Prepare for the unforgettable. Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), the world-renowned annual tech show for the audiovisual and systems integration industry, is back – and registration for ISE 2026 is officially open.
In today’s digital landscape, British consumers are increasingly stepping back from constant connectivity, driven by content oversaturation, “attention fatigue” and a desire for more mindful experiences. World Mental Health Day offers a timely opportunity for individuals and brands to reflect the ways technology shapes our emotional health – and how more intentional visual storytelling can help spark meaningful conversations around it.
Businesses are built on vision, courage, pace, and a generous dose of grit. But that momentum can quickly give way to self-neglect. The tendency to push harder for the pay off. But businesses don’t benefit when founders are burnt out.
In the volatile world of entrepreneurship, mental resilience has quietly become a key performance indicator. Founders, investors, and teams have begun to realise that mental resilience is not just a wellness trend – it’s the infrastructure of sustainable growth.
On 10th October it is World Mental Health Day, a day to remember how deeply mental wellness shapes our lives, our communities, and our work.
This World Mental Health Day, I really want to reach out to the entrepreneurs, founders, and business builders out there. The ones chasing big visions while carrying invisible weight. The ones who know they’re capable of more but feel stuck, overwhelmed, or plagued by self-doubt. The ones who, on the outside, look successful, but inside are battling procrastination, imposter syndrome, or constant pressure to “do more.”
Over the last 20 years, I’ve worked with a wide range of young people and businesses and it’s clear that there’s a hang up around the word networking and what that means. There’s a belief that it’s having to sell, or awkwardly exchange business cards, and that it’s an ‘old fashioned’ way of doing business. Yet when I worked at Professional Liverpool on LeadHere, for those in the earlier stages of a business or career, I saw how a simple introduction could super-charge the career of a younger person.
Sitehop, the startup building UK sovereign encryption to future-proof networks against quantum-powered cyber attacks, has raised an additional £7.5 million led by Northern Gritstone, bringing the total raised to £13.5 million.
More than 170 small business founders gathered at Hyde Park Corner to take part in a founders’ ‘walk and talk’ event during Mental Health Awareness Week in May earlier this year. Organised by the not-for-profit, Virgin StartUp in collaboration with mental health service Self Space, the event encouraged business owners to take a break from their busy lives and tap into start-up support and connect with their peers.
Financial wellbeing is now the top priority for employees, with new data showing stability, security, and fair rewards matter more than ever.
Clustermarket, the lab equipment scheduling platform, has announced it is rebranding to Calira and welcoming non-executive director and investor Edmund Wilson, co-founder and former CEO of Titian Software (now Cenevo), to capitalise on increasing enterprise demand for optimising lab operations.
Attention.inc, the startup developing a desktop-native AI assistant that continuously learns from real workflows, has announced an uncapped $1.25 million pre-seed raise.
In our go faster, achieve more with the same or fewer resources world, pressure is both inescapable and a force that can manifest in various forms. The workplace in particular is a common place to feel the weight of mounting responsibilities and demands, with sources as wide ranging as shifting priorities, a sense of too much to do in too little time, lack of information or resources, and rapid change.
As a PR and Communications Expert, I’ve always known that words hold power – they can inspire, connect, persuade, and transform… but, they can also limit, diminish and belittle us if we’re not careful.
The evidence shows that small business owners are disproportionately affected by mental health issues compared to the wider population. Largely driven by the stresses of owning and operating a business, SME owners are susceptible to a range of mental health problems.
There’s an old saying in engineering circles: “automation gives you speed, but agency gives you freedom.” In the twenty years I’ve spent building systems – from personalising e-commerce at Jio to designing AI-assisted cancer diagnostics at Zedsen, and most recently crafting an AI-driven ERP in Europe – I’ve seen organisations climb the ladder from digitisation to automation. But something new is stirring. We are on the cusp of a new organisational form: the agentic organisation, where multi-agent AI systems don’t just support teams – they become active members of them.
EQONIC Group has announced its battery technology that addresses the three critical challenges facing energy storage: cost, safety, and sustainability.
Dragonfly has announced the close of a £2.6 million pre-seed round alongside the public launch of its conversational AI tool. Founded in December 2024 by Zego alumni Sean King and Sven Sabas, the round was led by Episode 1, joined by Dreamcraft and Portfolio Ventures, with angel investors including QuantumBlack founder and CTO Sam Bourton, and Bolt founder and CEO Markus Villig.
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has revealed plans to launch the first IP-backed loans for high growth businesses in Scotland – allowing them to access vital funding using the value of their Intellectual Property as collateral, instead of traditional physical assets.
Cyberwave, the startup building the operating layer between AI agents and real-world machines, has secured a €7 million funding round led by United Ventures with participation from The TechShop.
