老九品茶

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Eagle Eye Innovations, a provider of drone training, operating and consulting services, has secured investment from private equity investor LDC to support its expansion plans.

Headquartered in Lincoln and founded in 2013, EEI provides a variety of services to organisations requiring skilled, regulatory-compliant drone operators across multiple sectors including the built environment, utilities, infrastructure, agriculture, logistics, media, security and defence.听

LDC is backing EEI鈥檚 management team, led by founder and CEO Si么n Roberts, COO Dom Smith and CCO Alex Kasperczyk, as they expand the business in the UK and internationally.

Rob Clarke, previously CEO of CTC Aviation, will join as non-executive chairman, bringing extensive experience in commercial pilot operations and aviation operations consultancy, and Sir Chris Harper will remain on the board as non-executive director.听

UK personalised video startup Sendr has launched what it claims to be the world鈥檚 first personalised video at scale for eCommerce.

Early campaigns have delivered a 33% uplift in recovered abandoned-cart revenue compared to email, it says, using personalised videos that address shoppers by name, show the exact product they left behind and link straight back to checkout.

Initial use cases include influencer-led eCommerce brands such as Paris Fury and Pete Wicks, but it can be used by any brand or retailer across any stage of the eCommerce journey.

Sendr had previously been deployed by brands including the FT as an enterprise sales tool but given estimates that abandoned carts cost eCommerce retailers trillions each year, personalised video at scale is a breakthrough in eCommerce.

Having launched in 2025, Sendr has already raised 拢600,000 in pre-seed funding.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Experts have reacted with disbelief after it was revealed that Rachel Reeves鈥檚 Budget was accessed almost 25,000 times before its official publication due to an Office for Budget Responsibility leak.

An investigation by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) showed official forecasts by the OBR were downloaded on 鈥渁t least鈥� 24,701 occasions in the hour before Ms Reeves delivered her 26th November Budget.

This was much higher than the 43 occasions reported in an initial review.

The UK Space Agency has awarded contracts to three UK companies to investigate producing these advanced materials in Low Earth Orbit, where the conditions 鈥� including microgravity, natural vacuum, and extreme temperatures 鈥� can create products that are difficult, expensive, or impossible to manufacture on Earth.

The research supports in-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing (ISAM), which the government identifies as a priority capability area for UK leadership, growth, and national security.

Each study will assess technical feasibility, mature key technologies, and develop credible routes to market.

The three contracts are:

BioOrbit Ltd听(拢250,000) 鈥� The 鈥楶HARM鈥� study will design an end-to-end mission to manufacture drugs in microgravity. Microgravity enables the formation of more perfect, reproducible protein crystals for drug formulations that cannot be achieved on Earth, enabling cancer treatments to be given at home. BioOrbit is working with relevant regulatory bodies to ensure that this mission can be readily commercialised.

Space Forge Ltd听(拢300,000) 鈥� The 鈥�2Forge2Furious鈥� study will demonstrate how semiconductor seed crystals could be produced commercially in orbit, with the aim of improving the efficiency, reliability and power density of high-power electronic devices, including telecommunications, data centre infrastructure, EV charging and quantum computing.

OrbiSky Ltd听(拢295,000) 鈥� The 鈥楽kyYield鈥� study will design a payload to process ZBLAN fluoride glass in microgravity. ZBLAN is a specialist optical fibre that can transmit light with up to 100 times less signal loss than traditional silica fibre, with significant potential for telecommunications and medical imaging.

Author: Mark Rothwell, chief executive, Furza

There鈥檚 no escaping it 鈥� AI is reshaping the workplace.

Headlines often focus on jobs being ‘replaced’ by algorithms or automation, stoking fear and uncertainty.

However, while technology undeniably changes the employment landscape, framing AI as a threat rather than an enabler overlooks a key truth 鈥� that the talent of tomorrow will not be defined solely by what humans are unable to do, but by how we adapt, collaborate and innovate alongside machines.

The future of work may look different from what we expect, but it鈥檚 far from bleak.

The question isn鈥檛 whether AI will replace jobs; it鈥檚 whether we will shape a future where talent, technology and curiosity work together to create something better.

Imperial spinout Nanomox has raised 拢2.4m to produce high-performance materials and recover metals from waste sources.

Founded by Francisco Malaret and Jason Hallett in 2020 and based on the former’s PhD research, it has built a process – based on ionic liquid chemistry – to听create finely tuned metal oxide particles with exceptional control over crystallinity, shape and size.

These are traits critical for performance in UV protection, electronics and catalytic applications.

The seed funding is a mixture of equity and grants. Led by TSP Ventures and Boast Trading LLC, with participation from Imperial College Enterprise Fund 3, SN脴CAP VC, the Circular Innovation Fund, EIT RawMaterials and several UK angels, it听includes backing from the Innovate UK Investor Partnership programme.

Nanomox says it will establish Catalyst 1, its first commercial pilot plant and R&D facility, to scale production to tonnes per month and begin supplying cosmetic industry partners.

xWatts has raised 拢1.6m seed funding to slash non-domestic energy waste.

The London startup is described as an intelligent energy management platform and has tripled revenues over each of the past two years.

xWatts focuses on complex estates with heavy energy loads, such as healthcare, universities and industry. It connects directly to on-site energy systems and builds real-time digital models of each facility and automatically adjusts assets.

The funding was led by Cambridge Enterprise Ventures alongside Cambridge Angels, Parkwalk and R42. It will be used to expand around Europe.

LHV Bank returned 99% growth in deposits and 136% in loans, recording a profit after tax of 拢5m and a 5% return on equity in its 2025 annual financial results.

The bank recorded 拢1.1bn in customer deposits and 拢0.7bn in lending, marking a strong year of growth in its second full year since launch across both retail and business services.

In 2025 it launched the UK鈥檚 first current account into the market since 2021 with a commitment to track and match Bank of England base rate.

The account offers travel-friendly, fee-free debit cards with competitive exchange rates on spending abroad and a full range of payment options. On the retail side, direct and platform customer numbers rose to over 30,000.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

BT Group has announced leadership succession within Openreach and BT International.

The telecoms giant says BT International CEO Bas Burger has decided the time is right for him to leave BT after 18 years of service, including nine years on the executive committee.

He will be replaced on 1st April by Clive Selley, currently CEO of BT鈥檚 wholly-owned fibre and cable installer unit Openreach.

Katie Milligan, currently deputy CEO of Openreach, will become CEO.

Primorus Investments plc has changed its CEO.

Matthew Beardmore has transitioned to a non-executive director role with immediate effect.

Hedley Clark has transitioned from NED to executive director.

Tekcapital Plc, an intellectual property investment group, has conditionally raised 拢1.5 million via a share placing.

The placing proceeds will strengthen the company’s balance sheet and support the continued execution of its investment strategy across both existing and new portfolio companies, with a particular emphasis on opportunities in generative artificial intelligence.

A Manchester entrepreneur has been reflecting on her remarkable achievement of running 100 marathons in 100 days across South East Asia.

41-year-old Hannah Cox is the founder Better 老九品茶 Network and the Better 老九品茶 Summit.

Although not a professional athlete she embarked on a 4,200km run across India by following a forgotten colonial boundary called the Inland Customs Line in India.

Her journey 鈥� known as – was inspired by her late father, Deric Cox, who was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata) before moving to the UK in 1953.

Fittingly, she reached her destination by arriving in her father鈥檚 childhood home in Kolkata, on the India Bangladesh border.

Cox鈥檚 incredible exploits have raised more than 拢85,00 for her chosen four charities – 1% for the Planet, Frank Water, ClientEarth, and Big Change.

 

Fractile is to invest 拢100m to scale production of AI chips.

The London chipmaker will invest the money over the next three years to build a hardware engineering facility in Bristol and testing lab for software.

The government said it will support work on next-generation systems designed to run advanced artificial intelligence models faster than current hardware.

It added that it will assemble Fractile’s chips into full AI systems.

Eleco Plc has acquired Kivue, a provider of project portfolio management software and associated services, for an enterprise value basis of 拢2.3m – 拢1.84m cash and 拢460,000 of equity.

Eleco is an AIM-listed specialist software provider for the built environment.

Reading-based Kivue’s Perform platform provides immediate and automated, visual portfolio insights, governance, risks and portfolio performance for project teams and enterprise-level executives.听 听听

Primarily focused on the private sector with some public sector clients, notable customers include London City Airport, Aon, Bentley, Virgin Atlantic and The Government of Jersey.

Its most recent annual results showed 拢1.5m in revenue and adjusted EBITDA of 拢200,000.

Listed Nottingham-based eCommerce business Huddled Group plc has raised 拢740,000 via a share placing and retail share sale.

Huddled Group buys surplus stock from manufacturers and retailers before selling it online at a fraction of the usual price through its brands DiscountDragon, Nutricircle and BOOP Beauty.

It claims to have saved millions of items from being unnecessarily wasted, while it has donated and distributed hundreds of thousands of items to food poverty charities in the UK.

The funds raised will be used will be used to further strengthen the group’s stock and working capital position across its various brands, as well as provide additional working capital to fund the expansion into new channels such as KwikSales and marketplaces such as Amazon and Temu.

4basebio PLC has appointed a CEO to take over from the founder of the BioTech.

The firm, which accelerates development of advanced therapy medicinal products through synthetic DNA products, said Dr Amy Walker will succeed Dr Heikki Lanckriet.

Dr Lanckriet has stepped down to lead a newly formed entity which will be focused on advancing the Hermes nanoparticle platform into the clinic. David Roth will join him and step down as CFO and as a director at 4basebio, following an orderly handover period.

Dr Walker has been with the company for more than five years, most recently serving as COO.

One of the most important figures in Greater Manchester鈥檚 digital sector is to leave his role this week.

After eight years at Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Phil Swan will be leaving his post as director of digital on February 13^th.

He鈥檒l be taking up a new position at Government Digital Service (GDS) as the director with responsibility for GDS Local, service standards, inclusive digital design, and pan鈥慓overnment digital capability.

GDS local is a new unit within the Government Digital Service (GDS) that brings central and local government together to deliver the ambitions set out in the blueprint for a modern digital government.

Swan said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a real privilege to lead digital services at GMCA and help shape and deliver on the Greater Manchester Digital Blueprint. I鈥檓 hugely proud of what we鈥檝e achieved, but even more proud of the collaborative, can鈥慸o way Greater Manchester works. It鈥檚 a special place.”

Author: Jonathan Symcox

The founder of says the Leeds tech firm is to enter a 鈥榤ajor scaling phase鈥� in 2026.

Achille Traore is CEO of the company which featured in second spot on our MarTech 50 last year and is plotting further international expansion after successful launches in the United States and Middle East.

鈥淲e鈥檝e continued to add high-profile clients over the past year, including several global brands,鈥� Traore tells 老九品茶Cloud. 鈥淭wo major programmes are launching this quarter, reinforcing our growing international footprint.

鈥淲e鈥檝e expanded into new markets, particularly the US and Saudi Arabia, while supporting clients such as Kitopi with international expansion initiatives from Dubai.听

鈥淭his momentum reflects both the scalability of our platform and the increasing global demand for more effective loyalty solutions.鈥�

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Plus500鈥檚 share price has hit an all-time high after it reported a rise in annual revenue and profits this morning.

The FinTech group, which floated in 2013, saw shares fly past 4,850 pence after a 7% uplift in value today.

FTSE 250 firm Plus500, headquartered in Israel and listed in London, operates technology-based trading platforms. It has delivered a total shareholder return of more than 8,000% since its London IPO, the most of any company.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

NatWest Group has lost 7.5% off its share price today after announcing a 拢2.7 billion swoop for wealth management firm Evelyn Partners.

The deal sees an exit for British private equity giant Permira and US peer Warburg Pincus.

NatWest said the transaction creates the UK’s leading private banking and wealth management business and will transform its savings and investment offering for its 20 million customers.听

It also announced a share buyback of 拢750m to return capital to shareholders.

However its shares dropped following the announcements. They are听 valued at 610.5 pence at the time of writing (3.15pm).

NatWest’s share price remains up by almost 40% over the last 12 months.