Bite-size news and insight from UK business and tech – including funding, deals and appointments
Published: March 10, 2026 at 7:33 am
MarTech Dotdigital Group plc has revealed its half-year results.
The provider of an AI-powered customer experience and data platform personalised marketing said total group revenue increased 4% to 拢44.2m in the six months ended 31st December 2025.
Adjusted EBITDA was 拢13.6m, down slightly from 拢13.8m year-on-year. Adjusted profit before tax was 拢8.9m (H1 FY25: 拢10.0m).
Trading is in line with full-year market expectations on a constant currency basis, it said.
Published: March 10, 2026 at 7:00 am
A former British Army captain has raised 拢1.3 million in pre-seed investment from female angel investors for her FinTech DataWollet.
Cardiff-based Jen Lothian (pictured centre), who served in Afghanistan, subsequently performed tech roles at Bank of America before joining financial services group Octopus.
She founded DataWollet, described as the UK鈥檚 first full-spectrum open finance platform, in 2022. It aims to offer a single gateway for instant access to consumer financial data.
Published: March 9, 2026 at 5:36 pm
A leading insurance company has thrown its support behind a campaign to help tackle digital exclusion in the North East.
Somerset Bridge Group has donated 50 laptops to Dynamo, the region鈥檚 largest tech sector network, as part of its efforts to tackle digital poverty. The devices will be given to Sunderland City Council鈥檚 digital inclusion team, which will distribute them to residents and community groups who need access to digital technology.
The council is supporting Dynamo this year in hosting the annual North East Tech Charity Dinner, which will take place at The Fire Station on 19 March 2026. The event brings together senior figures from across the North East tech sector and will raise money for initiatives tackling digital exclusion.
Funds raised through the dinner will support the Dynamo Digital Inclusion Fund, which provides grants to charities and community organisations working to improve access to devices, connectivity and digital skills.
Published: March 9, 2026 at 5:34 pm
VIOOH, a premium global digital out of home (DOOH) supply-side platform, has announced a strategic partnership with OUTFRONT, one of the largest media companies in the US.
The partnership encompasses OUTFRONT鈥檚 premium inventory of more than 7,600 digital screens, delivering more than 18 billion monthly impressions. High-impact locations include roadside billboards on key highways, train and subway stations, urban panels and bus shelters across more than 50 major cities and regional areas nationwide.
The network’s street furniture portfolio delivers strategic coverage across New York City, Boston, Louisville, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Tampa and Miami among others.
The transit network provides access to major train stations including New York City MTA, Boston’s MBTA, San Francisco BART, Florida Brightline, Miami Metrorail, Chicago Metra and Washington DC WMATA.
Published: March 9, 2026 at 4:41 pm
Apadmi has appointed its first chief revenue officer in Rachel Wood.
The mobile product consultancy – which is based in Manchester and scaling globally – welcomes Wood, who spent nine years at ANS Group where she supported growth in preparation for a private equity-backed MBO and subsequent merger with UKFast.听
Most recently, she served as COO at OBT Live, where she built the company’s operations, product strategy and commercial foundations from the ground up.
Published: March 9, 2026 at 4:13 pm
The founder of an app which aimed to keep women safe at night has raised 拢11.2 million for his latest venture.
Harry Mead was behind the non-profit app Path Community, which no longer seems to be active.听
Then-restaurateur Mead developed the app after learning how many of his female friends felt uneasy about travelling home alone. To help build it, he retrained in coding and worked closely with female volunteers on its design.
It was singled out for praise from then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson for helping to keep women safe when walking home.
In 2024 Mead founded Augur with former Palantir engineers Imran Lone (CTO) and Stefan Kopieczek (head of engineering) to support national security interests, protect public spaces and defend critical national infrastructure using AI.
He has now raised 拢11.2 million led by Plural, with participation from First Kind, SNR, Flix and Tiny VC.听
Published: March 9, 2026 at 3:45 pm
Northern Gritstone has invested into Manchester spinout Cytotrait as part of a 拢3m seed funding round.
Cytotrait is a biotechnology spinout from The University of Manchester commercialised with support from the University of Manchester Innovation Factory.
It is focused on the development of novel traits for food and agriculture.
The 拢3 million round was led by Northern听Gritstone, with contributions from the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund (UKI2S, managed by Future Planet Capital), and Northern Universities Ventures Fund, managed by Parkwalk in collaboration with Northern听Gritstone.
Published: March 9, 2026 at 2:03 pm
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has invested in Stack BTC Plc, a company seeking to build a portfolio of cash-generative businesses alongside a Bitcoin treasury.
The MP for Clacton joined Blockchain.com in backing the company which is led by executive chairman Kwasi Kwarteng.
Kwarteng served as Chancellor for just 38 days before being sacked after his and former Prime Minister Liz Truss鈥檚 mini-Budget caused turmoil in the markets.
Published: March 9, 2026 at 9:06 am
The future of Beauty Bay has been secured via a sale of the business and its assets via a pre-pack transaction to an international investment group.
The Salford-based online cosmetics retailer filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators in February and took down its website. It continues to show a holding page.
Rick Harrison and James Clark from Interpath were appointed joint administrators to Beauty Bay Limited on 6th March and immediately concluded a sale of the business to French-owned AA Investments Group.
Published: March 9, 2026 at 8:51 am
The CEO of M&C Saatchi will leave 鈥榖y mutual consent鈥� at the end of the month less than two years into the role.
Zaid Al-Qassab, former CMO at Channel 4, joined in 2024 to help stabilise the business and it has introduced cost savings amid falling annual revenue.
In an unaudited trading update for the year to 31st December 2025, the advertising and marketing business said like-for-like net revenue is expected to fall around 7%, or around 2.5% excluding Australia – a 鈥榖lack hole鈥� for the business.
Dame Heather Rabbatts, currently non-executive chair, will assume the role of executive chair on an interim basis while the search for a successor gets underway.
Tech powerhouse Vin Murria, a substantial and long-term investor in the business both privately and through her company AdvancedAdvT, has been appointed deputy chair. Murria holds 11.8% of M&C Saatchi while AdvancedAdvT owns 9.8%.听
AdvancedAdvT has confirmed this morning that it will not make a takeover bid for M&C Saatchi.
Published: March 7, 2026 at 3:21 pm
It was a boardroom bloodbath as Lord Sugar dramatically fired three candidates in the latest episode of The Apprentice.
Andrea Cooper, Carrington Saunders and Megan Ruiter were all shown the exit after being in the losing team in the latest challenge.
The episode saw the candidates head to Egypt to put on corporate away days for paying clients.
Birkenhead fashion designer Megan Ruiter volunteered to be a project manager because of her experience of hosting corporate events but it didn鈥檛 go according to plan.
Ruiter, who was the first of the trio to be fired, said: 鈥淚 have learnt so much during my Apprentice journey and met friends for life. The best experience I have ever done.鈥�
She was joined soon afterwards by Carrington Saunders, founder of London-based online women鈥檚 wear fashion company, Cas Collection.
Andrea Cooper was also fired after being accused of being a negative influence.
The triple firing means nine of the original 20 candidates have now been sacked.
There are now 11 candidates vying for Lord Sugar鈥檚 拢250k investment and mentorship.
Published: March 7, 2026 at 11:37 am
Trustpilot, a leading global review platform dedicated to building trust between consumers and businesses, has appointed Shazadi Stinton as its new chief trust officer.
Stinton joins Trustpilot with more than 20 years of experience in legal, governance, and regulatory leadership across consumer-facing and highly regulated industries.
She most recently served as group general counsel and company secretary at MONY Group (formerly MoneySuperMarket Group), where she was a member of the executive committee and played a central role in strengthening governance frameworks, board effectiveness and sustainability reporting.
Prior to MONY Group, Stinton spent over a decade at Severn Trent in senior legal leadership roles, including head of legal counsel.
During her career, she has worked extensively with regulators and competition authorities, led complex investigations and M&A activity, and driven large-scale organisational transformation programmes.
Published: March 6, 2026 at 3:28 pm
A global trading exchange startup founded by two Cambridge mathematicians听has raised 拢7m ($9.5m) in seed funding.
Y Combinator are among the investors in QFEX, which was founded by Annanay Kapila and Joshua Wharton.
The duo met as freshers at Cambridge, bonding over a shared interest in maths and finance.
After studying maths and conducted quantum computing research, Kapila went to work as a quantitative trader at Flow Traders and Tower Research Capital in London,
He is now building QFEX as the exchange he always wished he had to trade on and hopes it will eventually replace the entire $100bn exchange and clearing industry.
Most recently Wharton worked at Citidel.
Published: March 6, 2026 at 2:11 pm
LBG Media, the social entertainment group behind the LADbible network,听has appointed experienced Darren Singer as its new chief financial officer.
Singer will join the board of directors and take up his role on March 9th.
Dave Wilson, who has served as executive chair with a particular focus on supporting the finance, legal and investor relations teams of LBG Media since January 2025, will return to his non-executive chair role, and will oversee a smooth transition of responsibilities.
Solly Solomou, CEO and founder of Manchester-headquartered LBG Media, said: 鈥淲e are pleased to welcome Darren to the board at an important stage in our growth.
鈥淒arren brings significant experience of operating at scale across a range of digital media and technology businesses and his financial and operational expertise will be a valuable addition to the leadership team as we continue to develop and execute our growth strategy.
鈥淚 would also like to thank Dave Wilson for his contribution. The company is well positioned for the next phase of growth and we look forward to working with Darren as part of a strengthened leadership team, as we continue to deliver on our ambition to become the leading social entertainment powerhouse.”
Published: March 6, 2026 at 1:48 pm
Fast-growing sports nutrition, health and wellness brand, Applied Nutrition, has secured planning permission from Knowsley Council for a new 84,000 sq ft global distribution centre and corporate headquarters.
Construction听started this week and will increase the company鈥檚 total operational footprint to over听204,000听sq听ft.
Fitness enthusiast Thomas Ryder founded Applied Nutrition in 2014 and floated the business in 2024.
The Liverpool-based business has enjoyed a period of record-breaking year of growth and Coleen Rooney recently increased her shareholding in the company.
The new distribution centre and corporate headquarters has been designed to support accelerating demand across both UK and international markets.
As well as acting as Applied Nutrition鈥檚 central global distribution hub, it will also act as the company鈥檚 new headquarters.
Commenting on the milestone, CEO Thomas Ryder said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e听incredibly excited to be embarking on this next chapter for Applied Nutrition.鈥�
Published: March 6, 2026 at 8:14 am
EdTech startup Plato has closed its latest funding round with SFC Capital, raising a total of 拢260,000.
The firm, based in Leeds, has developed an AI-powered personal study assistant designed to help higher education students achieve their academic goals.
By integrating with a university’s digital ecosystem, Plato is able to answer module-related queries ensuring students receive instant help while easing professors’ workload and allowing them to focus on delivering teaching.
Published: March 6, 2026 at 8:09 am
The Financial Conduct Authority has听appointed two new senior leaders.
Chris Knight will join the FCA in July 2026 as director of insurance within its supervision, policy and competition division.
He joins the FCA from Legal & General, where he has been the group chief risk officer for the last five years and member of the group management committee. Prior to this, he was CEO of Legal & General Retail Retirement for three years.
David Lymburn joined the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) on 23rd February 2026 as interim deputy managing director and brings over 15 years鈥� experience in financial services, including as chief operating officer and global payments programme director at Nordea Bank and payments roles at the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group.
He will serve in this interim role while the permanent recruitment takes place.
Published: March 5, 2026 at 11:40 pm
Growth Lending has provided an 拢8m funding facility to GoodShape, a London-based absence management and return-to work platform backed by Marcol Private Equity.听
The funding refinances existing debt and provides additional capital to support the company鈥檚 continued expansion as it scales its recurring revenue base, onboards new customers, and enables further targeted investment in the platform鈥檚 technological and AI capabilities.听
GoodShape is a UK market-leading SaaS platform used by more than 800,000 employees across 250 organisations. The business works with employers across retail, healthcare, manufacturing and the public sector, helping them unlock greater value from their workforce and optimise the impact of existing employee health services.听
Published: March 5, 2026 at 10:57 pm
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has made two key leadership hires following a rigorous national recruitment process. 听
Lorna Rogers has been appointed as director of听transformation and听digital while Andy King听has been appointed听as director of clean energy and net zero.
Rogers has听almost听30 years鈥櫶齟xperience in both public and private sectors听and is听a prominent UK leader in major programme delivery.
She has worked for the Combined Authority since 2018 and created the award-winning听拢30m听LCR Connect full fibre听programme.
King鈥檚 role will include leading听the听development of the Mersey Tidal Power Project.
Rogers said: 鈥淢y focus will be on modernising our business systems so we can work more efficiently, support the delivery of the听growth听plan, and better serve our communities.
鈥淎s we build our capability in data and AI,听I鈥檓听committed to an 鈥楢I for good鈥� approach听–听using technology responsibly,听ethically听and transparently to improve outcomes for people,听place听and the public sector workforce.鈥�
Published: March 5, 2026 at 10:27 pm
FinTech Revolut has applied to the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for a US national bank charter.
The entity, to be called Revolut Bank US, N.A., would give Revolut nationwide reach – across all 50 states – under one regulatory framework.
It would also give it direct access to payment rails like Fedwire and ACH, and allow it to directly offer personal loans and credit cards, as well as insured deposits, to customers in the US.
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