Business & Technology
Silks adds Credas ID checks to UK law firm compliance
SOFIAH NICHOLE SALIVIO
News Editor
Silks has integrated Credas identity verification into its legal compliance platform, targeting mid-market law firms in the UK.
The integration lets firms using Silks run identity checks during client onboarding and feed the results directly into compliance records without leaving the platform. Firms can connect an existing Credas account or adopt both products together.
The arrangement brings identity verification into the same workflow as client intake, matter management and compliance tasks. It also allows firms to draft bespoke client care letters on the same day they receive an enquiry while completing onboarding steps in parallel.
The move comes as UK law firms face tighter scrutiny of digital identity verification in anti-money laundering controls. Guidance from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and HM Treasury clarified that providers certified against the UK Government’s Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework meet the standard for compliant digital identity verification under the Money Laundering Regulations.
That position gained further weight after the Digital Use and Access Act 2025 put the trust framework on a statutory footing. The change has increased pressure on firms that rely on internal processes or providers without certification when they need to demonstrate regulatory assurance.
As a certified Identity Service Provider, Credas gives firms using the integration an approved route for digital ID checks. Founded in Cardiff, it verifies more than four million individuals a year and was the first Identity Service Provider to be certified to a very high level of confidence under the UK Government framework.
Silks focuses on mid-market law firms and says it keeps firm and client data within each customer’s own UK-based tenant rather than sending information into third-party AI systems. That approach reflects growing concern in legal services over data handling, confidentiality and the use of generative AI in regulated work.
Compliance focus
For law firms, onboarding has become an area where speed and compliance often pull in different directions. Firms are under pressure to open matters quickly after an enquiry while also collecting identification evidence, checking source material and recording decisions in a way that can withstand regulatory review.
By connecting ID verification to an existing legal workflow platform, Silks and Credas aim to reduce switching between systems and manual record-keeping. In practice, identity checks can be triggered at key points in the onboarding journey and recorded automatically in the same environment used for compliance administration.
Mel Kang, Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Silks, said the aim was to remove a common bottleneck for firms adopting AI tools in regulated settings. “Law firms shouldn’t have to choose between adopting powerful AI and staying on top of their compliance obligations,” Kang said.
“Our partnership with Credas means law firms can open and onboard clients on the same day they receive an enquiry, and identity verification is no longer a separate, manual step. It’s woven into the workflow, exactly where it needs to be. And because everything stays within your own secure environment, firms can act with confidence,” Kang said.
The partnership also reflects a broader shift in the legal technology market, where suppliers are increasingly linking specialist compliance tools with workflow and document systems rather than selling them as stand-alone products. For mid-market firms in particular, the appeal is often less about replacing compliance teams than about reducing duplicated administration and making audit trails easier to retrieve.
Market pressure
Legal practices have faced sustained pressure from the Solicitors Regulation Authority and anti-money laundering supervisors to improve controls around client due diligence. Digital identity checks have become more common, but the standards expected from providers have also become clearer.
That has made certification a more important part of procurement decisions. In this case, Credas’ role as a certified Identity Service Provider gives Silks a way to offer regulated firms an embedded ID verification process without asking them to rely on uncertified tools.
Rhian Del-Valle, Director of Enterprise Partnerships at Credas, said: “Silks’ AI-powered workflows can help law firms improve their compliance processes while still ensuring their clients’ details and personal information are kept within a secure and private workspace.”
Business & Technology
Mouse droppings found in Oxford city Chinese restaurant
Ten Seconds Yunnan Rice Noodle in New Inn Hall Street was inspected by Oxford City Council on May 26.
Inspectors subsequently handed the Chinese restaurant a rating of two out of five, meaning “improvement necessary”.
According to the report, received by the Oxford Mail after a Freedom of Information request submission, officers identified a series of concerns, including evidence of mouse activity.
The report states that mouse droppings were found throughout the business in two food storage rooms and the bar area.
In one of the storage areas, mouse activity was present where noodles were kept in plastic carrier bags and potatoes and onion were left in the open.
“Historic” mouse droppings at Ten Seconds Yunnan Rice Noodle (Image: Oxford City Council)
Inspectors said pest-proofing measures were “not great” and identified a hole beneath a sink in the bar area which could potentially allow pests to enter the premises.
In the report, the inspector said: “At the time of the inspection, I observed a number of historic mouse dropping in both the food storage areas.
“The most recent pest control report mentions no mouse activity in any of the food storage areas.
“All areas where food is prepared and stored must be kept clean and capable of being kept clean. This is so that pests are not attracted into your premises and the risk of food being contaminated by dirt is minimised.”
They advised the owner to remove all historic mouse droppings within the food business and continue to identify any issues of pest proofing within a month.
A hole where pests could have entered underneath the sink (Image: Oxford City Council)
The business was instructed to remove the droppings and improve pest-proofing measures where previous temporary work had failed.
Food storage issues were also highlighted during the inspection.
In an “overfilled” fridge, officers found raw chicken stored above ready-to-eat foods, including uncovered beans and spring onions, which could cause cross-contamination leading to food poisoning.
That same fridge, which stored items such as cooked rice, chicken ballotine and prawns, was above the required eight degrees, raising concern about food poisoning.
A large number of food containers were also unlabelled, despite the food looking fresh.
The officer insisted a “robust system for ensuring adequate stock rotation” was implemented and recommended all food be kept in sealed, pest-proof containers.
An overfilled fridge which was measured above safe temperature (Image: Oxford City Council)
No food-safe sanitiser or disinfectant were available on site, only a kitchen cleaner which they said did not provide adequate disinfection.
Despite the concerns, the report noted there had been a “huge improvement” in cleaning standards since the restaurant’s previous inspection.
The business also had a food safety management system in place and a pest control contract with Pure Pest Solutions.
The council has required a range of improvements, with compliance timescales ranging from one week to one month with a revisit inspection planned.
Business & Technology
Oxford startup secures Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award
Oxford-based Peripear has secured an Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award and a £74,974 grant for its development of a wearable device designed to prevent perineal trauma during labour.
The funding will support continued product development ahead of the company’s planned first-in-human study.
Nina van Schaick, co-founder and COO of Peripear as well as a midwife who trained at Oxford Brookes, said: “I’m sure I wasn’t the only one to see this gap.
“I was incredibly lucky to meet my co-founder, Eviatar Natan, right as my frustration about the lack of translation of evidence into practice had peaked.
“There was a proven mechanism that could reduce injuries occurring in up to 90 per cent of vaginal births, and it was being left out of clinical pathways simply because no standardised tool existed to deliver it.”
Peripear is developing what it describes as the world’s first automated perineal thermotherapy wearable, designed to prevent perineal trauma during childbirth.
A perineal thermotherapy wearable is an emerging medical device.
It is a hands‑free warm compress device used on the perineum during the second stage of labour to reduce severe tearing and episiotomies while improving maternal comfort.
Ms van Schaick added: “I’m a farmer’s granddaughter, and when I started practising over 14 years ago, I asked: where is the tool I need to implement this evidence? I looked around and realised we were still asking clinicians to improvise.
“Peripear is what happens when the person who has lived the problem, both personally and professionally, meets the person who can help her build the solution.”
Business & Technology
UK bike manufacturer on brink of £30m collapse after 139 years
The company behind bikemaker Raleigh, which was founded 139 years ago and has supplied bikes to the UK’s cycling city of Oxford over the years, has filed to appoint administrators.
Accell UK and Ireland, part of Netherlands-based Accell Group, filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators as the wider group kickstarted insolvency proceedings.
This follows a difficult spell for Nottinghamshire-based Raleigh, which confirmed job cuts in 2024 before reporting a £30m loss in financial accounts published the following year.
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The boss of Accell said it was a “deeply sad and frustrating situation” and that it had “tirelessly explored” every option for the future of the cycling business.
The company bought Raleigh in 2012 for around 100 million US dollars (£74 million), adding to its roster of bike brands throughout Europe including Haibike, Winora and Ghost.
Raleigh was founded in Nottingham in 1887 and was well-known for its Chopper model, which featured extended handlebars and is now part of its “retro” range.
It no longer manufactures bikes from Nottingham, and its head office has moved to Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, while the company has shifted to selling electric bikes under Accell’s ownership.
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Accell went through a restructuring in February, securing additional funding from shareholders and lenders and reducing debts.
The group said it had since “explored every possible avenue” for its future, including discussions with potential buyers, but that it had not been possible to find a solution which means the business can continue operating.
It has therefore initiated insolvency proceedings in the Netherlands.
Accell’s chief executive Jonas Nilsson said: “This is a deeply sad and frustrating situation given all the hard work and everything we have achieved, with the support of shareholders and lenders, to restructure Accell’s operations and finances.
“It is an especially difficult moment for our employees, creditors, customers, suppliers, and partners.
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“Every realistic option for the future of the business has been tirelessly explored, and none have resulted in a solution to continue the Group in its current form.
“Our immediate focus is to support an orderly process, provide clarity wherever possible, and work with the relevant court-appointed administrators to preserve viable activities and employment where circumstances allow.”
At its 1970s height, Raleigh employed more than 13,000 people across the UK, with around 8,000 working at its various Triumph Road sites in Nottingham.
The former factory land later became the University of Nottingham’s Jubilee Campus.
Raleigh subsequently moved its headquarters to Church Street in Eastwood, before leaving that site and relocating to Durban House in 2024.
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