The chancellor’s fiscal reset is a golden opportunity to slash living costs through tax cuts and planning reform September 5, 2016 Philip Hammond recently said that he may use the Autumn Statement to “reset” fiscal policy. That is a welcome sentiment because it suggests the chancellor sees before him a golden opportunity to transform the tax system. With Parliament returning, we are likely to see the government start to formulate and publicise more detailed economic policy [...]
Is Nicola Sturgeon deluded over her chances of getting Scottish independence? September 5, 2016 Alex Deane, managing director at FTI Consulting and City of London common councilman, says Yes. The SNP thrives on the perpetual prominence of the independence question. But their raison d’etre would disappear with another vote – either because they won, when they would become irrelevant, or because they lost, when their cause would wither for a [...]
Why debt crowdfunding platforms must evolve to support scaling businesses and rejuvenate a tired crowd September 3, 2016 Setting the global benchmark for alternative finance, Britain’s effective embrace of peer-to-peer lending platforms has secured debt crowdfunding as one of the leading sources of non-institutional growth capital for SMEs. In the five years since its inception, debt crowdfunding has supported thousands of young businesses in their evolution, from start-ups into established small to medium sized [...]
Something must be done about the surge in short-term lets on Airbnb – or we will be left facing a housing disaster September 2, 2016 Just when it seemed news for renters couldn't get any worse – it has. Figures out today from the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) show that a surge in the numbers of short-term lets on Airbnb could be having dire consequences for renters in London. In the four months from February to June this year London Airbnb [...]
When it comes to old boys’ clubs, investment banks are far from the worst. But it may be time to launch a brown shoe revolution September 2, 2016 Footwear is not traditionally a City issue, but in recent months it has become something of a sticking point. First, there was high heels-gate, in which a PwC receptionist was sent home for refusing to wear a heel (PwC has since pointed out, quite reasonably, it had no quarrel with the height of the receptionist’s [...]
The Great Fire of London made the city an insurance hub – here’s what we need to do to maintain that status September 2, 2016 This week we’re marking the anniversary of one of London’s defining events: the Great Fire of London, which ravaged the city at the start of September 1666. It was started by nothing more than a fire from an overheated oven at a baker’s shop near London Bridge. The damage was immense. The Association of British [...]
Big banks can’t be allowed to hijack blockchain and digital currencies September 1, 2016 Digital currency and the technology that underpins it, blockchain, are still so young that nobody has worked out what they're really for yet. In this world of cutting-edge technology and pioneering disruption, we must make sure big banks and financial institutions don't try and force this new technology into old models. Last week, major financial intuitions comprising [...]
Ten ways the electric car revolution will transform the global economy September 1, 2016 The world has begun a rapid switch to electric vehicles. In the first half of this year, worldwide sales were up 57 per cent to 285,000, despite low oil prices, and there are now more than 1m electric cars on the world’s roads for the first time ever. Last February, Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) [...]
The implications of the Great Fire live on in the City’s buildings even today September 1, 2016 Three hundred and fifty years ago today, a fire broke out at a bakery on Pudding Lane. The rest, as they say, is history. Starting on a Sunday, the Great Fire raged until the following Wednesday, having ripped through the dense wooden buildings of the time. It destroyed 80 per cent of the City, some [...]
Businesses must proactively confront how they treat ethnic minorities September 1, 2016 Theresa May has not defined herself as a great defender of the rights of minorities, but in practice she has been taking an active interest in the issue. As home secretary, she reformed stop and search policies because of concerns about their negative impact on minorities. Now she has announced a new audit of how [...]