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London based startup Reactwise has secured $3.4m (£2.6m) in pre-seed funding, including a highly competitive Innovate UK grant, for its approach to AI-driven drug development. The round was backed by Y Combinator, the UK government, and venture capitalists and angel investors.
The pharmaceutical industry faces a major bottleneck in drug development, with many months lost in the identification of scalable manufacturing processes. "The drug development pipeline is often driven by trial-and-error," says Alexander Pomberger, CEO and Co-Founder of Reactwise. "Our AI-powered models learn from historical data, cutting up to 95% of experimental work and accelerating these workflows by 30 times."
Since graduating from Y Combinator’s summer 2024 batch, Reactwise has launched an improved version of its software and is currently running 12 pilot studies with some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. The company has also leveraged its robotic laboratory to screen thousands of chemical reactions, building proprietary reactivity models that underpin its technology. By integrating with automated lab infrastructure and electronic lab notebooks, Reactwise is positioning itself as the intelligence layer for next-generation pharmaceutical R&D.
Reactwise’s AI-driven platform enables chemists to input a drug molecule and receive a fully optimised, scalable manufacturing process, executed autonomously in a self-driving laboratory. The technology not only accelerates drug manufacturing but also improves sustainability by reducing chemical waste, energy consumption, and raw material costs. All data is also hosted in secure multi-tenancy AWS databases, with the option of on-prem deployment. With growing pressures on the pharmaceutical industry to innovate faster and reduce costs, AI-driven solutions like Reactwise are becoming essential, transforming how chemical reactions are optimised and executed and making the process more sustainable and resource-efficient.
Posted by: Simon Baxter at 09:38
Tags: pharmatech
Cambridge HQ’d productivity software provider, GetBusy plc’s hopes that its “more modest” H124 top line performance would be followed by a much stronger end to the year proved overly optimistic. In line with the company’s January trading update, turnover for the twelve months ended 31st December hit £21.45m. The increase in this metric of just 3% yoy at constant currency was well short of the c. 8.4% anticipated last September. Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) grew more rapidly, up 6% yoy to £21.59m.
There was better news to be found on GetBusy’s bottom line with the company recording its first year of breakeven adjusted profit (FY23: -£629k). This improved was driven by a c. £1m yoy reduction in operating costs. Net cash at year end was down 55% from 31st December 2023 reflecting the impacts of the firm’s SmartPath acquisition last April, the settlement of historic US sales tax liabilities, and increased working capital. GetBusy’s available cash funds at the end of the period were £3.1m, which have been boosted by an additional £1m added to its debt facility since the start of FY25.
The company provides document and task management software for the professional and financial services markets with c.70% of sales derived from the accountancy sector. The company’s portfolio of offerings comprises three brands: SmartVault, Virtual Cabinet and Workiro. Sales of the first of these, which serves the US market, progressed well during FY24 with ARR increasing by 10% yoy. The impact of this uptick on the global top line was, however, tempered by flat/declining sales the other two products which are focused on the UK and Australia & New Zealand territories.
GetBusy reports a strong start to new fiscal with the upward trajectory in H224 ARR anticipated to continue through the current year. The company has also confirmed market expectations for FY25 revenue growth of c.11% yoy to £24m. Investors, however, appear largely unmoved by the software provider’s latest assessment of its prospects. At the time of writing GetBusy’s share price was up by just 1.3% on yesterday’s close to leave the company’s value down by almost a third from its high point last summer.
Posted by: Duncan Aitchison at 09:18
Tags: results documentmanagement sofftware
A lot has happened since we last took a look at the Personal Group some twelve months ago (see Personal Group’s year of change). This morning’s results outline a solid financial performance for FY2024, with double-digit growth across all divisions amid significant operational streamlining. The workforce benefits and health insurance provider reported a 13% increase in revenue to £43.8m and a 29% jump in adjusted EBITDA to £10m from continuing operations.
The company looks like it is benefiting from having delivered its simplification strategy through the disposal of Let's Connect (the company’s technology salary sacrifice business which had had a tough 2023), enabling greater focus on recurring revenue streams which now represent 92% of total group revenue. This strategic shift has also strengthened the balance sheet, with cash and bank deposits increasing to £27.4m with no debt.
Insurance continues to be the standout performer, with annualised insurance sales up 18% to £13.9m and Annualised Premium Income increasing 14% to £36m. The company's traditional face-to-face sales model and high customer retention rates (over 80%) have driven this growth. The Benefits division also showed healthy progress with ARR up 10% to £6.7m, supported by the migration of customers to the second-generation Hapi 2.0 platform.
Management has articulated a growth strategy cantered around four pillars: Expansion, Innovation, Adoption and Partnering. The company has bolstered its executive team with strategic hires including a Chief Operations Officer, Chief Sales Officer, and Chief Commercial Officer to deliver on these initiatives.
The 41% increase in full-year dividend to 16.5p per share signals management's confidence in the business outlook. With a target of £100m in revenue and £30m in EBITDA by 2030, Personal Group looks in better shape with its streamlined structure and recurring revenue model.
Posted by: Marc Hardwick at 09:08
Tags: results insurance
Last week the NCSC published a report outlining a timeline by which organisations must migrate safely to post-quantum cryptography (PQC), as the development of more capable quantum computers raises the risk that such machines will soon crack traditional encryption measures.
The threat to cryptography from future large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers is now well understood. Quantum computers will be able to efficiently solve the hard mathematical problems that asymmetric public key cryptography (PKC) relies on to protect our networks today. However, the national migration to post-quantum cryptography (PQC), mitigating the threat from future quantum computers, is a mass technology change that will take a number of years. To provide a more practical roadmap, the NCSC has outlined three key milestones for organisations:
By 2028: Define migration goals, carry out a full discovery exercise (to understand which services and infrastructure that depend on cryptography need to be upgraded) and build an initial plan for migration.
By 2031: Carry out your early, highest-priority PQC migration activities, and refine the plan to create a thorough roadmap for completing migration.
By 2035: Complete migration to PQC of all systems, services and products.
Although the core timelines the NCSC outlines are relevant to all organisations, this guidance is primarily aimed at technical decision-makers and risk owners of large organisations, operators of critical national infrastructure systems including industrial control systems, and companies that have bespoke IT. Different sectors will have different current states of cryptographic maturity, but the underlying message is that for those organisations most at risk they need to start preparing now so that such programmes are underway in the next 3 years.
It is worth noting that most of the work needed to prepare for and deliver a successful migration involves activities that are central to good cyber security practice. The NCSC recommends organisations should use PQC migration as an opportunity to build broader cyber resilience into their systems.
In our conversations with IT suppliers, the cybersecurity risk from quantum computers has regularly been cited as one of the main conversational drivers around quantum computing. Despite the fairly lengthy timelines to complete such migration activities, especially compared say AI adoption, the higher complexity for PQC combined with uncertainty surrounding how quickly the progression of quantum machines will be, is already driving many organisations to take action. We highlighted this driver in our report last year looking at the progression of quantum technologies and the suppliers seeking to take advantage of the opportunity. TechMarketView subscribers can read the report here: Quantum acceleration is on the horizon
Posted by: Simon Baxter at 09:43
Team Internet's FY2024 results (badged as a trading update to allow sufficient time for the company’s auditor PWC to complete its audit) reveal a company in transition, with a -4.1% decline in gross revenue to $802.8m and adjusted EBITDA down -4.7% to $91.9m. A steep -82.1% drop in operating profit to $8.2m stems primarily from $36m in impairment charges related to its Shinez I.O. subsidiary.
Despite these headline figures, several indicators suggest underlying resilience. The company delivered record operating cash flow of $99.1m with improved cash conversion at 108%, while maintaining decent gross margins at 23.4%. Management's decision to suspend the final dividend signals a prioritisation of deleveraging over short-term shareholder returns.
Performance by segment tells a transformation story. While Search revenue declined -11.1%, both the domain name management, identity and software solutions (DIS segment) and high-growth digital advertising (Comparison) segments demonstrated growth trajectories – up 7.4% and 42.5% respectively. These growth segments now contribute 51.2% of net revenue, up from 43.9% in FY2023, representing an important step in portfolio diversification.
The company's strategic reset in Search appears to be a calculated acceleration of an inevitable pivot rather than a reactive measure. Management's projection of a return to double-digit EBITDA growth by 2026 hinges on AI-driven efficiencies and the continued expansion of higher-growth segments.
Shares remain some c.-48% down on where they were six months ago. For investors, the key question remains whether Team Internet can successfully navigate this transition period while maintaining cash generation as it reshapes its business model for sustainable growth in a rapidly evolving digital marketplace.
Posted by: Marc Hardwick at 09:11
Tags: results domain+services
At last week’s NTT DATA Inc Executive update for industry analysts, CEO Abhijit Dubey returned several times to the theme of an Agentic AI future even speculating the potential need for companies to hire a Chief Agent Officer. With an eye firmly on the potential of Agentic AI NTT DATA has launched Agentic AI Services for Hyperscaler AI Technologies as it looks to capitalise on the rapidly expanding enterprise AI market.
NTT DATA’s offering looks to addresses a market need for enterprise-grade, scalable AI agent solutions that bridge the gap between hyperscaler platforms and practical business implementation. By focusing initially on Microsoft's ecosystem, NTT DATA is looking to build on its established position as a top Microsoft Cloud Voice partner.
The service is designed to stand out via a broad approach spanning advisory, implementation, management, and connectivity services. This positions NTT DATA as both a systems integrator and managed service provider - a dual role essential for complex AI deployments. The integration with their recently announced Smart AI Agent platform promises to address the full lifecycle of AI agent development and management. The timing fits with enterprise technology trends with back-office optimisation emerging as a priority use case for 2025 (see our research AI Impact: Back Office Operations).
While the immediate focus remains on Microsoft technologies, the architecture appears designed for multi-hyperscaler support. This suggests a roadmap that hedges against platform-specific limitations while maximising NTT DATA's potential addressable market in what promises to be a highly competitive space for AI agent management services.
Posted by: Marc Hardwick at 08:37
Tags: IT+services
NatWest has signed a major new deal with artificial intelligence pioneer, OpenAI, to help further enhance the UK bank's customer support processes via the application of AI. As a result of the deal, NatWest will be able to utilise the full suite of OpenAI applications alongside its technology advisory services and will also gain early access to the vendor's emerging product pipeline.
Like many large UK financial services organisations, NatWest has been using AI for some time but believes that making greater use of the technology is key to its ability to improve many of its operational processes. The bank has indicated that it also hopes that the application of AI-based automation will enable it to better combat fraud whilst simultaneously reducing its overall cost-base.
NatWest has indicated that it currently has around 275 AI projects in the pipeline and aims to leverage OpenAI to enhance its IBM-developed customer-facing chatbot, Cora, as well as its internal virtual assistant, AskArchie (see: NatWest and IBM enhance CX with GenAI). NatWest believes that making greater use of AI to support its digital assistants will facilitate the provision of more effective self-service options for customers exploring their personal financial choices. For its part, IBM was the original developer of many of the chatbots and virtual assistants used by the major UK banks. The application of GenAI technology is the latest step in expanding the capabilities of these tools.
Data from UK Finance indicates that, in the first half of 2024 alone, payments fraud in the UK accounted for more than £570m, with criminals employing ever more innovative methods to trick customers. Currently, most bank customers report suspected fraud by phone, but NatWest is hoping that going forward, GenAI will streamline and accelerate this key link in the chain against financial crime. By streamlining the process of reporting suspected fraud using Cora, NatWest aims to secure vulnerable accounts faster and free up call handlers to deal with other customer needs.
Posted by: Jon C Davies at 09:33
Tags: banking
How do you feel the UK tech scene is performing?
TechMarketView wants to hear again from UKHotViews readers about how you view the current state of the UK tech scene.
Last September, TechMarketView launched the results of its inaugural Tech Confidence Index (TCI) (Autumn 2024 edition), a six-monthly survey acting as a bellwether for the state and prospects of the UK tech sector. This first edition of TCI included the results from more than 250 business leaders serving all major Software & IT Services (SITS) sectors and end user industries.
Earlier this month, we commenced the second edition of the TCI survey (Spring 2025 edition) continuing to track the confidence of the UK tech scene to help both SITS suppliers and end users understand market sentiment whilst planning and preparing for the period ahead. The report is also available to download to all who are interested without the need to have a TechMarketView subscription in place.
One of TechMarketView’s biggest strengths remains our ‘community’ of more than 20,000 technology industry professionals who read the daily UKHotViews newsletter. In the past, we have gauged opinions via our extensive conversations with CXOs within the industry. However, we would like to make sure we are casting the net wider and ‘taking the temperature’ of the UK tech market in a more consistent way, enabling us to monitor changes over time. As such, we would really appreciate your input by clicking on the link below and sharing your opinion with us.
Please share a few minutes of your time, as the quality of the data will depend on the number and variety of the responses we gather.
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE SHORT SURVEY
Posted by: Marc Hardwick at 08:50
The UK Building Society sector has proved a happy hunting ground for TCS in recent years and where its BaNCS suite of products have become a platform of choice among lenders.
TCS has a strong track record of signing up top UK Financial Services providers across all segments of the market, ranking first in our recently published ‘Top 20 ranking’ of UK Financial Services SITS (download a copy here). TCS, has real heritage within the Building Society sector and a great deal of experience of working with societies, and this forms a core part of its financial services business in the UK. Over the years TCS has built up considerable domain expertise and retains a number of long-established relationships such as with the likes of Nationwide, The Coventry Building Society and Mansfield Building Society.
TCS's newly announced partnership with Cumberland Building Society represents another good win in the UK building society sector's digital transformation journey. By implementing TCS BaNCS for Core Banking alongside Digital Home Lending and Quartz for Compliance solutions, Cumberland aims to modernise its infrastructure while maintaining a customer-centric ethos.
This deal is part of the broader industry trend of building societies embracing digital transformation to remain competitive. With £3.2bn in assets under management, Cumberland's decision to overhaul its core systems demonstrates how mid-sized financial institutions are increasingly prioritising technological resilience.
Posted by: Marc Hardwick at 08:33
Tags: contract banking Digital transformation
Building on the increasing momentum evident in its prior two quarters (see here), Accenture chalked up a top end of guidance revenue performance in Q225. Company turnover for the three months ended 28th February increased by 8.5% at constant currency to $16.66bn. GAAP operating margin of 13.5% for the period was down 20 bps against the adjusted Q224 number.
A sequential increase of c.17% in Gen AI related bookings to $1.4bn did not lift the total value of customer contracts signed in the second quarter. This metric was down 3% yoy (flat at constant currnecy) to $20.91bn. As we noted in our recent UK SITS Market Outlook Update (see here), success in the Gen AI services arena is, for now at least, coming largely at the expense of sales of more traditional lines of business.
For the second quarter in a row, all of the Accenture’s industry and geographic markets reported yoy rises in turnover. From a vertical sector perspective, the best performances for the period came from the Financial Services and Health & Public Service divisions. Q225 revenues in these units increased by 12% and 10% respectively compared to the same period in the prior FY.
The Americas again proved the most resilient of Accenture’s regions with the pace of yoy expansion in this country grouping maintaining a double-digit growth rate through the first half on the financial year. Closer to home, the company’s EMEA territory gathered further momentum to post an 8% yoy improvement in Q2 sales (Q125: 6%).
Looking ahead, Accenture raised the bottom end of full year revenue constant currency growth guidance to 5%-7% from the 4%-7% provided in December. Operating margin for FY25 is expected to improve by between 10-20 bps over the prior year’s adjusted figure to between 15.6%-15.7%.
The broadly solid set of Q2 numbers did not prevent Accenture’s share price taking a 7% hit in trading following the announcement. The potential impact US Government cuts to consulting expenditure on the company’s Federal Services unit, which in FY24 generated around 8% of firm-wide revenue but was reported to be facing a slowdown, has worried investors.
Posted by: Duncan Aitchison at 17:46
Tags: results IT+services
AI medical imaging SME Brainomix has raised £14m in a Series C investment round led by existing investors Parkwalk Advisors and the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF) and new investor Hostplus (via the IP Group Hostplus Innovation Fund). The round was also supported by LifeSci Capital.
The University of Oxford spinout was founded in 2010, raising £1.2m in 2014, £1.5m in 2016, £7m in 2018, and £16m in 2021. It initially focused on the application of AI to provide real-time interpretation of brain scans to help guide treatment and transfer decisions for stroke patients. Since then, it has expanded beyond stroke into new therapeutic indications, including for lung fibrosis and cancer.
Brainomix now operates in more than 20 countries globally. Its Brainomix 360 Stroke platform, which automates validated imaging biomarkers to improve both diagnosis and treatment decisions, is used extensively in the NHS. It is also expanding in the USA, where it has secured ten US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearances and entered a strategic partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim to improve the care of patients with fibrosing lung disease.
The new investment will enable the company to accelerate growth in the USA, support the expansion of its portfolio of AI-powered technology into new areas, and expand its Oxford-based operations and global commercial team.
AI has the potential to transform NHS patient care and its use in stroke diagnosis is well established. As part of a national optimal stroke imaging pathway, NHS England implemented a rapid national rollout of AI to stroke services. Last year it was announced that every stroke centre in England (107 sites in total) is now utilising the technology.
The new funding and the UK government’s ‘major tilt towards technology’ in the NHS, coupled with Brainomix’s experience of improving stroke diagnosis and treatment, should provide the company with plenty of opportunity for growth.
Posted by: Dale Peters at 09:39
Tags: nhs funding startup investment AI healthcare healthtech diagnosis
NTT DATA UK&I has published its latest perspectives on the Banking sector, highlighting a number of the forces that are set to influence future prospects. NTT’s Banking Trends 2025: Key Shifts and Strategies for the Future highlighted three particular dynamics that are impacting the UK market: the pursuit of resilience; tackling financial exclusion; and the potential of GenAI technologies.
With cyber risks increasing and UK banks the subject of ever greater public scrutiny, NTT’s CTO, for Banking and Financial Markets UK, Sumant Kumar, commented “banks must embed resilience and security at the heart of their systems and services.” Kumar went on to underline that GenAI would have a key role to play in helping banks to improve resilience and security, highlighting that 53% of banks regard GenAI as a highly effective tool in this area. He stated that “NTT DATA is enthusiastic about AI technologies, but we are utterly committed to deploying them ethically, safely, and in ways that protect both our clients and the wider public."
In publishing its latest perspectives on the major Banking trends, NTT Data stressed that, “a commitment to financial inclusion and a more affluent, harmonious society” is at the heart of the company’s core values. In this regard, better personalisation and an improved UX can help tailor services, products and advice around the needs of those who might otherwise be financially excluded. Meanwhile, data analytics can provide investors, financial service providers, and their clients with insights that support environmental, social and governance goals.
NTT DATA’s perspectives emphasise just how quickly AI adoption is increasing amongst UK Financial Services organisations and confirms our own analysis that, many within the sector are looking to significantly accelerate their use of this technology. To this end, there is something of a sense of urgency around GenAI in particular as organisations pursue early mover advantage in an effort to avoid falling behind their competitors (see: AI in Financial Services – Where the Rubber Hits the Road).
Posted by: Jon C Davies at 09:38
Made Tech has secured a new contract with the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) to enhance the department's data platform and analytical capabilities. This win builds on a four-year partnership and aligns with Made Tech's strategic focus on driving better decisions through data and automation (see TechMarketView Market Readiness Index 2022 | TechMarketView).
The contract will see Made Tech supporting DBT's CRM adoption and improving data quality to generate richer insights for trade policy development. This builds on previous work where Made Tech conducted a comprehensive review of DBT's self-built Data Hub CRM system, that provides the department with a single view of companies they work with and supports UK businesses seeking new export markets.
In that earlier engagement, Made Tech delivered strategic and economic analysis, comparing options including maintaining the existing Data Hub, transitioning to commercial platforms like Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics, or developing a hybrid approach. This work culminated in a detailed report presented to DBT's executive committee that set out options to improve user experiences.
Skills development is another key component of the latest contract, with Made Tech delivering knowledge-sharing initiatives to ensure DBT teams maximise value from their data investments. This approach aligns with Made Tech's strategic mission of enabling technology skills within the public sector.
The win follows Made Tech's impressive H1 FY25 performance, where sales bookings more than tripled to £42.0m compared to £12.6m in H1 FY24 (see Made Tech H1: Building momentum and strengthening leadership | TechMarketView). The company's contracted backlog has grown 44% to £80.8m, providing strong revenue visibility.
For DBT, which supported £862 billion in UK exports last year, the enhanced data capabilities will strengthen its ability to identify opportunities for UK businesses internationally and attract global investment – critical priorities in a post-Brexit economic landscape.
The contract strengthens Made Tech’s position in the public sector technology market. Data infrastructure and platforms represent a promising growth area as government departments increasingly prioritise data-driven decision-making.
Posted by: Georgina O'Toole at 09:27
Tags: crm data public+sector central+government contract award
In the last two days, three global IT services heavyweights have announced new vertical industry focused, agentic AI-centric, NVIDIA-powered initiatives. The latest moves by Accenture, Capgemini and Wipro all seek to target the burgeoning demand for reasoning AI.
Accenture is expanding its AI Refinery (see here) with a new AI agent builder designed to allow business users to quickly construct and customise advanced reasoning AI agents without coding. The company is developing over 50 industry-specific AI agent solutions with a goal of 100 by the end of the year. Built using NVIDIA AI Enterprise, these offerings will cover industries including telecommunications, financial services and insurance.
Capgemini is to introduce customised agentic solutions to meet the diverse needs of specific industries ranging from healthcare and financial services to manufacturing and telco. By leveraging NVIDIA NIM and a dedicated agentic gallery, Capgemini aims to streamline deployment and reduce complexity to deliver faster time-to-value and agile implementation of AI agents for enterprise clients. Together with NVIDIA, Capgemini is building over 100 bespoke AI agent-driven solutions tailored to various industry use cases.
Focused on developing and implementing country specific solutions to enhance citizen experiences, Wipro has launched Sovereign AI. This comprises new agentic AI services which leverage Wipro Enterprise GenAI (WeGA) Studio and NVIDIA AI Enterprise software to deliver a wide range of applications across Banking & Financial services, Emergency services, Healthcare services and Education services. The solutions will enable the unlocking of customised large language models (LLM) for local languages, starting with Thai and expanding to other languages in India and South Asian countries, including Arabic that can deliver more accurate and culturally relevant AI interactions.
This latest clutch of announcements is further proof, if proof were needed, that market emphasis is shifting towards Agentic AI. As we noted in our recent coverage of NVIDIA’s Q425 results (see here), the integration of advanced reasoning capabilities and autonomous decision making is redefining enterprise software. We are still only at the early stages of adoption, the acceleration of which will attract much of the service provider community’s energies in the months ahead.
Posted by: Duncan Aitchison at 08:58
Tags: AI IT+services AgenticAI
Posted by: HotViews Editor at 07:00
Europol has published its annual European Union Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (EU-SOCTA) report. It highlights the destabilising and corrosive influence criminal networks are having on society and how, driven by the exploitation of new technologies, the threat they pose is evolving at an unprecedented pace.
The report discusses how serious and organised crime is being nurtured in the online domain and is being driven by the convergence of profit-driven criminal networks and hybrid threat actors with geopolitical motives. The cybercrime landscape is a key area where the line between profit-orientation and ideological motivation is increasingly blurred. The alliance between these groups allows nation states to support persistent and cumulative small-scale acts of destabilisation (“the woodpecker modus operandi”), using criminal networks for deniability and political or economic gain.
The impact of online platforms on the process of trafficking in human beings and migrant smuggling is also examined. These tools are allowing criminal networks to identify and recruit victims, reach a wider customer base, manage communications and payment (including using cryptocurrencies), and avoid any physical contact with victims or clients. It is also helping to drive the expansion of financial crime, including investment fraud, digital asset theft, online fencing, and laundering.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is fundamentally reshaping the serious and organised crime landscape by acting as a catalyst for crime and by improving criminal efficiency. Criminal networks are increasingly turning towards Generative AI, which has dramatically reduced barriers to entry for digital crimes. The report details how AI is now being used to craft messages in multiple languages, more accurately target victims, create malware, produce synthetic media (e.g., voice cloning and deep fakes), and generate child sexual abuse material (CSAM), significantly increasing the volume of CSAM available online. The automation capability of AI has also transformed the efficiency of criminal networks (e.g., automated phishing attacks) helping to extend their reach and reduce resource and technical skill requirements.
AI will also help leverage more sophisticated and scalable cyber-attacks through attack automation, social engineering, vulnerabilities identification, and by-passing security solutions. The report also details how data theft will become even more prominent as the utilisation of AI in these attacks increases.
The report highlights how the threat landscape will continue to evolve, with developments in quantum computing, 3D printing, the metaverse, 6G, unmanned systems, and brain-computer interfaces. It calls for greater cooperation between law enforcement authorities (including improved data sharing), an enhanced focus on asset recovery, development of consistent regulations, and advanced detection tools.
Technology companies find themselves at the intersection of these evolving threats—as developers of the tools and services that can help counter the activities of criminal networks, creating the platforms that are being misused for criminal activities, and as a target of serious and organised crime themselves. The need for suppliers to collaborate with law enforcement agencies to counter the growing threat is clear, but it is a nuanced discussion that must balance robust security measures with privacy protections. As criminal networks increasingly leverage AI and emerging technologies, technology companies face the dual responsibility of preventing the misuse of their products whilst preserving legitimate functionality and user trust.
Posted by: Dale Peters at 10:05
Tags: police law+enforcement public+safety Europe cybercrime
All good things must come to an end.
I’ve told the story of the Holway Boring Awards many times. From the misquote in the FT in 1992 on Admiral’s results as me saying they were ‘Boring’ rather than ‘boringly consistent’ to giving the Award to companies like Triad Group Plc, Capita and Sage when they had achieved 10 years of uninterrupted EPS growth. All those companies lost their Award soon after their long serving CEOs stepped down.
But there was one Boring Award holder left – Computacenter. Not just 10 years but a quite exceptional 19 years of uninterrupted earning growth. Just like all the others, achieved under the leadership of a long serving CEO – Mike Norris.
But, however much I was prepared to bend the rules, it was pretty inevitable that Computacenter would suffer an earnings reversal in its FY24 accounts. See the, as usual, excellent writeup by Kate Hanaghan in yesterday’s HotViews.
Although Computacenter has lost its much-coveted Boring Award it has gained a new accolade. Their shares are up 11% yesterday making it a 22% rise YTD. That puts them atop the Leaderboard in the Holway Portfolio. So actually, Computacenter might be becoming rather exciting!
But all praise to Mike Norris and Computacenter. I doubt we will ever see a 19 year unbroken earnings record again. Indeed, at this rate, I doubt I will ever be able to give anyone a Boring Award again in my lifetime (well I am getting rather old now!).
Posted by: Richard Holway at 10:00
Another nice day for VAR shares with Softcat trading up almost 13% on the back of a strong performance and an upgraded outlook.
Gross Invoiced Income (GII – a key metric for resellers) was up 19.3% in the six months to end January 2025. Operating profit was up 12.1%. The firm achieved another record first half profit and is now expecting to deliver low double-digit operating profit growth in FY25 – up from high single-digit. Also encouraging is Softcat’s progress against its strategic goals of winning more new customers (+1.4% yoy) and selling more to the existing base.
Softcat puts its strong performance down to the breadth of what it can offer customers and its diverse customer base. This means that even when the broader UK economy is under pressure, this diversification can still support growth. That said, there was particularly strong investment from customers in the security, networking and data centre infrastructure segments.
Rather interestingly, Softcat indicates it is open to making acquisitions in the AI/data insights space to complement its organic investments to date. It could certainly justify it given its ongoing strong financial performance!
Yesterday, fellow UK VAR, Computacenter, also saw its shares pop on the back of positive performance news.
Posted by: Kate Hanaghan at 09:55
Tags: results
Cambridge-headquartered, AIM-listed geospatial software provider and data integrator 1Spatial has reported significant progress in its strategic transformation towards higher-margin recurring software revenue for the year ended 31st January 2025 (progress we reported on at the halfway point in the year – see 1Spatial gets its ducks in a row), despite facing challenges from delayed contracts.
In a trading update released today, the company stated that term licence and SaaS revenue jumped over 35% to £11.5m (FY24: £8.5m), exceeding expectations in software sales. Recurring revenue reached approximately £21.0m (representing 62% of total revenue, up from 56% in the previous year).
Overall group revenue grew modestly to £33.4m (FY24: £32.3m), impacted by a greater than expected decrease in services revenue, however (primarily attributed to delays in a large Belgian contract announced in February 2024, though delivery has now commenced).
Despite these headwinds, Adjusted EBITDA for FY25 is expected to be at least £5.6m (FY24: £5.5m), with the impact of lower services revenue offset by the improved business mix of higher-margin software revenues and cost reductions.
The company ended the year with net borrowings of £1.1m, compared to a net cash position of £1.1m a year earlier – primarily due to working capital expansion (expected to reverse in FY26), and a financial bond for the Belgian contract.
CEO Claire Milverton noted positive momentum for FY26, highlighting the company's (UK-focused) 1Streetworks SaaS solution – with a third significant contract expected to be announced in Q1 (following a number of trials with utilities, private sector contractors, and traffic management players during FY25 – see 1Spatial working to deliver on SaaS potential). With new sales resources and leadership in place, the board remains confident about future progress as 1Spatial continues its strategic evolution into a higher-margin software business.
Posted by: Craig Wentworth at 09:53
Tags: results geospatial trading update
Telematics and data insight provider, Trakm8’s hopes of a second half return to yoy top line growth have not materialised. In the trading update posted by the AIM-listed business this morning, the Board states that it now expects turnover for FY 2025 to be c.10% lower than that those reported for the financial year ended 31 March 2024, with a consequential impact on profitability.
Three months ago, the company was confident of improving revenue compared to the £16.1m generated in the prior FY (see here). The latest announcement implies that H225 sales will be down by some 18% yoy putting Trakm8 on course for a seven-figure loss for the second year in a row.
In its commentary on the H125 results published last December, the company reported that it had downgraded the full year forecast for its Insurance and Automotive business. This accounts for around a quarter of firm-wide revenue. There was optimism, however, that this shortfall would be offset by Trakm8’s larger Fleet and Optimisation arm. It was described as trading well with a strong pipeline of opportunities, including a significant route planning and optimisation software deal. The latest trading update states that the latter “will not now be forthcoming”.
It's been a tough couple of years for the Midlands-based business during which its annual revenue has declined by almost 30%. At the time of writing, Trakm8’s share price had fallen by a further c.16% in early trading following the latest announcement. This leaves the company worth just a quarter of it was at the end of March 2023. It is to be hoped that the company will be have better news to report on the outlook come the publication of its FY25 results in the summer.
Posted by: Duncan Aitchison at 09:02
Tags: software insurance telematics logistics trading update
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