LoveFilm backer Draper Esprit acquires two Seedcamp funds including a stake in Transferwise October 25, 2017 Listed venture capital firm Draper Esprit, which has backed companies including LoveFilm and Graze, today announced it has acquired Seedcamp’s first and second funds for £17.9m. Seedcamp funds 1 and 2, which include a stake in fintech unicorn Transferwise, were last valued at a total of £23.5m. Against the purchase price, this will give Draper [...]
Health app startup Echo raises £7m series A from top VCs to take the hassle out of repeat prescriptions | City A.M. October 25, 2017 An app that aims to take the hassle out of getting repeat prescriptions has landed a fresh injection of cash from venture capitalists. Echo, a startup founded by former employees of Apple and Lloyds Pharmacy, has raised £7m in funding led by White Star Capital. Also participating in the series A round are MMC Ventures, [...]
The tech evolution of the mortgage market October 25, 2017 Babylon, 611 BC: the year of the first recorded loan using real estate as security. Written to Mr. Nabu-etir with an interest rate of 11.3 per cent, our ancient ancestors agreed to the financial instrument that survives two and a half thousand years on. Now this loan forms the bedrock of the modern financial system [...]
Britain must scale the EU cliffs to a freer, more prosperous future October 25, 2017 As is so often the case, those that blurt out the cliche that Brexit without a transitionary-based deal will see UK businesses fall off a cliff edge are looking at the problem the wrong way round. With their sentiments already biased towards being inside the EU’s restrictive Single Market and obscene Customs Union, they cannot [...]
Fairtrade banking: Social impact investing is going mainstream October 25, 2017 Many people are familiar with fairtrade coffee, but less clear about where to go for the equivalent of “fairtrade banking”. This is where a new suite of products called social impact investment comes in. Social impact investment was originally a niche market. Options for people who wanted to be socially responsible in their investments were [...]
Winners announced of Indigo Economics Prize to radically shake-up GDP | City A.M. October 25, 2017 The winners of a new economics prize calling on entrants for how best to measure economic activity have been announced today. The Indigo Prize was awarded in a joint split, with £125,000 to be shared between Diane Coyle, the professor of economics at Manchester University, and Jonathan Haskel, of Imperial Business School. Coyle’s entry, co-written [...]
Sexism in the City: Jayne-Anne Gadhia tells MPs of “pervading sexism” in the Square Mile October 24, 2017 A former environment of “pervading sexism” in the City created an “alpha male” environment in which harassment was common, according to Virgin Money chief executive Jayne-Anne Gadhia. Speaking today to MPs on the Treasury Select Committee, Gadhia said she had come across multiple incidents during her career in the Square Mile when sexism had reared [...]
Premier League abandons talks over plans to give top clubs larger slice of revenue October 24, 2017 Proposals to give a greater share of Premier League revenue to the biggest clubs appear dead in the water after the latest round of talks over the controversial plans was called off. Six clubs – Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham – are believed to want a larger proportion of income generated [...]
Ranked: The world’s best performing chief executives of 2017 as Inditex’s Pablo Isla and WPP’s Martin Sorrell take the top spots | City A.M. October 24, 2017 The boss of Zara’s parent firm Inditex, Pablo Isla, has been named the best-performing chief executive in the world for 2017, by the Harvard Business Review. The Spanish businessman, who ranked third last year, took the top spot for the first time, over WPP’s Sir Martin Sorrell. Since becoming chief executive in 2005, Isla has [...]
Barclays offers free housing to help with “shocking cost” of landing first job out of university October 24, 2017 Barclays will offer graduate job interviewees free accommodation in London, Birmingham and Manchester to help offset the “shocking cost” of landing a post-university position. Job hunters with interviews during November will be able to apply for two free nights’ accommodation. The banking giant said UK graduates spend an average of over £500 landing their first [...]