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 [...]
How to sweet talk your way onto the shelves at Harrods August 11, 2013 Annabel Palmer talks trade fairs and sherbet lemons with the founders of premium confectionary company Jealous LUXURY confectionary brand Jealous has been in a year-long hiatus following a modern-day tale of David versus Goliath. Like many startups before it, the company has been tied up in a trademark tangle with a market leader, and [...]
Innovation Diary: The Valley vs the Roundabout: London is starting to close the gap August 11, 2013 WHEN I met David Richards – the British founder of Silicon Valley success story WANDisco – last year, I asked him whether he thought London’s Silicon Roundabout could compete with its San Francisco equivalent. Richards replied: “It would be ridiculous to contrast the two.” Richards – who recently brought his product development team from the [...]
Why sometimes the idea can matter less than the execution August 4, 2013 Annabel Palmer talks home cooking with Deepinder Goyal, founder of online restaurant and nightlife guide Zomato THE key to creating a successful startup often lies with having the idea before anyone else gets there. Countless wannabe entrepreneurs have claimed “I had the idea for Facebook long before Zuckerberg,” yet didn’t deem it worth pursuing. But [...]
Innovation Diary: The lessons in failure our entrepreneurs could learn from the US August 4, 2013 TYPICALLY, nine out of ten entrepreneurship ventures fail. A cursory glance at some of the most inspirational business founders of the past decade – like Peter Thiel, who after founding Paypal saw his hedge fund Clarium Capital lose 90 per cent of its $7bn (£4.58bn) assets – suggests the reality of starting up your own [...]
DRS decisions could damage our careers, fears Rogers August 1, 2013 AUSTRALIA opening batsman Chris Rogers believes persistent umpiring errors in the Ashes series could be career-damaging, after the Decision Review System was again called in to question on the opening day of the third Test at Old Trafford. The tourists, batting first, reached 303-3 at stumps with captain Michael Clarke playing an inspirational unbeaten innings [...]
