While ambition and determination are key characteristics for becoming a business owner, tailoring your education to build skills, knowledge and potential networking opportunities is vital for prospective entrepreneurs. Each university has a unique reputation, whether that's based on prestige or academic success, but is there a university that produces more business owners than others?

Cloudways, the multi-cloud managed hosting platform and subsidiary of DigitalOcean, today launches its new Digital Agency Landscape Report exposing the obstacles preventing digital agencies from growing during times of uncertainty. Research conducted by Cloudways found that 40% of digital agencies prioritise growth above personal wellbeing, suggesting that digital agencies are neglecting the welfare of their employees in their pursuit of expansion. 

Gresham House Ventures, a growth equity investor specialising in software and digitally driven businesses in the technology, consumer, healthcare and services sectors, has completed a £3.5 million investment into product sustainability impact software business Dayrize.

As one of the biggest tech trends in the past decade, with millions of users in both the consumer and business sector, virtual reality (VR) has hit impressive shipment and revenue figures.

The Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA) has announced a landmark strategy to end digital poverty in the United Kingdom by 2030, setting out six core missions and calling on government, industry, and local communities to work together to achieve this aim.

Manchester’s status as “the fastest growing digital and tech hub in Europe” can only be maintained through relentless, collaborative ambition - according to Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and World Cup winner Matt Dawson. 

As the cost of living crisis continues, the UK-based Virtual Assistant firm SpareMyTime reveals that it is seeing increasing demand for its services and it has registered a 325% rise in growth since 2020. The company has also recorded a 74% increase in revenue since May 2022.

Climate technology startup Pledge has secured $10 million in Series A funding to drive its mission to help businesses reach net zero emissions, starting with the logistics and supply chain industry.

Elkstone, the Irish investment house, has announced that the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) has committed to anchor the final close of its €100 million Early-Stage Irish Venture Fund. With Enterprise Ireland also on board, the fund has already deployed over €10m to date and aims to complete its initial investments by 2026.

HiBob, the company behind Bob, the modern HR platform that powers productivity, engagement and retention, announces its Chief People Officer, Nirit Peled Muntz has been named to Mogul’s Top 100 list of People Leaders and CHROs. 

The latest Spotlight on Spinouts Report by the Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Hub has revealed rapidly growing spinout clusters outside the ‘golden triangle’ of Oxford, Cambridge and London – with the local authorities of Manchester and City of Bristol demonstrating the highest growth by proportion of spinout population.

Chris Todhunter, Technical Director at Studio Republic explains the importance of online accessibility: “Web accessibility should be seen in the same way as a high street shop without wheelchair access, or a cinema without a hearing loop - excluding a website user because of their disability has long been classed as discrimination in the USA and we're quite a way behind in the UK in terms of legislation. In fact, 97.4% of 1 million website home pages tested in a WebAIM 2023 study were found to have accessibility errors. The most common failures are actually pretty easy to fix.” 

Irwin Mitchell has recently conducted a nationally representative study into workplace behaviour. 

The Middle East’s leading event dedicated to the advancement of precision medicine in the region is set to welcome a distinguished line-up of healthcare leaders and experts from around the world later this month.

A new research report, Education for a World of Opportunity, reveals that over a third (36%) of British Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) decision makers believe that technology and innovation have created fewer opportunities for unskilled workers to “learn on the job” and progress to higher paid roles.

On Wednesday morning at Manchester Central, the former Director General of MI5 delivered a warning to an audience of technologists at DTX + UCX Manchester. 

Small businesses need to conquer their fears of cloud technology if they are to thrive in the next decade, experts have warned. Experts from HostingSystems.co.uk claim many small companies still remain wary of using cloud technology and perceive it as something new and untested.

The UK creative industries will get a 1 million job boost adding £50 billion in value to the sector by 2030, according to the culture minister.

EarSwitch has been awarded the UKRI Healthy Ageing Challenge Grant. The grant will enable EarSwitch to develop its EarMetrics product, initially for the UK’s diverse and ageing population. EarMetrics aims to provide an in-ear sensor for standard hearing aids to measure temperature, heart rate, pulse, and blood oxygen levels and a medical first: continuous blood pressure monitoring.

European businesses continue to miss out on the full potential of hybrid work, according to new analysis by Ricoh Europe.