Out-going Waitrose boss to join Cabinet Office board as non-exec director November 9, 2015 Mark Price, the out-going managing director of up-market grocer Waitrose, is set to join the Cabinet Office board as a non-executive director. Price shocked the industry when he announced he would be stepping down from his role at Waitrose and deputy chairman of the John Lewis Partnership after 33 years with the company just last [...]
Russia’s insurers are too driven by the motor market – S&P Emerging Market Insurance Forum November 9, 2015 Russia's insurance industry is overly dependent on motoring, creating problems as the market goes into decline, according to research from Standard & Poor's (S&P). At an emerging market forum hosted by the ratings agency this evening, the audience were told that motor hull was responsible for 22 per cent of insurance premiums in 2014, more than [...]
E.on slapped with £7m fine over failure to supply customers with smart meters November 9, 2015 Utility giant E.on will be fined £7m by the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority for failing to supply its business customers with smart meters. The Big Six supplier has agreed to pay the fine to the Carbon Trust for missing an April deadline to ensure 20,000 of its eligible business users had access to the energy-saving [...]
Tesco boss Dave Lewis is right to take issue with the government over burdens on the grocery sector November 9, 2015 It really wasn’t that long ago that we were talking about the near total domination of one supermarket: Tesco. Indeed, Tescopoly was published in 2007, setting out a variety of charges against the retail giant. Tesco’s dominance was, according to the book, based on “profiting from poverty” as it plundered the world’s resources. Everything was [...]
London beats Amsterdam, Berlin and Paris to be named best city in Europe for digital startups – Nesta November 9, 2015 London has been named as the best city in Europe for digital startups, according to Nesta’s European Digital City Index. The capital beat rivals Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam to be named as the number one destination for digital entrepreneurs looking to start and scale up a digital business. This comes as the Mayor of London [...]
Chancellor George Osborne will wield the axe in Whitehall and make massive cuts in four departments November 9, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne will today pre-empt his upcoming comprehensive spending review (CSR) by revealing massive cuts to four government departments. The department for transport, department for local government and communities, the department for environment, food and rural affairs and the Treasury will all come under the axe, the chancellor will announce, saying he has agreed “provisional settlements” with the [...]
Britain is falling behind rivals such as the US and Germany with poor investment in research and development November 9, 2015 The UK is falling behind its competitors in research and development investment, is the message from the cross-party Science & Technology committee. In a report out today, the group warns that the government will put competitiveness, productivity and jobs at risk if it does not set out a clear plan to increase science funding in [...]
Financial journalists need not apply to be Tinder chief exec Sean Rad’s bae November 9, 2015 While diary editors are usually found bar-hopping every weekend on the hunt for gossip, The Capitalist spent her Saturday night attempting to chirpse with Tinder’s founder and chief executive Sean Rad, who popped into London over the weekend following Dublin’s Web Summit 2015 on Friday. While in Ireland, Rad told tech-types at the summit that the [...]
RW Baird chiefs on the respectful way they do business and their plans to expand in the City November 9, 2015 Think banking is all about “sharp elbows,” gruelling hours, and job-hopping ‘til you reach the top? Zealous midwesterners Paul Purcell and Steve Booth, who run wealth-management-cum-investment-bank outfit RW Baird, say that they offer a more respectful way of doing business. Their bank has long-term partners, a “no asshole policy”, and has ended deal-related incentives for [...]
Britain needs to concentrate on high-growth markets instead of emerging economies – EY November 9, 2015 Britain should concentrate less on the emerging economies and more on high-growth markets if it wants to increase its share of global exports, a report by financial services company EY says today. Launched to coincide with United Kingdom Trade & Investment’s (UKTI) export week, EY Item Club’s analysis draws research undertaken over the past three [...]
