The business built to help customers outsource their chores September 15, 2013 Annabel Palmer meets Raj Singh, co-founder of the online marketplace Sooqini, who shunned job security for a career as an entrepreneur ACCORDING to Raj Singh, founder of online marketplace Sooqini, we are now living in a “gig economy”. His theory, albeit paraphrased from Michael Lewis’s The New New Thing, goes that people no longer want [...]
How to exploit global export opportunities with careful planning September 15, 2013 Liam Ward-Proud looks at three vital points for startups that are planning to sell abroad ECONOMISTS at RBS have just released research into the attractiveness of foreign markets, concluding that “there are export opportunities around the globe that British businesses aren’t fully taking advantage of.” This comes little more than a week after the ONS [...]
Innovation Diary: Three things we can learn from the high growth small business gazelles September 15, 2013 OVER 350,000 new firms have been launched in the UK this year, and confidence is rising. Aldermore Bank research, released on Friday, saw small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) confidence in the economy climb for the fourth consecutive quarter. Yet this tells us little about what it takes to succeed as a UK startup. As Mark [...]
The startup spicing up Britain’s wealth management industry September 8, 2013 Annabel Palmer meets Nick Hungerford, who switched the Valley for Vauxhall to found the online investment management firm Nutmeg THE British public has long been accustomed to depositing their earnings in a bank account, or investing through an established stockbroker. But Nick Hungerford wants to disrupt the centuries-old wealth management industry, in precisely the same [...]
How the geography of global innovation is rapidly changing September 8, 2013 Liam Ward-Proud investigates the cities that are attempting to foster new startup cultures WIKIPEDIA founder Jimmy Wales has called on Britain to extend its entrepreneurship visa scheme to make London more enticing to startups. He joked that “nobody wants to live in San Jose, California – it’s incredibly boring”. But the geography of global innovation [...]
Innovation Diary: British entrepreneurs aren’t lazy – but life could be getting easier for part-time small businesses September 8, 2013 NEW RESEARCH from Hiscox, the insurer, has turned some heads. Its fifth annual study into the entrepreneurial DNA has found that UK small business owners work an average of only 37.6 hours a week – down from 38.5 in 2012. Based on a relatively small sample of 3,000 business owners across six countries, the UK [...]
Finding the right ingredients to freshen up the UK food industry September 1, 2013 Annabel Palmer talks to Patrick Drake, who switched litigation for ladles to create grocery delivery service Hello Fresh EATING well and leading a healthy lifestyle are virtues many aspire to. But if your skills in the kitchen are limited, and time even more so, sometimes such aspirations fall by the wayside in favour of a [...]
Innovation Diary: Success breeds success: Why startup networks are important September 1, 2013 BRITAIN is the best place in Europe to be an entrepreneur. This, at least, is the conclusion of a study released by Ernst & Young last week. While the UK lags behind the US, South Korea and Australia, the G20 Entrepreneurship Barometer credited Britain’s regulatory framework, its tax system, its culture, and its financial sector [...]
The former trader hailing in a new way to book your minicab August 18, 2013 Annabel Palmer talks getting about town with Justin Peters, founder of minicab price comparison website Kabbee OUR City’s cabbies have been hit hard by the recession. London residents’ trips by licensed taxis and private hire vehicles (combined) fell by an estimated 23 per cent between the 2007-08 and 2008-09 financial years – and have [...]
Innovation Diary: Why the rise of the intrapreneur may be picking up momentum August 18, 2013 MANY startups are sceptical of claims that big corporates understand small business. It certainly suits an image, but the reality is often different. A recent inquiry found, for example, that small and medium-sized businesses were owed a record £35.3bn in late payments at the end of 2012, with big firms the main culprits. Many startups [...]