Bottom Line: Bookbuyers need time – and tea February 2, 2014 WHAT is a bookshop for? Waterstones boss James Daunt is staunching the bleeding, as shown by the slowing rate of losses in the latest results. But to cure the patient, he needs an answer to that question. It’s harder than it seems. With Amazon winning on volume and price, chains like Waterstones need to find [...]
Amazon ends free delivery for orders of less than £10 July 23, 2013 ONLINE shopping giant Amazon yesterday scrapped free delivery on many orders worth less than £10, in a sign that the retailer may finally be attempting to improve profitability. The change, which was announced with immediate effect, means thousands of small items will no longer be accessible for supersaver delivery, which takes up to five days [...]
Any Other Business – 14/04 April 14, 2014 THERE’S a manhunt afoot following Southeastern’s revelation that a senior City executive, thought to be a hedgie, had racked up a record breaking £43,000 in dodged fares over the past five years and had to pay out a £42,550 penalty plus £450 in legal fees in the past few weeks. The fund manager had been [...]
The data toolkit: What small and medium-sized firms need to know May 28, 2014 BIG DATA has moved beyond the technology hype cycle, and is now a cornerstone of digital economies across the world. As we approach 30 per cent of humanity connected to the web, big data has become relevant to companies of all sizes. Although we have a large number of SMEs in the UK relative to [...]
Letters to the Editor – 11/04 – Thatcher’s children, Problem with MBAs, Best of Twitter April 10, 2014 Thatcher’s children [Re: Why Sajid Javid could soon become the Tories’ great hope, yesterday] If the Conservative party wishes to win the 2015 election, it desperately needs a new leader and a change of political direction that encompasses the views of the electorate. Javid may be the only person who could pull off this dramatic [...]
What you need to know before the US open March 13, 2014 US stock futures are pointing to a slightly better open for markets today, and no doubt the slew of data just out – all of which is better-than-expected – means investors have plenty to digest. Bonds have slipped after the encouraging data, with the dollar gaining ground against the euro, too. Initial jobless claims fell [...]
In a field of his own: FarmDrop’s Ben Pugh talks crowdfunding and the future of our food July 27, 2014 In the time it’s taken FarmDrop founder Ben Pugh to discuss his company with me, it crowdfunded £13,000. After just eight days on crowdfunding platform Crowdcube, FarmDrop raised more than its £400,000 investment target. A new way of doing food is, it seems, quite popular. The FarmDrop concept is simple: it streamlines the food [...]
Waterstones’ new owner cuts full-year losses February 2, 2014 HIGH street bookseller Waterstones has narrowed its losses by more than a third in its first financial year since being snapped up by Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut. Accounts filed last week on Companies House show that pre-tax losses fell to £23m in the year to 27 April from £37.3m the previous year. This includes £5.4m [...]
Balderton starts $300m tech fund April 1, 2014 LONDON tech startups are being targeted as part of Balderton Capital’s new $305m (£183m) early stage investment fund for Europe, that it announced yesterday. Balderton, the tech venture capital fund whose investment record includes Lovefilm and Betfair, said the new fund would focus on companies seeking Series A funding – which is funding that was [...]
How smaller business can use big data to help drive growth May 28, 2014 Your company may be sitting on an unused information goldmine BUSINESSES are in the middle of an information explosion. In 2012, IBM estimated that 90 per cent of the data in existence had been created in just the two prior years. The International Data Centre, meanwhile, forecasts that the market for big data will reach [...]