Top startups in call to keep London #1 European tech hub September 2, 2014 London's top startups and venture capital firms will today urge the UK government to relax rules and taxes in order to maintain the capital’s status as the top European tech hub. The so-called Startup Manifesto – written by policy group Coalition for a Digital Economy (Coadec) led by former government adviser Guy Levin – [...]
Bank veteran Liz Airey to orbit Jupiter Fund Management as chair steps back September 2, 2014 Jupiter Fund Management swapped one investment banking veteran for another yesterday after its chairman was forced to retire due to ill health. Former SG Warburg financer Liz Airey was appointed chairman after incumbent Jamie Dundas, a former Morgan Grenfell banker, was forced to step down. Dundas, who is 63 and also a non-executive [...]
Gimme 5: September events for entrepreneurs September 1, 2014 UCL Advances Small Businesses briefing session A lunchtime briefing on how to join the next cohort of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses programme. 12.30pm, 9 September. Free www.ucl.ac.uk/advances Grow Online Marketing Masterclass Hosted by Grow, the small business marketing experts, the event will cover the nine areas of digital marketing you need for [...]
Crowdfunding Hollywood: Why the UK will finance the blockbusters of the future August 31, 2014 Over the years, the nationality of baddies in Hollywood films has offered a pretty reliable barometer of American geopolitical preoccupations. During the Cold War, there was an abundance of Russian villains on the big screen, with snow on their boots, vodka on their breath and their fingers on the nuclear trigger. More recently, jihadi terrorists, [...]
Beer of the realm: Cobra founder Lord Bilimoria talks creativity, GM crops and cracking pubs August 31, 2014 If you haven’t enjoyed a Cobra beer yourself, you’ve probably had a curry with someone who has. Karan Bilimoria founded Cobra Beer in 1989. It’s a well-documented story by now: the entrepreneur and life peer saw the need for a beer that was less gassy than lager but not as heavy as ale. Cobra claims [...]
Why the future is collaborative for banks and fintech August 27, 2014 THE INTRODUCTION of paper money revolutionised the way we exchanged goods and services. Now, the booming UK financial technology (fintech) sector is fast changing the way we bank, invest and raise money. Thanks to a large and sophisticated consumer market, a high concentration of global financial institutions, and the availability of capital, fintech has found [...]
Peer-to-peer lending can help you to save for retirement August 27, 2014 How could peer-to-peer (P2P) lending help you reach your retirement goals? First, it’s a good way to grow capital. According to Zopa calculations, if you lent a £1,000 lump sum initially over its platform, and then added £500 each month, you would end up with a total pot worth £304,390 after 25 years, and [...]
Crowdfunding Scottish independence: Voters on Indiegogo seek to give their sides a push August 21, 2014 Crowdfunding hub Indiegogo has taken a turn for the political. With exactly four weeks to go until the Scottish referendum, voters from both sides of the argument have created crowdfunding campaigns to give their side a good auld push. In the Yes corner, a group is offering to present a festival and subsequent album of [...]
Insurers fear a £1bn blow from pensions cap as DWP insists saver benefit August 19, 2014 Insurers face a £1bn hit from the new pension fund fee cap which comes in next year, Royal London claimed yesterday – five times above the £200m cost the government predicts over the coming decade. However, the mutual is likely to make little headway complaining about the fees. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) [...]
Next generation finance: How London can cement its leadership in fintech August 19, 2014 The launch of Innovate Finance, a new body dedicated to supporting fintech (or financial technology) in the UK, at Canary Wharf this month highlighted London’s ability to become the global centre of the sector. They say there is no “fin” in San Francisco and no “tech” in New York – but there is certainly both [...]
