Technology can save the high street and future-proof the entire retail ecosystem March 8, 2019 Ever since the first online transaction over a quarter of a century ago, we’ve been bombarded with a growing number of claims that the high street is dead and online is king. The recent downfall of former offline strongholds such as BHS, Toys R Us, and House of Fraser are often cited as evidence that [...]
Chinese fintech giant Ant Financial buys up UK currency exchange Worldfirst February 14, 2019 Ant Financial has agreed a deal to acquire UK currency exchange Worldfirst, solidifying the firm's presence outside of China. The deal comes after an attempt by Ant Financial to buy US remittances firm Moneygram was blocked by US regulators last year, citing national security concerns. Worldfirst was said to be valued at around $700m (£547.9m) and [...]
China’s success among western firms will depend on the desirability of the brand February 5, 2019 Not a week goes by when there isn’t a data print-out of China posting the weakest number since… well pick a year. Last Friday, for example, the Caixin manufacturing survey posted a second consecutive month of contraction and the lowest reading since 2016. The slowdown has triggered a set of 2019 growth downgrades from the analyst [...]
Alibaba revenue growth slows to weakest pace in three years January 30, 2019 Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba's revenue grew at its slowest pace in three years last quarter, as the ongoing US-China trade spat and a general slowdown in the region weighed heavily on its busiest period. Asia's second most valuable public company published revenue of 117.28bn yuan (£13.4bn) for the three months to 31 December, compared to 83bn yuan a [...]
JD.com and other Chinese retailers slash iPhone prices in a bid to reverse poor sales January 11, 2019 Some of China's biggest retailers have dropped the price of older iPhone models following weak demand for the phones. iPhone resellers JD.com and Alibaba-backed Suning are among those to have cut the prices of the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and XR models by over a fifth in an attempt to boost sales. Read more: Apple issues profit [...]
Ofo pulls bikes from London streets as international division closes down January 10, 2019 Cycle-sharing platform Ofo has reportedly taken its bikes off the streets of London as the Chinese firm closed its international arm this week. Staff working for the company, which brought hundreds of its bikes to London in 2017, still have their jobs for now after the closure, a source told the Financial Times. Read more: Alibaba-backed [...]
WPP to slash 3,500 jobs as it launches new streamlining strategy December 11, 2018 Advertising group WPP is cutting 3,500 jobs as it restructures the business and shifts its focus to technology in a bid to stave off competition from tech giants. WPP today said it will spend £300m over the next three years as it simplifies the business, aiming to make annual savings of £275m by 2021. The [...]
The founder of DNAFit on how understanding our genetic makeup can help us get healthy December 3, 2018 We can see physical traces of our genetics in our parents, but for the most part, our DNA is a mystery that many of us can never truly comprehend. But what if we could understand some of the unique information captured in our DNA, so that we could use it like a map, helping us [...]
Banks should watch out – the fintech era has barely begun November 20, 2018 The fintech sector makes a lot of noise in London. There’s an endless stream of news about open banking and challenger banks, while the traditional finance sector watches on with a mixture of admiration and suspicion. Banks have come under attack, not only from the hype-machine, but more meaningfully from startups. Traditional finance providers that assumed [...]
Chinese online retailer JD.com’s revenue growth slows amid trade war concerns November 19, 2018 Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com today reported its slowest quarterly revenue growth since its 2014 initial public offering. The company, which is backed by Walmart, Google and China’s Tencent, reported a 25 per cent rise in revenues for the last quarter, totalling 104.8bn yuan (£11.75m). But the growth was well below previous rates, which hit 60 per [...]