Sheffield in September is the place to get Made May 27, 2012 IN LONDON alone there are more events to guide and inspire entrepreneurship than any entrepreneur would, or could, dare to attend. That’s why it’s important to discriminate. One event not to miss is the Made festival. On Friday, deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg officially launched Made, which will take place in Sheffield from 19 to [...]
A top idea and good execution are vital but you also need luck May 27, 2012 FORMER Prime Minister Gordon Brown looked determined when he said to me, “We’ve got to get more small businesses started”. My response astonished him: “As you know Gordon, nearly nine new businesses fail for every one that succeeds. I’m worried that we will just add to the nine, not to the one”. “Oh yes, of [...]
Two wrongs don’t make good policy May 27, 2012 GOVERNMENTS like picking winners. The trouble is, they aren’t very good at it. But it’s much easier to put others’ hard-earned cash on the line than your own. And this government has been at it again. Last week, Vince Cable launched GrowthAccelerator, a new £200m three year programme to try to “help up to 26,000 [...]
How to get cheaper car insurance May 27, 2012 KNOWLEDGE is power. And the first thing to know about car insurance is that getting it is a negotiation. In any negotiation, access to information is rarely symmetrical. Those with greater knowledge have more power and in this instance it’s impossible to know more than each firm. This is why you need to shop around. [...]
FTSE enjoys some breathing space as bargain-hunters prompt gains May 24, 2012 BRITAIN’S benchmark share index recovered yesterday from stinging losses during the previous session as bargain hunters snapped up beaten-down financial and commodities stocks, although traders said any rally could prove short-lived. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed up 83.64 points, or 1.6 per cent, to 5,350.05 points. It fell 2.5 per cent on Wednesday to [...]
Wall St edges higher in last minute swing May 24, 2012 US stocks ended slightly higher in a third session marked by late day swings yesterday, but the Nasdaq fell after NetApp gave a weak revenue forecast, casting doubt on the outlook for tech spending. Major indexes were lower for much of the session, as investors found little reason to buy following three days of gains. [...]
Eurozone fear hammers FTSE May 23, 2012 BRITAIN’S top shares fell sharply yesterday, wiping out their gains from the start of the week on mounting fears Greece will leave the Eurozone. The FTSE 100 slid 2.5 per cent to 5,266.41, its biggest one-day percentage drop since 21 November and its lowest close since 25 November, when markets were similarly beset with worries [...]
Stocks boosted in late day rally May 23, 2012 US stocks staged a late-day reversal yesterday, rallying into the close in another volatile session as a sharp rise in materials shares boosted the S&P 500 and gains in Apple helped lift the Nasdaq. The action shortly before the market’s close was a mirror image of Tuesday when stocks gave up gains in the last [...]
Advisers will have to be more trustworthy May 23, 2012 You won’t be misinformed because of commissions after 2013 THE financial regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), is shaking up the way financial advice is being provided in the UK. New rules – the Retail Distribution Review, or RDR for short – come into force on 1 January 2013. The new rules incorporate three new [...]
Eagle-eyed firms are set to fly high in 2013 May 23, 2012 REGULATION is as dull for consumers as it is frustrating for businesses. This is why the average man or woman on the street hasn’t heard of the retail distribution review (RDR), which revolutionises the regulation of financial advisers. However, it does matter. For better or worse, it will change the way that financial advice is [...]