Lowell Group, a debt collection company based in Leeds, is reportedly considering selling its Nordic business operations span Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. The potential sale, valued at up to €730 million (£610 million), is still in the early stages, and the final price may be lower.

Barclays is managing the auction process, and Lowell’s Nordic division was acquired from Intrum in 2018. The division includes balance sheet portfolios valued at €475 million (£400 million) and a third-party debt-servicing business.

Owned by private equity firm Permira and Canada’s OTPP pension fund, Lowell Group serves around 15 million customers across Europe. In its most recent financial year, the company reported cash earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation of £774 million.

A company specialising in Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions is expanding with investment from Finance Yorkshire. Entrepreneur Lucy Blackley launched Bombiix in Hull almost 10 years ago after a career in product development and the fashion industry. Using her experience, Lucy has built a PLM software solution which delivers a one-stop shop for brands and SMEs, helping them to develop and improve their product readiness for market while saving time and money. Bombiix’s customers specialise in the supply of consumer goods, operating in the UK, North America, Europe and China. The potential for growth is also being driven by new sustainability regulations which will require all products being sold in the EU to have Digital Product Passports. A £530,000 investment from Finance Yorkshire’s growth fund is supporting the business to market its PLM solution to new customers and recruit additional staff to its five-strong team at its base at the ergo business centre in Hessle, East Yorkshire. Lucy, who has previously worked for fashion giant Zalando, said: “Our solution takes brands and SMEs from concept and product development through to production and beyond. “It groups everything in one place and creates a single source of truth for the users’ product workflows and data, demonstrating transparency and sustainability. “We’ve added to our team in Yorkshire – we like to hire from within the region where there is so much talent.” Lucy added: “We were ready to grow when we approached Finance Yorkshire – the investment will help us capture more customers and strengthen our marketing campaign.” Bombiix already counts Smiffys, Rubies, Radley and Joanie Clothing amongst its clients. In September last year Neil Weaver, previously Global Supply Chain & IT Director at Cath Kidston, was appointed as CEO to Bombiix to help scale the business through this important period of growth. There is potential to grow the business in other sectors including food and drink. “My ambition is to become an adaptable PLM that can work for businesses across multiple product categories,” added Lucy. Finance Yorkshire CEO Alex McWhirter said: “Lucy’s knowledge and experience of PLMs has enabled her to build a solution which is fully focussed on the product. We are pleased to support her and the team at Bombiix to reach a wider client base in its established sectors as well as venturing into new markets.”

Wise, the UK-based fintech known for international money transfers, has forecast solid growth for its current financial year, driven by a sharp increase in customer numbers and revenue.

The company expects a 21% rise in active customers, reaching 15 million globally, and projects underlying income to grow by 16% to £1.4 billion. However, it anticipates a one percentage point decline in profit margin.

Wise is targeting underlying income growth of 15–20% for the 2026 financial year, with pre-tax profit margins expected to hit the higher end of its guidance range.

In its most recent quarterly update, cross-border transaction volumes climbed 24% year-on-year to £37.8 billion, while card and other revenue surged 39% due to greater product adoption.

To protect shareholders from dilution, Wise plans to reduce the share purchases by its Employee Benefit Trust, addressing legacy stock-based compensation equivalent to roughly 25 million shares.

The company has also reaffirmed its reclassification under the FCA’s overhauled UK listing regime, officially shifting to the Equity Shares Category as of July 2024.