Future plc, NCC, The Apprentice, JMX: the week's best-read stories Why GM founders should apply for latest ASCEND Scale Up Programme YFM exits Vuealta following sale to France-based Keyrus Is Manchester startup building world’s leading AI workers? TikTok secures deal to make US app standalone business BusinessBite: Retail sales up but 'long, slow demise of high street continues' Meet the maddest Man Utd fan - & he's not even real Meet the founders seeking investment to change the world ClearScore Group acquires 47-strong mortgage & protection firm Sports stars who have invested in UK tech companies Shares up at Computacenter after profit guidance lift Strava to expand London footprint after growing San Francisco hub EA Technology appoints Burton as new CEO LendInvest confirms £250m funding partnership with Castlelake NCC Group strikes San Francisco deal a day after £275m sale Beazley plc 'unanimously rejects’ £7.7bn Zurich offer House of Lords votes in favour of social media ban for under-16s Reeves announces £1bn UK Social Investment Fund in Davos ATG takeover battle intensifies as it releases results Future plc makes £40m swoop for women's fashion publication Leeds’ Optalysys secures £23m to expand in US BusinessBite: Next plc saves Russell & Bromley from insolvency Currys shares fly after upgrading profit expectations IN4 Group makes swoop for Midlands apprenticeship provider Till rejoins One iota as CEO 9 years on from departure MedTech developing 'world-first' GBM treatment raises £4.5m Ben Stokes-backed Seat Unique agrees four-year GCCC deal NCC Group to sell Escode business to PE firm in £275m deal Experian shares dip following publication of results Could children’s social media ban be expanded to video games? FinTech Stream raises £67m to expand globally FinTech PLC set for $1bn facility as it eyes US listing £3bn energy giant Drax makes £36m swoop for Edinburgh firm Listed data firm 1Spatial set to be taken private in £87m deal Rows; side hustles; influencers: Meet The Apprentice candidates BusinessBite: Reporting from Davos - rate of decay outpacing innovation SoC's £3m UAE expansion gets government backing Reach plc shares rise as Daily Mirror publisher eyes £99m profit Twinkl hires first-ever US general manager for American expansion $100m startup co-founded by ex-FIFA YouTuber JMX raises £16m British Business Bank sets record with £25m Kraken investment Could a UK social media ban for under-16s be on the horizon? Big Technologies agrees £38.5m settlement with investors Funding Circle shares jump as it exceeds 2025 & 2026 targets Timpson and musicMagpie announce smartphone partnership BusinessBite: THG Studios makes key senior hires WH Smith shares recover as retailer replaces chair HealthTech 50 star Eolas Medical raises £9m to scale AI in NHS ElevenLabs reportedly eyeing funding which would value it at $11bn Zurich Insurance makes £7.7bn offer for Beazley plc $65bn Cloudflare makes swoop for London-based AI business University of Manchester lands world-first partnership with Microsoft Life insurer LV= makes double exec appointment including CTO ASCEND Scale Up Programme open to new cohort M&C Saatchi back on track as shares rise despite 7% revenue dip Shareholder revolt ‘changes Monzo's plans for CEO TS Anil’ Market intelligence firm Defaqto makes £11m swoop Auction Technology Group rejects 12th FitzWalter offer of £491m Ashtead Technology shares fly as revenue sails over £200m mark Christie Group completes disposal of visitor attraction software firm BusinessBite: Sunday Times 100 leader DFYNE opens HQ Investor eyes £491m ATG bid after slamming ‘extreme value destruction’ THG, Missguided, Liverpool FC star, ATG - the week's best-read stories Housr announces two new office openings in US UK to fast-track robotics & defence tech with red tape crackdown Midnite secures £26m Series C to ramp up plans MedTech uncovers 'serious corporate governance concerns' Sunday Times 100 Tech rankings revealed for 2026 BusinessBite: THG appoints new committee chair Dragons' Den series 23 start date and guest Dragons revealed Increase in revenue drives up CAB Payments share price EQT takeover rumours boost Oxford Biomedica share price Dunelm shares plummet by nearly a fifth despite strong first half Huge year for TruFin as profits rocket by 720% VIOOH pins partnership with a second Texas-based industry giant Ex-Halifax, HSBC & Lloyds figure appointed CIO at BGF BGF-backed SaleCycle makes swoop for French eCommerce firm Audioboom shares down despite 54% EBITDA increase X removes ability of Grok to undress people in photos AIM-listed firm behind The Daily Mash expects huge EBITDA rise Modern Milkman launches doorstep recycling service EdTech 50 star Tapestry strikes partnership with Wonde Omnea tops London-dominated 2026 Startups 100 Index BusinessBite: Nasdaq-listed RedCloud reports record results Three years on from WANdisco scandal, where is Cirata now? Roberts named associate director of The Growth Company's Green Economy Fast-growing Abound expands into mortgages with first acquisition Why did THG’s share price fall 9% after positive trading update? HealthTech 50 star lands major white-label GLL partnership Business Secretary wants UK to go ‘toe to toe’ with US on growth GlobalData sets LSE main market move date after failed takeovers YFM exits SharpCloud following takeover by global firm DCA partners with HelloSelf for personalised mental health support BusinessBite: Klarna launches P2P payments Epic Games' SuperAwesome makes first acquisition since MBO Gamma Communications shares rise after update & appointment Trustpilot shares fly as ARR projected to soar past £200m European investor acquires Peoplesafe from ECI Partners Nova Pangaea Technologies appoints Stewart Stewart as CEO Rochdale firm appoints ex-Bain & Co and Google figure as CEO Amazon accused of selling external products without consent Will Cody Gakpo investment prove a healthy one? Apadmi appoints two new execs following Pinch acquisition JD Sports to allow customers to shop via AI platforms Social Chain owner Brave Bison boosts annual revenue by 57% European firm Whitevision swoops for UK's Document Logistix Raspberry Pi profits soar despite sinking share price Rosberg Ventures steams ahead after closing  $100m Fund III The Mission Group plc issues profit warning THG reports 7% revenue growth in Q4 trading update BusinessBite: A turnaround at Fruugo? North East's Origin Tech gets multi-million-pound BGF backing Time running out to apply for Leeds Tech Map Fraudster Andrew Currie handed confiscation order following prison release Will the UK Government ban Elon Musk's Grok and X? Oxford Nanopore shares rise as revenues set to rise to £224m Investor slams ATG over ‘extreme shareholder value destruction’ Haydale acquires SaveMoneyCutCarbon in £24m deal BusinessBite: Nscale 'in talks to raise further $2bn' Profile: Roisin Currie, CEO, Greggs Nitin Passi: The startling return of Missguided’s founder Baroness Poppy Gustafsson announces new role London FinTech makes first acquisition after £1bn+ investment Sainsbury's shares fall due to Argos sales despite Christmas cheer Luke Littler signs reported record-breaking £20m Target deal Sheffield Wednesday, Faculty, LDC - the week's best-read stories Listed Versarien appoints Leonard Curtis partners as administrators FOD Mobility Group unveils replacement for retired CEO The Apprentice star lands Microsoft role Yorkshire HealthTech Agilio acquires Runcorn dental startup Grok disables image generator for free users after X UK ban threat Swoop sees London's ITRS expand in Europe BusinessBite: Just Eat processes 17m UK orders in one month M&S chief executive 'full of ambition' as sales & shares jump Tesco shares dip as Christmas performance 'not as good as hoped' Shares plunge at Primark owner after profit warning £1.2bn Clarkson PLC swoops for shipping tech startup Zuma Nasdaq-listed UK RegTech Diginex buys Plan A in €80m deal Three tech stars signed by Burnley FC for 6-month programme MarTech 50 star VIOOH partners with Texas-based Dolphin OOH BusinessCloud and VirtualNonExecs join forces on events Cerillion plc shares fly after it wins £42.5m contract The Beauty Tech Group in 5% share price surge MedPal AI links health app & pharmacy in 'UK-first' Cera launches AI agents to transform care delivery THG Ingenuity split was right thing despite sleepless nights - Moulding Zilch swoops for Fjord Bank to kickstart European expansion Computacenter seals $120m deal for professional services firm BusinessBite: Hay steps down as CEO of The Cardinal Partnership Who are tech figures named as Sheffield Wednesday's preferred bidders? Old School deal for Liverpool FC ahead of Arsenal clash Ping Identity locks in takeover at London's Keyless Former Microsoft leader named CEO at Cloud Direct TT Electronics chair to step down amid Cicor takeover collapse BGF-backed Somerset firm acquired by CorpAcq Nasdaq's Amgen swoops for Dark Blue Therapeutics in £622m deal Private equity-backed SmartSearch completes deal for Credas Ocado & ASOS up - the tech FTSE risers & fallers in December BusinessBite: McCann Manchester MD leaves after 19 years Faculty becomes 1st tech unicorn of 2026 with Accenture deal Mia Drennan: From holiday sales rep to £1bn+ dealmaker Leeds spinout fighting for survival leaves London Stock Exchange Next share price jumps on back of Christmas cheer Huge revenue dip at Fruugo sees firm enter the red Founder profile: Laura Earnshaw, myHappymind Node4 founding member joins Communicate Technology as CEO Global acquires majority stake in Gary Neville’s The Overlap £500m Inflexion-backed Axiom GRC makes swoop Global Switch executive named CEO of VIRTUS Quint Group arm Cred appoints Trueman as new CEO Cheshire EdTech myHappymind gets LDC backing hedgehog lab co-founder steps down as CEO From Manchester City to pop-up cinemas: the evolution of Piing BusinessCloud reports record 71% increase in audience Annual revenues fall at essensys as it lowers yearly expectations Prolific North acquired by RM Communications Claire’s & The Original Factory Shop enter administration BusinessBite: Accenture snaps up AI firm & Kromek gets £6m Bridgepoint agrees deal to take majority stake in Interpath Raspberry Pi falls to lowest share price since IPO Deloitte reveals plan to move Birmingham HQ Manchester's Distology partners with Nasdaq-listed Tenable Revenues up but losses widen at unicorn Multiverse What now for Man Utd after Amorim’s sacking? Auction Technology Group rejects 11 takeover bids from FitzWalter LDC exit after sale of Wireless CCTV to Arcus Fiinu takes legal action after replacing Everfex leaders CES boss slams UK government’s support of tech firms Maya Jama & Jack Whitehall among celebs launching new fund How 'tech for good' social platform onboarded EA co-founder Built Cybernetics acquires profitable London interior design firm BusinessBite: Emovis signs 10-year Leeds deal Tap Global CFO to step down despite rapid revenue rise Tech drives London’s strongest year for IPOs since 2021 Manchester firm aims to double revenue again after enterprise wins BusinessBite: FuelHub hits incredible 2m milestone in 2025 Tech entrepreneur awarded MBE aged just 27 Demerged Kraken eyes up IPO after $1bn investment Ex-Dragons’ Den star Piers Linney awarded MBE Depledge steps down from role as Resi CEO Steven Bartlett and Nvidia's $20bn mega deal for Groq Panache Cruises raise £75k for Reuben’s Retreat BusinessCloud's top 100 deals of 2025 BusinessCloud's 100 best-read stories of the year £6m raise to take Sofant from R&D to commercial launch Massie steps down as CEO of VibePay Tech predictions for 2026: Will the AI bubble burst? Meet Spring - the co-led PropTech with £300m-a-year ambition