News

Avenue HQ, a flexible workspace provider, has marked its fifth anniversary at St Paul’s Square. A major milestone celebrating half a decade of innovation and growth within the city’s booming business district. The anniversary was commemorated with a whole week of events, bringing together Avenue HQ’s community of current members, alumni and supporters from the local ecosystem.

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions into front-line healthcare services in the UK is set to grow exponentially over the next decade, providing opportunities for faster, more accurate diagnosis and treatment. However, risks exist and there are concerns around patient data management, according to an expert group in Leeds.

For yet another edition, Tourism Innovation Summit (TIS) has held the world’s largest entrepreneurship competition in the tourism industry. More than 400 startup companies have applied as candidates for the Touristech Startup Fest 2024, of which 40 have been the finalists and have presented their business models in front of investors in Travel Tech in Seville, Spain. This year, the international participation of entrepreneurs has grown with projects from countries such as Spain, Argentina, the United States, Slovakia, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Mexico, Bhutan and Italy.

HP commissioned a survey via YouGov, polling around 1,200 UK workers to understand what keeps them busy at work, and how often they’re able to take lunch breaks. It found that 2 in 5 (40%) surveyed never take an hour-long lunch break, and almost 1 in 3 (30%) would skip lunch to catch up on admin tasks such as compiling meeting notes and filling in time sheets.

Invoice finance company Stenn has released new findings highlighting that US SMBs are cash-strapped heading into the festive period, betting big on the holiday season to top up reserves that are running dry.

Entrepreneur, early-stage investor and philanthropist Dr Ewan Kirk has called on the Government to introduce a blanket 10-year visa for all STEM graduates in a move to boost entrepreneurship, drive growth, and encourage more of the world’s brightest and best to choose the UK for their graduate and post-graduate STEM education

Ahead of the Chancellor’s Budget announcement, the CIPD is calling on the government to increase apprenticeship opportunities for young people, encourage innovation, and improve labour market enforcement.

Showcasing cutting-edge technological solutions, LG NOVA, the North America Innovation Center of LG Electronics, has announced the winners of the 2024 Startup Pitch Competition, co-sponsored by LG Chem. This year’s event, held during LG NOVA’s annual InnoFest in San Francisco, featured standout startups focused on Life Sciences, Open Innovation, HealthTech, AI, Smart Life and CleanTech, with three companies recognised for their potential to drive impactful change.

On the 30th October, the long awaited Autumn Budget was delivered by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves.

Improved diagnosis and treatment for eye diseases affecting the sight of millions across the globe has taken a major step forward, after Bristol-based health technology startup Siloton became the first commercial organisation in the world to take a sub-surface image of a human retina using photonic chip technology.

myPlane, the online booking engine for commercial passenger charter flights, has reported soaring demand from airlines and travel buyers as it seeks to modernise the €100 billion commercial air charter market.

Space Forge, known for driving a new era in clean industry by advancing research, development, and production of high-performance materials in space, has announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Voyager Space. This agreement is setting the groundwork for collaboration between the companies, with a focus on expanding the possibilities for space-based research and manufacturing.

ekko and Market Harborough Building Society (MHBS) have joined forces to launch PlanetSaver in a first-of-its kind move for building societies and sustainability focused financial products.

Logical Biological, a provider of biological critical materials for diagnostics, therapeutic research, and IVD reagent manufacture, has settled into larger, upgraded laboratory space at Discovery Park, marking its third move within the science and innovation campus. This expansion reflects the company’s remarkable growth, which has seen a 170% increase in international trade over the past three years.

The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) welcomes back Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta, as a keynote speaker for CES 2025. On stage at Sphere, the next-generation entertainment medium that is redefining live experiences, Bastian will take the audience on an immersive journey highlighting Delta’s vision for using technology to enrich human experiences. This will mark the first CES keynote ever hosted at the groundbreaking venue.

Vertical Future, a UK-based Controlled-Environment-Agriculture technology company, has announced a range of Crop-Science-as-a-Service (“CSaaS”) services for different sector archetypes, including food, fodder, forestry, and pharmaceutical-based products.

‘In Motion’ will be the theme of South Summit Madrid 2025, the annual meeting for the global innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem, co-organised by IE University taking place from June 4 to 6, 2025 in Madrid. This slogan reflects a global movement connecting technology, the planet and humanity to drive entrepreneurial innovation.

Small Business Saturday UK is launching a major skills support programme, to help the nation’s 5.5 million small businesses recover and grow this winter after enduring a succession of challenges over recent years.

The world’s most prestigious AI summit, World Summit AI (WSAI), is making its highly anticipated debut in the MENA region. Organised by InspiredMinds, World Summit AI Qatar will be held at the Doha Exhibition & Convention Center (DECC) on December 10th and 11th, 2024, supported by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, State of Qatar.

Globally acclaimed digital analyst, author, and visionary Brian Solis will take the stage at ISE 2025 on Tuesday 4 February to present the Opening Keynote. Known for his profound insights into the intersection of technology, business, and culture, Solis will share his vision on how the pro AV and systems integration industry can change and innovate through the latest developments in AI.