Everpure has launched Everpure Data Intelligence, a product aimed at helping companies prepare enterprise data for artificial intelligence use.

The launch is part of a broader push by the storage and data management company to move customers towards what it calls a data-centric architecture, with governance and context applied directly to information at source rather than through separate applications.

Everpure Data Intelligence is the renamed business from 1touch, which Everpure acquired earlier this year. The software is designed to discover, classify and contextualise data across on-premises systems, public clouds, software-as-a-service applications and third-party storage.

It is intended to address a problem many businesses say is slowing AI projects: fragmented data spread across multiple systems, with inconsistent controls and limited visibility. Everpure cited research from IDC and its own study showing that 45% of businesses are looking to implement a unified data platform to consolidate fragmented data environments for AI work.

Data bottleneck

Everpure said many enterprise IT estates still rely on application-led structures, where data and its meaning remain tied to separate business systems such as finance, logistics or sales. It argues that this model leads to duplication, operational blind spots and a lack of trusted information for AI systems.

The new offering has three main functions: universal discovery across structured and unstructured data, automated governance to identify sensitive information and track lineage, and what Everpure describes as AI-ready context through a semantic knowledge graph that links raw data to business definitions.

Charles Giancarlo, Chairman and CEO of Everpure, outlined the company’s position on that shift. “AI completely upends the traditional IT hierarchy; enterprises that do not shift from app-centricity to data primacy will fall behind,” said Giancarlo. “Because data is a company’s primary asset, embedding context, semantics and governance directly at the data layer is the right way to reduce data fragmentation created by the growth of apps and AI agents. Enterprises need to consolidate their fragmented enterprise data footprint into a real-time corpus of trusted intelligence.”

The software is available now. It works across data stored on the Everpure platform as well as external environments, reflecting the reality that many large businesses operate mixed estates rather than a single infrastructure stack.

Cloud and control

Alongside the launch, Everpure announced updates to its Enterprise Data Cloud architecture. These include changes to its Unified Data Plane and Intelligent Control Plane, intended to create a shared operating foundation across infrastructure and automate routine storage administration tasks.

One element is Evergreen//One Overdrive, a service due in the third quarter that is designed to provide temporary performance increases for on-premises storage during demand spikes of up to 25% above baseline, without requiring a permanent subscription change.

Other planned additions include workload rebalancing and mobility tools, natural-language workflow execution for storage administrators, enhanced cyber anomaly detection based on telemetry across the wider environment, and compliance monitoring intended to identify configuration drift.

Industry analysts have increasingly focused on data quality and governance as barriers to AI deployment, even as spending on chips and models continues to dominate headlines. Matt Kimball, VP and Principal Analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, said many businesses are investing heavily in AI systems without resolving the underlying data issues.

“Enterprises are spending millions on advanced AI models and compute, but their underlying infrastructure is starving those systems with disconnected data,” said Kimball. “The biggest bottleneck to AI adoption right now isn’t the software, it’s the plumbing. Putting data at the absolute center of the enterprise strategy is exactly how IT leaders can rein in runaway operational costs and accelerate rollouts.”

Wider strategy

The announcement also reflects a wider effort by Everpure to move beyond storage hardware and position itself more firmly around data management, governance and automation. By embedding data discovery and policy controls into infrastructure workflows, the company is seeking to present a more integrated alternative to point tools used for classification, compliance and operational oversight.

For customers, the practical test will be whether the software can reduce the manual work involved in finding business-critical data, applying controls to sensitive records and making information usable for AI tools without broad replication across systems. Those issues have become more pressing as companies experiment with AI agents that need access to current, reliable enterprise data.

Everpure said the wider architecture is intended to show where data sits, how it connects and what it means across the estate, with governance rules attached to the data itself rather than enforced only through the application layer.

The family-run business, part of the L C Hughes Partnership, has spent the past few years quietly building itself into one of the larger caravan centres in the south of England, and the timing looks shrewd.

With the pound’s purchasing power abroad still feeling pinched, airport queues a regular feature of the summer news cycle and a generation of younger families rediscovering the appeal of the Lake District, Pembrokeshire and the north Norfolk coast, demand for touring holidays in Britain has held up well.

The site itself is set up to take advantage of that.

Bicester Caravan and Leisure is a main dealer for Swift, Sprite, Elddis, Xplore, Buccaneer and Coachman, which is a fairly comprehensive sweep of the British caravan market in one car park.

The new caravan stock list takes in family-friendly Sprite layouts, the lighter Basecamp range aimed at couples and weekenders, and the more luxurious Elegance Grande and Coachman Lusso models at the top end.

For anyone not ready to commit to a full caravan, the dealership has also become the exclusive UK importer of Comanche folding campers and trailer tents, a Spanish brand with more than two decades of trailer-building behind it.

The Camp-let range, designed for families of four and expandable to sleep up to eight, offers another route in at a lower price point, and the recently announced Cabanon trailer tents add a further option for buyers who want canvas rather than fibreglass.

Tents and folding campers tend to attract first-time buyers, and staff at the dealership are themselves keen caravanners, which makes the showroom feel less like a car forecourt and more like a specialist outdoors shop.

The practical side of caravan ownership is handled on the same site.

An NCC approved workshop takes care of servicing, habitation checks and warranty work across all the major brands, and a fully stocked accessory shop sells everything from motor movers to awnings.

Secure on-site storage is available for owners who would rather not park a caravan on the drive, and the Bicester Bean cafe gives browsers somewhere to sit down with a coffee between viewings.

A campsite of the dealership’s own is also under construction, which should give new buyers a soft landing for their first night under canvas or in a brand-new van.

None of this would matter much if the wider picture for UK touring was flat, but it is not.

Caravan and motorhome sites across Oxfordshire, the Cotswolds and the south west have been reporting strong forward bookings, and the appeal of being able to set off on a Friday evening without a passport check is hard to argue with.

For anyone in the Oxford area weighing up whether this is the year to take the plunge, the Bicester site is a sensible first stop.

More information about the current stock, the workshop and the Comanche and Cabanon ranges is available on the Bicester Caravan and Leisure website.

KAREN JOY BACUDO

Finance Editor

FinTech North is returning to Leeds for a 10th anniversary conference, marking a decade since the organisation launched in the city.

The event will be held at Salem Chapel, aql’s HQ and the venue where FinTech North began. It will bring together founders, industry executives and public sector representatives to discuss how the sector has changed across Leeds and the wider Yorkshire region.

Participants include West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin, the National Wealth Fund, Leeds Digital Festival, the Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority, Mastercard, GoCardless and FIS.

The agenda will focus on how financial technology has developed over the past decade, along with the regulatory challenges and commercial opportunities facing the market. Topics include mortgages, banking, lending, payments and regtech.

Regional growth

The event comes as new figures highlight the scale of the sector in West Yorkshire and the wider North of England. According to Whitecap Consulting, West Yorkshire is home to 94 fintech firms, while the Leeds City Region fintech ecosystem contributes £700 million a year to the regional economy.

About 60 national and international firms have chosen the Leeds City Region as a base for their UK operations. Across the North, there are around 400 fintech firms employing 20,000 people directly, with a further 70,000 in fintech-related roles.

The sector has also contributed about £2 billion in Gross Value Added to the UK economy. These figures point to the growing strength of regional fintech clusters outside London, particularly in areas with established expertise in financial and professional services.

Leeds has long been one of the UK’s main centres for banking, insurance and data-driven business services, giving fintech companies access to both talent and large customer markets. The city has also worked to raise its profile in digital industries through networks, accelerator programmes and events that connect start-ups with investors, regulators and established financial institutions.

Origins

FinTech North traces its beginnings to a decade ago, when Whitecap Consulting and White Label Crowdfunding launched the initiative as part of the first Leeds Digital Festival programme. Organisers say that early conference helped establish what became the UK’s first regional fintech hub.

Since then, the group has expanded its activity across the North through events that bring together start-ups, larger technology companies, policymakers and academics. Its aim has been to strengthen the Northern fintech ecosystem and create links between regional firms and national decision-makers.

The anniversary conference also coincides with the 10th year of Leeds Digital Festival, underlining how closely the city’s fintech and wider technology communities have developed alongside one another. That overlap has become increasingly important as fintech businesses move beyond payments and consumer apps into more specialised areas of financial infrastructure and compliance.

Joe Roche, General Manager at FinTech North, highlighted the sector’s economic footprint across the region.

“With around 400 fintech firms across the North employing 20,000 people directly, and 70,000 employees working in fintech-related roles, the region has contributed approximately £2bn in Gross Value Added to the UK and become a powerhouse for innovation and opportunity. The Leeds City Region has played a significant role in the growth of the fintech ecosystem, with approximately 60 national and international firms choosing the region as a base for their UK operations,” Roche said.

Roche also reflected on the organisation’s role in the market over the past decade.

“Over these 10 years, FinTech North has played a central role in both advocating for and actively helping to shape the ecosystem. As the country’s first regional fintech hub, we have witnessed and contributed to the development of a thriving national community,” he said