AlphaBiolabs, which performs the DNA tests for ITV’s The Jeremy Kyle Show, has achieved a UK first by introducing non-invasive prenatal paternity testing at its laboratory in Warrington.

Previously, samples had to be sent to the United States for analysis, leading to a wait of at least two weeks before the results were known.

The company has invested in advanced technology at its lab to test samples from the mother and the alleged father entirely in-house, from as little as six weeks after conception.

Managing director David Thomas said there has been a 72 per cent increase in the number of tests that have been ordered since the venture was launched last month.

The test can safely identify whether a man is a baby’s biological father before the child is born. A blood sample is taken from the mother and a mouth swab sample from the man.

The DNA of the adults and the unborn baby is extracted at the lab and AlphaBiolabs’ team of geneticists then examine up to 35 markers in these profiles.

The testing process works on the same principle as standard DNA paternity tests. By examining the baby’s DNA together with that of the mother and alleged father, it is possible to determine whether the baby shares the man’s DNA. When the tested man is not the biological father, there will be differences.

AlphaBiolabs’ test gives at least 99.9 per cent probability of paternity where the father is confirmed as the biological father.

Previously, procedures such as amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling would have been relied upon to gain a sample of an unborn baby’s DNA. Both of these invasive methods incur a slight risk of miscarriage.

Under the new method, there is no risk to the unborn child, as a blood sample is only needed from the mother.

AlphaBiolabs is offering results within a week as standard, with an express service providing the outcomes in four days.

Samples can be collected by the company’s staff at a convenient address or customers can use one of AlphaBiolabs’ 10 walk-in centres across the UK.

Managing director David Thomas said: “Bringing the paternity testing service in-house is a significant move for AlphaBiolabs.

“Not only are we speeding up this process, we can also now offer the test as early as six weeks after conception. This is a first for the UK and for Europe.

“This investment further demonstrates our position as the industry leader for ground-breaking services. We have been extremely pleased with the take-up in the first few weeks of the roll-out and are excited about future offerings in the pipeline.”

One of Manchester’s most characterful office buildings is now fully let having secured 7 new occupiers in under twelve months.

Clayton House was purchased in 2016 by T&M Investments for £2.7m and has since undergone a full refurbishment before being re-launched to the market last year.

The final letting sees Allure Bridals taking 1,799 square feet on the first floor of the building. The letting was secured by agents Avison Young who, alongside joint agents Daniel Harris & Co, have let space to HTA Design, Bliss Marketing, Digital Code, JK Attire, Property Hub and The Candidate totaling 15,241 sq ft over five floors. The building also has the award-winning Bundobust restaurant in the basement, offering Indian street food and craft beer.

The office lettings have been secured on 5-year leases at a headline rent of £19.50 per sq ft, which the largest letting being the Digital Code lease at 3,240 sq ft in February this year.

Clayton House overlooks Piccadilly Gardens and is located on one of Manchester’s busiest thoroughfares close to the Northern Quarter and Piccadilly Station. The Grade 2 listed building has undergone a sympathetic restoration programme to reveal its original wooden floors and preserved Edwardian ceramic tiles while creating modern, functional working space to include a new air conditioning system, shower facilities and new kitchens and wc’s on every floor.

Commenting on the lettings Harry Skinner, Associate Director of Avison Young said: “These lettings show continued demand for quality office space in the Northern Quarter, particularly in the growing tech sector. We are delighted that our strategy of restoring the building’s character features and upgrading the facilities to meet the requirements of modern businesses has proved successful.”

Northern-based ‘death tech’ start up Guardian Angel, which is a free and private online platform that simplifies the bereavement process; connecting families, friends and funeral directors together, has closed its pre-seed round raising £492K and with it welcomes two former Co-op executives to its strategy team.

Thanks to this significant new investment Guardian Angel, founded by former financial professional Sam Grice, is one step closer to easing the stressful bereavement process for families following the death of a loved one.

The secure platform aims to reduce the stress in the immediate aftermath of a loved one’s death by enabling you to coordinate support from family and friends. There is a ‘Key times’ function which informs people when they can visit and when you and your family would like to be alone. Its ‘To-Do list’ allows you to manage all tasks and ask friends for help. You can share funeral information privately and it also staggers support, like flower deliveries, so they do not all arrive at once.

Guardian Angel was conceived in 2017 following the unexpected death of founder Sam Grice’s mother in a road accident.  Having been personally exposed to the end of life industry, the lack of digital efficiency became evident as he and his family struggled to coordinate the tasks and sudden influx of communications.

Sam Grice, Guardian Angel founder said: “The support we received from well-meaning family and friends after mum’s accident was amazing. However, managing that support together with organising a funeral and wake, something I had never done before, proved immensely difficult during one of the most stressful periods of my life. And I’m not alone. Most of us have or will experience the death of a loved one and face the same issues that I did.

“The funeral sector has been slow to modernise and digitise its services but we are talking to funeral directors on a daily basis about the benefits of creating a Guardian Angel support hub for their clients, as we believe technology can really help in the bereavement process.”

Guardian Angel aims to use this investment to improve its current digital platform and to develop a tool to make the process of planning for the inevitable easier.

As part of the raise, two members of the NorthInvest Angel network, Rod Bulmer and Alistair Asher, agreed to come on board as financial and as strategic advisors. Between them, they have contributed a six-figure investment.

Rod Bulmer had executive responsibility for Co-op Funeralcare and Co-op Life Planning from 2014 to 2016.  Prior to that, Rod was Deputy CEO, Coop Bank.

Alistair Asher is also a former Co-op executive, with roles including General Council, NED Co-op Insurance and Non-Executive Chairman Co-op Legal Services. 

Professor Adam Beaumont, Founder of NorthInvest commented: ‘NorthInvest has attracted investment to several scalable platforms which address challenges or opportunities on a global scale.  Guardian Angel is one of such platforms and we’ll watch with interest – I believe their empathic approach to help deal with difficult issues in an efficient way can not only be a successful start up but make a positive impact to many.’

Helen Oldham, founder, and board director at NorthInvest said: ‘NorthInvest are delighted to have supported Guardian Angel. Their larger aims are to make things like funeral plans and life insurance easier to assemble and more transparent. This has the potential to make a positive difference in an area which affects everyone.’

Guardian Angel has also attracted ex-Goldman Sachs MD Andrew Weisz who will act as Financial Director going forward.

The investment opportunity excited Bulmer for multiple reasons, he said: “Like many professional services the funeral and end-of-life planning industries are only now starting to go through significant digital change. There is a real opportunity for an independent platform to help families through this process and provide a vehicle to promote active communities discussing the subjects around death openly and honestly. To this point I don’t think there is anything in the market that is truly independent or that has been executed correctly. This is a real opportunity for Guardian Angel, which has an ethos focussed on support”

Full Circle Funerals owner and director, Sarah Jones, was impressed by the project and made the initial connection to the NorthInvest Angels.  She said, “The funeral sector has been very slow to embrace the digital age and Guardian Angel are actively trying to address this so that bereaved people can also benefit from technology”.

Technology firm UKFast is committing a further £3m to its cybersecurity fund to protect businesses online, taking the total amount donated to £20m.

The BASEfund (Building a Safer Environment) initiative has given more than £17m to UK businesses in the decade since the scheme launched. Now, UKFast is pledging a further £3m, growing the fund’s scope and enabling hundreds of businesses to strengthen their security.

The relaunch of BASEfund also sees the inclusion of a number of new security products including Threat Monitoring, DDoS protection, web application firewalls and penetration testing.

UKFast collaborates closely with Secarma, the security business owned by UKFast founder and CEO Lawrence Jones MBE, to deliver cloud security solutions and penetration testing services.

Jones said: “We spent the first decade and more of our journey explaining why people needed to get themselves online and get themselves higher up the search rankings. That has changed over the past decade, as businesses understand the value of being online. Now it’s our responsibility to help secure those organisations.

“All businesses need cybersecurity, but for some the cost is prohibitive and as a result there are more and more insecure websites and applications holding critical, sensitive information.

“BASEfund is designed to help businesses get the security they need, where it might otherwise be cost-prohibitive or overlooked for other priorities.We’ve set aside this pot of money to contribute towards people’s safety and security online because these threats have to be taken seriously. By the end of this year we’re set to have given away a total of £20m to protect our clients.

“The fund is specifically for security products and originally gave people access to firewalls and other hardware. With cyber-threats constantly changing and evolving, we’ve expanded BASEfund to include a raft of security products which our R&D team has developed in recent years.”

Taking place on 8 May at the Manchester Marriott Victoria & Albert Hotel, the MSDUK Regional Supplier Diversity Day will welcome ethnic minority owned businesses looking to enter corporate supply chains.

Businesses will have the opportunity to hear best practices from entrepreneurs in the region who have successfully won business through MSDUK and network with some of our corporate members including, Barclays, IBM, CBRE, as well as a session by award-winning pitch specialist David McQueen, who will provide unique insights into presenting to corporates or potential investors.

There are limited places available and thus tickets will be reserved on a first come first serve basis with only a maximum of two tickets per company. Tickets are available via Eventbrite.