2021: Best year ever for UK tech sector with £26bn in VC, 116 unicorns, record London listings and more jobs December 28, 2021 The UK tech sector looks back on its best year ever, raking in £26bn in venture capital, record London listings, more jobs and the number of British unicorns climbing to 116. Success feeds cities outside London as Cambridge has become the leading regional tech city in the UK thanks to its combination of high levels [...]
Half of all UK bank branches have been shut or are scheduled for closure as fintech kills off 736 locations in 2021 alone December 27, 2021 New figures published this morning show that the number of bank branches across the UK is dropping dramatically. In fact, nearly half of all banks’ branches have been lost since 2015, or are scheduled for closure, according to Which? Vulnerable customers are being left at risk of being “cut adrift”, the consumer organisation said after [...]
FCA confirms listing rule changes in bid to sharpen London’s edge for startup IPOs December 2, 2021 London’s financial watchdog this morning confirmed a list of changes to its listing rules that will come into force tomorrow, in an effort to bolster incentives for innovative founder-led companies to list on UK markets sooner. Chief among the new changes, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) confirmed it is introducing a “targeted form” of dual [...]
US platform buys Seedrs for $100m after CMA blocks Crowdcube merger on home turf December 1, 2021 UK crowdfunding platform Seedrs is being acquired by US investment platform Republic, just months after the UK’s competition watchdog blocked its plans to merge with homegrown rival Crowdcube. In a transatlantic deal that values Seedrs at approximately $100m (£75m), the two platforms are billing the combined entity as “the first global private investment marketplace with [...]
Wise interim revenue gains by a third as money transfer customers surge November 30, 2021 Shares in Wise surged as much as 14 per cent today, after the money transfer fintech said this morning that its first half revenue jumped by a third to £256.3m, driven by increasing customer numbers as it invested in faster transaction processes. The company, which specialises in cross-border money transfers and is one of the [...]
It’s a match: Dating app introduces minimum salary of £60k and unlimited holidays for all staff November 25, 2021 Dating app Feeld said today it will introduce a minimum salary of £60,000, or $80,000, for all of its employees around the world. The new salary announcement will give close to 40 per cent of Feeld’s full time staff a pay rise. Moreover, the fully remote company will also offer all of its staff unlimited [...]
Exclusive: ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ no longer applies as tech-daring UK companies are hungry for risk November 25, 2021 Enthusiasm for experimenting with new technologies is growing fast across UK businesses, largely because many companies are increasingly prepared to take more risks. Given the increased risk appetite and firms embracing tech, organisations are pumping more cash in new technological applications and platforms. In fact, 77 per cent of businesses with headcounts over 250 said [...]
After Amazon’s dramatic move to block Visa credit cards, businesses sound the alarm: Card fees are out of control November 20, 2021 E-commerce giant Amazon confirmed to City A.M. yesterday that it intends to stop accepting payments made using UK Visa credit cards from early next year. The online retailer said that Visa credit cards issued in the UK will be blocked from use on its site from January 19. The move sent shockwaves through Britain’s consumer [...]
China hands out new fines to tech giants in anti-monopoly crackdown November 20, 2021 Chinese tech giants including Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings have been fined for failing to report corporate acquisitions, adding to an anti-monopoly crackdown by the ruling Communist Party. The companies failed to report 43 acquisitions that occurred up to eight years ago under rules on “operating concentration”, according to the State Administration for Market Regulation. [...]
Exclusive: Deloitte reveals the UK’s fastest growing tech companies November 19, 2021 London firms came out on top in Deloitte’s annual ranking of the UK’s 50 fastest growing technology companies. The country’s top 50 tech firms achieved an average growth of 3,337 per cent and saw combined revenues of £2.92bn this year, up 33 per cent compared to last year’s total of £2.2bn. The final score sheet [...]