Mid-Week Tech News Roundup – February 2nd to February 6th 2026
03 Feb, 20266 minutesPagabo Group appoints Matt Johnson as Senior Marketing ExecutivePagabo Group has appointed M...
Pagabo Group appoints Matt Johnson as Senior Marketing Executive
Pagabo Group has appointed Matt Johnson to the role of Senior Marketing Executive, marking a continued progression within the organisation’s marketing team.
Johnson steps into the new position following more than two years with Pagabo Group, most recently as Marketing Executive after joining the business in 2024. During his time with the group, he has worked across campaigns, events and brand activity, supporting Pagabo’s growing national profile from its headquarters in Hull.
The appointment comes as Pagabo Group continues to invest in its people and culture alongside business growth. The team was recently nominated for the Commitment to Health & Wellbeing Award at the HullBID Awards 2026, reflecting its focus on creating a supportive and positive working environment.
Pagabo Group operates across construction, healthcare, energy and waste, using technology and innovation to deliver faster, greener and more efficient operations. The group includes national procurement specialist Pagabo, contract management software provider Sypro, social value software and consultancy Loop, and asset risk management platform Risk Manager.
Led by Group CEO and co-founder Simon Toplass, Pagabo Group employs teams nationwide and holds a number of accreditations, including B Corp status, Living Wage Employer certification, Good Business Charter membership and HM Government G-Cloud supplier status.
Johnson’s promotion reflects Pagabo Group’s continued emphasis on developing internal talent as it scales its operations and expands the reach of its portfolio of technology-led solutions.
Lantum acquires Doctors Rostering System and launches InCheck
Lantum has acquired Doctors Rostering System from Skills for Health, relaunching the product as InCheck and strengthening its position in NHS workforce compliance and scheduling.
Doctors Rostering System has played a long-standing role in supporting NHS trusts with resident doctor pay calculations and contractual compliance, including reporting aligned to the Resident Doctor’s Ten Point Plan. Under Lantum, the platform has been modernised with new functionality such as automated compliance checks, real-time contractual validation, improved interoperability with NHS systems, and a refreshed user experience. A new app also enables clinician exception reporting.
InCheck integrates directly with Lantum’s AI rota generator, In Genius, allowing rotas to be built, validated for compliance, and prepared for payroll in a single, connected workflow. By removing manual steps, the combined tools aim to reduce administrative overhead while improving accuracy and transparency for workforce and finance teams.
Founded in 2012 as Network Locum, Lantum is a workforce management platform designed to make it easier for healthcare providers to mobilise their workforce and for clinicians to work more flexibly. Its Connected Scheduling platform brings together a staff bank, rota management, and a clinician network in one place, helping providers improve fill rates, cut admin time, and reduce costs.
The company was created after Melissa Morris, Lantum’s CEO, saw first-hand the impact staffing inefficiencies were having on patient care while working on the NHS London Transformation team. Lantum has since grown into a rapidly scaling healthtech business based in London, focused on tackling workforce challenges across healthcare through automation, AI and better-connected systems.
The acquisition and launch of InCheck also reflect a wider push toward digital transformation in the NHS workforce. As national workforce planning increasingly emphasises automation, interoperability and AI-enabled tools, platforms that connect rota creation, compliance and pay validation are becoming central to improving efficiency and sustainability across healthcare services.
DebtStream partners with Sirec to deliver AI-led, customer-first collections
DebtStream has partnered with SIREC, the AI-driven collections platform developed by atamira, to bring more adaptive, automated and customer-friendly collections journeys to market.
The partnership connects SIREC’s AI-led decisioning and orchestration with DebtStream’s digital self-service journeys, enabling organisations to manage the full collections lifecycle with greater intelligence and lower operational effort. The combined approach is designed to balance automation with empathy, giving customers clear, personalised digital routes to self-serve while ensuring next-best actions are selected intelligently behind the scenes.
SIREC provides autonomous decisioning across strategy, tone, channel selection and escalation, while DebtStream focuses on enabling 24/7 customer self-service through intuitive digital journeys. Together, the platforms aim to improve recovery outcomes, reduce manual intervention and create a more consistent experience for customers.
Antonio Bermudez Benito, Product Director at atamira, said the addition of DebtStream to the SIREC Marketplace enables next-generation collections powered by AI-driven decisioning, intelligent orchestration and seamless self-service.
Gareth Bailey, CEO and co-founder of DebtStream, said the partnership also marks an important step in DebtStream’s international expansion, particularly into the Spanish market, combining Atmira’s local expertise with DebtStream’s digital engagement capabilities.
The collaboration reflects a broader shift across credit and collections toward AI-enabled, customer-centric models that prioritise automation, personalisation and scalability, while reducing friction for both organisations and the people they serve.
SmartyPlants secures £190k backing to bring smart plant care into UK homes
UK-based startup SmartyPlants has secured £190,000 in funding from British Design Fund to support the development of its smart sensor system designed to simplify everyday houseplant care.
Founded in 2023 by Ben Beavers, SmartyPlants is tackling a familiar problem for millions of households: understanding when and how to care for plants with confidence. Its sensor technology and companion app provide real-time insights into soil moisture, light levels, temperature, humidity and nutrients, helping users respond to what their plants actually need rather than relying on guesswork.
The opportunity is sizeable. UK adults spent around £700m on houseplants in 2023, yet inconsistent watering, poor light conditions and limited visibility into plant health remain common reasons plants fail. SmartyPlants aims to reduce that friction by turning plant care into a more intuitive, data-led experience.
Beavers said the idea emerged from a personal frustration while redecorating at home, prompting him to build early prototypes using his background in biology. He added that the funding from British Design Fund will be used to accelerate product development and explore both UK and international distribution opportunities.
British Design Fund CEO Damon Bonser said SmartyPlants stood out for addressing an everyday challenge with thoughtful design and a clear focus on user needs, describing the product as one that brings simplicity and insight to plant care.
The investment reflects continued interest in practical consumer technologies that blend hardware, software and design to solve real-world problems, as SmartyPlants moves from early development toward wider market adoption.
Sparxell secures $5m to scale plant-based colour technology
Cambridge-based materials company Sparxell has raised $5 million in Pre-Series A funding to scale its cellulose-based colour technology for packaging, coatings and films.
The round was led by SWEN Capital Partners through its Blue Ocean 2 fund, with participation from Alpha Star Capital and Cambridge Enterprise. The investment supports Sparxell’s move from pilot programmes to commercial manufacturing, with tonne-scale production facilities set to be operational this year.
Sparxell is developing a plant-based alternative to conventional industrial colourants. Its patented process uses cellulose derived from wood pulp, assembling microscopic structures that reflect specific wavelengths of light to produce colour without synthetic dyes, petroleum-based chemicals, heavy metals or minerals. The approach enables colour creation across pigment powders, inks, glitters, sequins and films using physical structure rather than chemical additives.
Founder and CEO Benjamin Droguet said the funding marks the transition from proof of concept to production and commercial launches, as brands face growing pressure to remove synthetic toxins from supply chains. He pointed to regulatory momentum in Europe, including tighter controls on PFAS and microplastics, as accelerating demand for alternatives.
The raise follows a strong year for the business, including a €1.9 million grant from the European Innovation Council and commercial validation through partnerships spanning packaging, fashion, beauty and automotive sectors. Sparxell has also collaborated with British luxury brand Patrick McDowell and launched plant-based textile inks with Positive Materials.
The new capital will be used to scale manufacturing to tonne-level output, accelerate product certification for textiles, cosmetics and automotive uses, and expand the team, particularly across business development, as Sparxell pushes toward wider commercial adoption.
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