government ‘wants answers’ after the chaos which saw around 2,000 flights cancelled in the UK yesterday and today.

Air traffic control boss Martin Rolfe has been told by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander that he has a week to deliver a full investigation after a technical failure on Tuesday at a facility run by NATS, the British air traffic control system.

Ryanair chief operations officer Neal McMahon and Wizz Air UK MD Yvonne Moynihan called for the removal of Rolfe, with McMahon demanding that the Government intervene to fix what he called the UK’s “chronic” air traffic control issues.

Rolfe apologised to those affected by the “IT failure”. A spokesman for Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that Alexander had met Rolfe this morning.

incentifi, a self-funding behavioural rewards platform that turns wellness into travel and real financial value, has welcomed a new investor.

Marcus Watson, co-founder and chairman of Adoreum Partners, is an experienced corporate adviser, entrepreneur and investor with an active investment portfolio spanning more than 30 media, technology, health and wellness companies.

His financial backing comes as incentifi opens its UK beta programme, giving selected brands early access to the platform over a limited 3-4 week window to pilot rewards modes and experience first hand how everyday wellbeing converts into financial and travel benefits.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Shares in Pathos Communications plc have risen 7% today to around 28 pence after it posted strong half-year results.

The AI public relations firm was founded in 2019 by stand-up comedian Omar Hamdi (pictured), who combined a background in computing, journalism and television presenting to democratise access to established news publications utilising a ‘pay-on-results’ model.

Having never raised institutional funding, it underwent a £20 million public listing in December 2025, raising more than £5m as it joined the London Stock Exchange’s junior AIM market. However shares are 14% down on their IPO price.

FARx, an AI-fused biometrics company, has appointed former BT executive and Cambridge technology leader Chris Bruce as chairman as the business prepares for its next phase of UK and international growth.

The move comes after FARx recently secured £625,000 in seed funding through the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) with plans to expand its patented biometric authentication technology into global markets.

Bruce has more than 20 years’ international experience leading and scaling technology businesses at BT Group. As CEO of BT Openzone Wi-Fi, he delivered connectivity across the London 2012 Olympic Games. He also oversaw the launch of Capital Wi-Fi, which expanded to more than 500,000 hotspots across London.

He is also a highly respected figure within the Cambridge DeepTech ecosystem, serving as a non-executive board director at Cambridge Wireless, one of the UK’s leading technology communities, and led the launch of Cambridge Tech Week in 2023 as Chair of the Steering Committee.

BGF the UK and Ireland’s most active growth capital investor, has appointed Andrew Taylor as head of go-to-market.

Taylor will work closely with management teams across BGF’s portfolio to unlock revenue growth opportunities, strengthen commercial strategy and execution, and build scalable go-to-market capabilities across sales, marketing, customer success, partnerships and international expansion.

He brings extensive commercial and first-hand operating experience, most recently as chief revenue officer at PebblePad, where he led the commercial organisation through a period of M&A-led growth.

Manchester accountancy and business advisory firm Saffery has appointed Tom Williams as client development manager, North.

The firm is continuing to invest in strengthening client relationships and supporting sustainable growth.

With a remit for Northern regions, Williams brings more than a decade of commercial and business development experience across professional services and client-focused industries. Most recently at national law firm Freeths LLP, he led business development activity across multiple service lines and sectors, working closely with partners to identify growth opportunities, strengthen intermediary and referrer relationships, and support revenue growth.

Meta’s new personal AI agent, Muse, is moving beyond answering questions and into real-world commerce, with London-based travel infrastructure company Duffel powering its ability to search, book and manage flights.

US users can ask Muse to find a trip, compare live fares across 500+ airlines, make a booking and then manage cancellations or disruptions through their AI agent.

As more consumer agents start making purchases for people, they will depend on companies that can connect them directly to the systems behind those transactions and make sure they work reliably.

Duffel recently passed $1bn in TTV run rate, with AI platforms now among its fastest-growing customer segments.

A former teacher has launched a new digital wellbeing platform, currently being trialled by four English Football League clubs.

Within 20 minutes of the first club going live, the platform is said to have flagged a young player in difficulty, so support could be put in place the same day.

Founder Chris Powell came up with the idea for SaferIn whilst on the government-backed Help to Grow: Management Course. His original business, Bespoke Mentoring, has also grown from five staff to nearly 40 and tripled financially since completing the programme.

Focus Group has acquired London-headquartered Prime Networks, an IT managed service provider.

Focus is an independent provider of business technology based in Shoreham by Sea, West Sussex, with 20+ regional offices in the UK.

Prime Networks has further offices in Bournemouth, Tamworth and Tewkesbury. It supports approximately 500 SME customers. 

A new £210m Fund designed to support the growth of small and medium sized businesses in the South East of England has been launched today by the British Business Bank.

Launch of the South East Investment Fund and forthcoming East of England Investment Fund later this month means the British Business Bank is now delivering targeted finance across every UK Nation and region outside of London.

Covering Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Sussex, Surrey and Kent, the South East Investment 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 fund will be managed by a team of fund managers appointed by the British Business Bank including The FSE Group and Maven Capital Partners. The FSE Group will manage the debt finance part of the fund while Maven Capital Partners will manage equity investment.

Female founder community The 51% Club has announced the return of its flagship IGNITE conference to the Midlands on 28th September 2026.

Founded in 2024 by Birmingham-based entrepreneur Tara Attfield-Tomes, The 51% Club says it has made a tangible difference to women-led wealth, influence and impact. 

In just two years, the organisation has amassed more than 2,000 members from across the country, with five local hubs based in Birmingham, Leamington Spa, Leicester, London, and Worcester. 

The theme ‘To Seven Figures and Beyond’ positions IGNITE26 as the most commercially ambitious female founder conference in the UK, bringing together 250 founders at Millennium Point in Birmingham for a full day of keynotes, fireside chats, and panel discussions focused on what it actually takes to reach that figure.

A Yorkshire startup that provides key workers with low-cost tickets for live events has raised a further £3.9 million to accelerate its international expansion.

Tickets for Good distributes surplus tickets donated by event partners to NHS workers, teachers, charity staff and people receiving Cost of Living support. 

The Sheffield-based company, which started trading in 2022, now has almost 750,000 verified members globally and has distributed over 1.25m tickets. Tickets for Good turns unused capacity into access to events, creating social impact whilst also creating commercial value for their event partners.

Tickets for Good was founded by its CEO Steve Rimmer, a serial entrepreneur and promoter within Sheffield’s creative and cultural industries, and the late Neville Mosey, a fellow music enthusiast who passed away in 2023 aged 37. 

Robbie Williams is an ambassador for the company, along with former Dutch international goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar and music entrepreneur Hans Brouwer.

Emerge Digital has announced a new executive leadership team as the technology partner embarks on its next stage of growth and innovation.

The announcement comes as the Gloucestershire firm, which was certified a B Corporation earlier this year, reports a 40% increase in turnover to £4.5 million over the last 12 months. 

The business’ new leadership team includes CRO Mark Atkinson, the former professional rugby player who joined the firm in 2024.

Cardiff Capital Region will form an official strategic partnership with the National Wealth Fund in what promises to be a golden opportunity to accelerate investment and growth across South East Wales.

The partnership will give direct access to the National Wealth Fund’s investment knowledge, expertise and capital, to help develop and grow project pipelines, attract public and private finance and deliver key infrastructure to support growth and create high-value jobs.

Projects already receiving advisory guidance and support through similar partnerships include Clyde Metro in Glasgow City Region, The Sports Quarter in the West Midlands, a new zero-emission bus fleet in Greater Manchester and Mass Transit in West Yorkshire.

A technology firm that creates AI infrastructure, intelligent systems and products for organisations has announced its new home in Durham as the board takes shape.

Invent Group is the brainchild of experienced commercial strategist Malcolm Brechin, who has more than 25 years’ experience building and scaling businesses, and technologist Sam Whisker, who has spent his entire career developing progressive code that changes how organisations operate.

Taking on the roles of CEO and CTO respectively, they are now joined by chief strategy officer Richard Lowes – an experienced creative director with deep expertise in brand strategy and business development.