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itim Group plc, a SaaS based technology company that enables store-based retailers to optimise their businesses to improve financial performance, has appointed Christopher Hedley Brook-Carter as a non-executive director.

He has over two decades of leadership experience across media, retail intelligence and social impact organisations. As MD and SVP of Retail Week and the World Retail Congress (2012-2020), he transformed these legacy brands into digital-first platforms. Since 2020, as CEO of the Retail Trust, he has led the modernisation of a 193-year-old charity, championing the wellbeing of over 600,000 retail workers across the UK.

TruFin plc has appointed Sean Brennan as an independent non-executive director of the company with immediate effect.

The group comprises three businesses focused on early payment provision (Oxygen), invoice finance (Satago) and mobile games publishing (Playstack).

Brennan has been in the video games industry for over 35 years, most recently as CEO of Focus Entertainment. Prior to this, he was MD of ZeniMax Europe (Bethesda Softworks), responsible for the international publishing business and management of all the international offices. ZeniMax Media Inc was acquired by Microsoft for $7.5bn in 2020. He has also held senior positions at Virgin Interactive Entertainment, Mirrorsoft and Telecomsoft.

Paul Dentskevich, independent non-executive director, has chosen to step down from the board with effect from today.

TruFin also reported a 42% increase in gross revenue for the first six months of the year to 拢36.0m. Satago’s performance declined year-on-year but the other two arms of the business grew impressively.

Bolton-based EdTech Near-Life has created intelligent virtual characters in an attempt to make digital learning more engaging and memorable.

The innovation, backed by聽, is expected to double the company鈥檚 customer base and increase turnover by 84% to 拢350,000 in the next financial year.

Global FinTech firm Paysend has appointed its former president Ben Chisell as its new CEO.

Chisell, who joined the company in 2021, will work alongside co-founders Abdul Abdulkerimov, who serves as executive chairman, and Ronnie Millar.

Before joining the London-based firm, he was vice president of product at OakNorth, following a near-three-year stint as product director at Starling Bank.

Mayor Andy Burnham has welcomed digital bank Zopa鈥檚 plans to create 500 jobs in Manchester, calling the move a 鈥渕assive vote of confidence鈥� in the city鈥檚 digital and tech sector.

The FinTech will scale its Dalton Place office from 50 to over 500 staff, with roles in product, engineering and retail finance.

Burnham said the expansion underlines Greater Manchester鈥檚 status as one of the UK鈥檚 fastest-growing digital hubs and a rising force in FinTech.

It comes as Zopa anticipates significant growth for its upcoming financial year, having tripled its profitability compared to the same period last year.

Author: Ben Bilsland, head of technology industry at RSM UK

鈥淭his latest investment in UK AI will no doubt come as a vote of confidence in the United Kingdom. AI is a key component of the present and future of our tech industry, where UK is well positioned as a global player given our strong ecosystem of successful, high growth technology companies.

鈥淭he latest data points to the number of new UK tech companies being incorporated reached a record high in Q2 2025, showing the industry is well placed to ride out the wave of ongoing economic uncertainty.

鈥淭he often cited headline is that AI is extremely powerful and has the potential to unlock massive economic growth in the UK. However, while the impacts we are seeing today around automation and efficiencies are important, they are unlikely to be the turnkey to once in a generation economic growth and change.

鈥淎s a country and as business leaders, we will need to ensure our focus moves away from efficiencies being the be-all and end-all, and instead focus on innovation, new markets and products that emerge in a world where AI technologies can be used with deep and lasting impacts.

鈥淥ur government will have a crucial role in establishing the regulation and regulatory environment that balances innovation against protecting the safety of users.

鈥淚t is the deeper investments outside physical infrastructure that will have a lasting impact and unlock the UK鈥檚 potential.

鈥淟arge corporate inbound investment and global venture funding will have a crucial role in backing the groundbreaking, innovative research projects that lead to the next phase of companies.

鈥淔unding for facilities and education programmes in key tech skills will upskill our workforce of the future.鈥�

Specialist global healthcare investor GHO Capital has agreed to acquire Scientist.com, the AI-powered R&D platform used by MedTechs and pharma companies to manage outsourced research.

The deal will see Scientist.com, which is headquartered in San Diego, tap into the London firm鈥檚 global reach and sector expertise to accelerate growth through partnerships and acquisitions.

GHO said the move strengthens its portfolio of healthcare and life sciences companies driving efficiency and innovation.

Aaron Tanner has joined AI analytics platform ASK BOSCO and parent company Modo25 as vice president of sales.

Tanner, who previously led EMEA sales at BlueOptima, joins following a 拢4.1m VC investment aimed at scaling the platform鈥檚 AI-driven reporting and forecasting tools.

His appointment comes as the Leeds-based company plans to accelerate growth and expand its global reach.

Implement AI, a startup co-founded by former BBC Dragon Piers Linney, has raised 拢1.3 millon in an oversubscribed seed funding round led by prominent angel investor Nigel Wray.

Fresh from winning AI Start-Up of the Year at the UK Startup Awards London 2025, the company will use the funds to scale its AI operating system, grow its AI-augmented team and expand its reseller channel.

The London-headquartered firm deploys digital workers to help businesses boost revenue, cut costs and gain a competitive edge.

London-based startup m3ter has struck a new partnership with PwC UK to help businesses modernise billing and protect revenue.

The deal combines the firm’s pricing platform with the global professional services company’s expertise in governance and risk management.

Oxford Quantum Circuits has launched the first quantum computer in a New York City data centre, working with Digital Realty and NVIDIA.

The facility, based in Manhattan鈥檚 Chelsea district, is being billed as the world鈥檚 first to combine quantum and AI infrastructure, supporting industries such as finance and security.

Science Minister Patrick Vallance said the move highlights UK tech leadership and strengthens ties with the US.

AI-powered home care provider Cera has been credited with saving the NHS and government more than 拢1 billion, according to new analysis by data science company Faculty.

The report found that the company鈥檚 preventative model cuts hospital admissions, emergency visits and referrals into residential care, saving over 拢1.5m a day.

The HealthTech, which is led by the UK’s EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024, Dr Ben Maruthappu, now has 10,000 carers and nurses delivering around 2.5 million home visits each month.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Sky is to make roughly 600 tech roles redundant as it moves away from the development of new technology platforms.

The broadcaster is beginning a consultation with 900 staff across its Osterley, Leeds and Livingston sites.

Sky said it will refocus on existing services rather than platforms like Sky Glass and Sky Stream television, while more tech functions will be moved to international teams.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Dragons鈥� Den star Touker Suleyman is backing customer engagement platform Reward through a new partnership with his fashion brand Hawes & Curtis.

The deal gives the retailer access to Reward鈥檚 network of 10 million customers, helping it grow sales online and in-store.

The London-based FinTech connects banks and retailers via its commerce media platform.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Shop Circle has extended its Series B round to $100 million (拢73m), with backing from investors including Nextalia Ventures, 645 Ventures and CDP Venture Capital.

CEO Luca Cartechini said the funding gives the company 鈥渇irepower to double down鈥� on acquisitions and AI product development.

The London-based firm recently bought API gateway KrakenD and says more deals are already in the pipeline.

Early-stage investment firm Anthemis and Cambridge AI Venture Partners have together launched CommonAI, a collaborative engineering and computing platform for AI-enabled startups, enterprises, engineers, academics and investors.

Aiming to turbocharge the UK and European AI innovation ecosystem, it seeks to tackle the key challenges and barriers startups and enterprises face, allowing them to innovate safely and cost effectively, reduce their reliance on Big Tech and secure strategic investment.

At the heart of the initiative is a non-profit engineering organisation 鈥� Common AI CIC 鈥� which will co-develop foundational AI IP in partnership with its members. The platform additionally provides access to CommonAI Compute Ltd 鈥� a facilitator of cost-effective GPU resource.

eCommerce retailer Vanquish Fitness has secured a UKEF-backed trade loan from NatWest to fuel growth ambitions.

Founded in Tottenham in 2014, Vanquish focuses on supplying high-quality active streetwear to a global customer base, with significant sales in the UK and the US.

Renovare Fuels has appointed George Mkushi as head of engineering as the company accelerates the commercialisation of its sustainable fuel, backed by NASA.

Mkushi previously acted as head of engineering and executive director to firms C-Capture Ltd and East Energy.

The strengthened engineering team will support a growing pipeline of projects, including a 拢13 million site in Craigmore, Northern Ireland, due to open in 2026.

Blackfinch Ventures has appointed Dr Simon Porter as principal.

He joins Blackfinch after building his own consultancy firm that helps startups and their management teams with business growth, including planning, strategy, fundraising and exit.

Prior to that Simon held a principal role at Active Partners, where he built strong expertise in Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) investing.

CleanTech company UCR Group has appointed Mel Morris CBE, seasoned entrepreneur, investor and CEO/co-founder of Corpora.ai, to its advisory board.

Morris brings over five decades of experience founding, scaling, and transforming high-growth ventures across software, AI, medical and cloud technologies to the Southampton business.