My vision as City minister: I want UK finance to be the world’s most competitive June 30, 2015 During my two decades in the financial services industry, I always enjoyed the important annual events that bring the industry together. It was great to be back at The City UK’s conference yesterday, speaking this time in my new job as the government minister responsible for financial services policy. I’m proud of the [...]
City minister Harriett Baldwin wants financial services to secure economic recovery – but not at the expense of trust June 30, 2015 Economic Secretary to the Treasury Harriett Baldwin said she wants the UK to retain a "globally competitive finance sector", but added that it must also focus on building trust. Financial services are "visibly successful", contributing to economic growth at a high level, she said. Her vision for the sector, however, is for it to play [...]
London FinTech startup Currency Cloud raises $18m series C funding from Rakuten, Sapphire Ventures and other investors June 23, 2015 One of London’s FinTech stars has landed a new round of funding as investors scramble for a piece of London’s booming financial technology sector. Currency Cloud has landed $18m (around £12m) from investors, including ecommerce giant Rakuten, in its latest funding round, just a week after London cemented its status as the tech capital of [...]
Britain’s world-leading financial services industry is more than just the City June 21, 2015 Financial services” does not equal “London”. This is my message overseas – but it is equally important to say it on these shores as well. Like all lord mayors, I speak to and for the whole of the UK’s financial and professional services community – of which London is only a part. Our work is [...]
Britain’s hottest startups grew six times the rate of UK businesses June 19, 2015 Britain’s hottest startups are fuelling economic growth and job creation, growing at six times the rate of the rest of the UK’s businesses. The Future Fifty, a group of the country’s brightest and most promising high-growth tech businesses identified by Tech City UK, increased their workforce by 30 per cent in the last year, compared [...]
London tech has already surpassed San Francisco – and it can do better yet June 18, 2015 London beats New York for finance, Boston for universities, and has the world’s most exciting arts scene. But it’s tech innovation that has the greatest potential to drive London’s future growth. No other city in the world can match our cluster of ideas, talent and capital. The potential is dizzying. If we can bring [...]
Five FinTech startups to watch: RBS, Lloyds and American Express back finance innovation June 17, 2015 Five tech startups seeking to disrupt the financial industry have caught the eye of some of the world's leading firms in the sector. A savings app, a company using visual cryptography to create secure passwords and a real-time sales platform for local businesses are just three of the winners in the search for startups creating [...]
London Technology Week: Britain’s brilliant at FinTech – now it must realise its global ambitions June 17, 2015 Anyone who’s seen Love Actually will remember the speech by Hugh Grant as the Prime Minister when he stands up to the US President and explains some of the unique things about Great Britain that make our nation truly great. “We may be a small country, but we're a great one, too. The country of [...]
London’s getting an insurance tech accelerator as Startupbootcamp expands FinTech startup search June 16, 2015 A new global tech accelerator has been launched London which will search for tech companies around the world which can bring new innovation to the traditional world of insurance and its well-established companies. As FinTech takes off in the capital like never before, tech accelerator Startupbootcamp has added the new sector to its roster to [...]
London Technology Week: Tech City is an awesome success story combining the best of Silicon Valley, Wall Street, New York and DC June 16, 2015 I emigrated from Silicon Valley a little more than ten years ago to work at a very young startup at the time, Skype. It was so new then that I spent months correcting friends’ pronunciation of the company name from Skype-ee to Skype. At that time I was exasperated at the dearth of candidates for [...]