The private credit market is set to hit $1 trillion by 2020 October 4, 2017 The world’s private credit market, which focuses on providing debt to businesses, is set to hit $1 trillion (£754bn) by 2020, according to research from trade body the Alternative Credit Council (ACC). The industry currently manages around $600bn in assets, and has grown 14-fold since the turn of the millennium. Based on this growth rate, [...]
The London underground: How the underground music zines of the 1960s helped to define the counterculture | City A.M. October 4, 2017 Although I grew up in London with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Joan Bakewell, the day I discovered the underground press, to use the vernacular of the day, “blew my mind”. Since 1975, I’ve collected printed materials associated with the British underground press, an anarchic phenomenon that provides a fascinating alternative history of the [...]
Chapel Down boosts wine-inspired beers with appointment of ex-Brewdog MD October 4, 2017 The English wine producer that supplies to Downing Street is looking to beef up its beer offering with the appointment of a new managing director. Chapel Down has appointed a new managing director of beer in the form of former Brewdog MD of Brewing and International, Gareth Bath. Read more: Scottish craft brewer Innis & [...]
Is your greatest asset people, or data? October 4, 2017 Most of us spend our entire careers working for organisations where the prevailing attitude is that “people are our greatest asset”. In the service sector in particular, the expertise of an organisation’s people, their ability to work together, deliver an outstanding service and build strong relationships with customers is a cornerstone of its proposition. Often [...]
Trade committee seeks answers over Bombardier tariff row with Boeing amid questions over US protectionism October 4, 2017 The chair of the International Trade Committee has written to the secretary of state for greater information on the recent tariff row involving Bombardier. SNP politician Angus MacNeil, who chairs the International Trade Committee, queried whether the move signalled the US was taking “a more protectionist stance to international trade”. The US Department of Commerce [...]
McColl’s co-founder James Lancaster steps down amid rumours of involvement with Palmer & Harvey rescue October 4, 2017 The co-founder of convenience chain McColl’s has stepped down from the board with immediate effect, amid rumours that he is involved in a rescue deal for a major wholesaler. James Lancaster has resigned as non-executive director at McColl’s, the convenience chain which recently signed a supply deal with Morrisons. Lancaster’s name has been floated as [...]
Groups slam Theresa May’s energy price cap as Centrica shares tumble following speech overshadowed by prankster, coughing and collapsing set October 4, 2017 Business groups have slammed Theresa May’s pledge to cap energy prices, claiming her free speech “rhetoric” was not being backed up by action. In a speech that was disrupted by prankster Simon Bodkin (aka Lee Nelson) handing the Prime Minister a P45, and overshadowed by May’s efforts not to lose her voice, the Prime Minister [...]
Lord Alan Sugar says women pushing for more money will tackle the gender pay gap but pay transparency is ‘disgraceful’ October 4, 2017 Lord Sugar has said the gender pay gap can be tackled by women insisting they want to be paid more. In an interview with the Press Association, the businessman also said the forced pay transparency at the BBC earlier this year was “disgraceful”. Sugar said pay was a private issue, after the BBC was forced [...]
Tory conference 2017: Comedian Simon Brodkin aka Lee Nelson upstages Theresa May during conference speech October 4, 2017 Comedian Simon Brodkin just caused a commotion during Theresa May’s conference speech, handing the Prime Minister a P45 he claimed was from Boris Johnson. Bodkin was subsequently arrested, and questions have been raised about security at the Tory conference. Brodkin, known for playing spoof character Lee Nelson, appears to have made his way to the [...]
The EU is taking Ireland to court over Apple’s €13bn tax bill October 4, 2017 Brussels is taking further action in a landmark tax case involving Apple and Ireland. Europe’s competition chief Margrethe Vestager today said the European Commission is taking Ireland to court over its failure to collect a record €13bn (£11.5bn) in back taxes from Apple. The EC last year ruled that a favourable “sweetheart” deal over tax [...]