Jack Dorsey’s Square posts $379m revenue for first quarter as losses narrow May 5, 2016 Payment processing firm Square, started by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, has reported revenue of $379m (£262m), a 51 per cent increase year-on-year, beating analysts' expectations. Analysts had been expecting the company to report $344m in revenue. The mobile payment firm reported sales of $374.4m in the previous quarter. Transaction revenue was $300m, while Starbucks transaction revenue was the next [...]
Shareholder spring freezes over: Reckitt Benckiser, Rolls Royce, and GlaxoSmithKline give their approval to executive pay plans May 5, 2016 The prospect of a fresh shareholder spring was delivered another blow today. Shareholders of consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser, engineering firm Rolls Royce, and drug-maker GlaxoSmithKline all gave their approval to their respective executive pay packages with votes coming in above 80 per cent in favour across the board. Reckitt, now rebranded as RB, had the toughest time of the three [...]
London fintech star Azimo lands millions from Rakuten May 5, 2016 More money is pouring into London fintech as one of its star startups has landed new investment from Japan's biggest ecommerce firm Rakuten, among others. Digital money transfer firm Azimo has raised $15m (£10.3M) in a new round, bringing its total investment to $47m. The new cash will be used to fuel expansion in Asia. “We serve a growing community of hardworking migrants who are [...]
Oxford and Cambridge slip down the world’s university rankings – as two red-bricks drop out of the 100 May 5, 2016 As students prepare to get stuck into their A-Levels, the Times Higher Education has published its annual ranking of the world's universities. The good news is that UK universities make up 10 per cent of the world's 100 highest-ranked institutions. The bad news? We've lost two from the top 100 – while our top two have slipped down. [...]
We don’t believe you can teach old dogs new tricks (and some of us don’t even want to try) May 5, 2016 Bad news: Not only does our collective lack of a pension pot mean we're prevented from quitting the day job as early as we'd like, research released today suggests that our colleagues aren't even pleased that we're still hanging around the office. The study by Canada Life Group Insurance found that there are still many [...]
How to nail team bonding when you work in a virtual office May 5, 2016 Businesses no longer live in one space. Even small firms regularly have employees in offices (or home offices) spread around the world. From startups to large corporations, the growing levels of work flexibility, improving technology and new concepts such as the talent cloud mean that people management is no longer confined to the office space. [...]
Crowdfunding platforms beware: The banks – and others – are eating your lunch May 5, 2016 European crowdfunding platforms could be left fighting for their piece of the pie. Incumbent financial players, including asset managers and banks, not-for-profit organisations, and non-financial firms are entering the crowdfunding business in increasing numbers. Recent research that I conducted with Politecnico di Milano’s Massimiliano Guerini, Evila Piva and Cristina Rossi-Lamastrais analysed the proliferation of crowdfunding across [...]
How crowdfunding is giving exciting businesses the chance to do a “top-up” round – and why they need to be careful May 5, 2016 Choosing how to finance a company at any particular stage is a complex decision, with no simple, right answer. We are an app-based provider of beauty services to your home, operating in London. Since launching in 2013, we have raised over £5m from angel investors, which has enabled us to build two flagship stores and [...]
These are the UK’s 10 highest paying companies according to new research from Glassdoor May 5, 2016 We've probably all wondered if the tech, banking and consulting sectors were really as lucrative as they seem to be. Now, a new report from recruiter Glassdoor has confirmed all our suspicions: they really, really are that well paid. In its inaugural pay report, Glassdoor has identified the 10 highest paying companies in the UK, [...]
Finding the capital’s next Clooney: The new mayor must be a brand manager and spokesperson May 4, 2016 Much has been written about the candidates standing in London’s mayoral election. But in the hubbub about housing policies and Heathrow expansion, one of the things that doesn’t get talked about is what they’ll do for “Brand London”. London is a huge brand, and a valuable one. It accounts for more than half of the [...]
