Own, loan, or Drover: How the subscription economy is shaking up the car industry December 7, 2018 Felix Leuschner looks far too young to have founded three successful businesses. This German-born entrepreneur was just 23 when he launched what became Europe’s largest marketplace for gaming goods, where players could trade virtual products. After selling that company just nine months later, he moved to London and started a fast-fashion website called Stylistpick, collaborating with [...]
Debate: Do we need more regulation to tackle late payments to SMEs? December 7, 2018 Do we need more regulation to tackle late payments to SMEs? Yes – Jordan Marshall is policy development manager at IPSE. SMEs represent 99.9 per cent of all private sector businesses. Included in this figure are 4.8m self-employed people – the UK’s smallest enterprises. A report from MPs this week exposed the shoddy practices of [...]
Michael Spencer buys $52m controlling stake in life insurance startup Singapore Life December 6, 2018 Veteran investor Michael Spencer is to invest $52.7m (£41.3m) in insurance startup Singapore Life, in a deal that gives him command over the company. Spencer’s investment company IPGL has acquired a 33.8 per cent stake in the startup from Chong Sing Holdings, a Hong Kong-based financial group, bringing his total stake to 63.2 per cent. The [...]
Royal Mail, Kier Group and Thomas Cook set to lose out in tomorrow’s FTSE reshuffle, as insurer Hiscox looks set to join the big league December 4, 2018 Royal Mail will need a miracle to avoid relegation from the FTSE 100 Index tomorrow, as insurer Hiscox looks ready to step into its place as a blue chip firm. The winners and losers of the last FTSE reshuffle of the year are to be announced tomorrow afternoon, with Thomas Cook, Kier Group and 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 [...]
Lloyd’s of London chief operating officer to leave as exec churn continues November 21, 2018 The chief operating officer of insurance market Lloyd’s of London has resigned, continuing the stream of exits from its top team. Lloyd’s said today that operations chief and executive committee member Shirine Khoury-Haq had resigned, with plans to leave the insurance market in the first half of 2019. Khoury-Haq, who had been with Lloyd’s for [...]
City skyscraper Twentytwo set to lure in another insurer November 20, 2018 The City's tallest skyscraper is expected to land yet another major insurance tenant in the coming weeks, with news this afternoon that broker THB Group is in talks to rent 35,000 square feet of space. THB Group is set to become the third insurer to move into 22 Bishopsgate, known as Twentytwo, once construction is completed [...]
The number of people banned from the financial services sector rose 28 per cent last year November 12, 2018 The number of individuals banned from working in the financial services sector by regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rose 28 per cent last year, research published today shows. There were 23 people banned from working in the industry by the FCA in 2017-18, up from 18 the previous year, according to City law firm [...]
Former Vitality boss picks up £3m from Zoopla backer Localglobe November 8, 2018 Transferwise, Citymapper and Zoopla backer Localglobe will today reveal its latest investment into Yulife, a lifestyle insurance and rewards startup founded by Sammy Rubin, the former chief executive of insurance giant Vitality Life. Fintech investor Anthemis and Ourcrowd also joined the round, with AIG coming on board to underwrite all policies. Launching today in the UK, [...]
UK data watchdog fines Arron Banks’ insurance firm and Leave.EU campaign £135,000 November 6, 2018 An insurance firm owned by Arron Banks, as well as the Leave.EU campaign he founded, face fines totalling £135,000 from the UK's data watchdog. Banks's Leave.EU Brexit campaign and his company Eldon Insurance (trading as Go Skippy) were each given notice of fines of £60,000 by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for serious breaches of the Privacy [...]