Ashes 2015: Joe Root to stand tall for White Rose as his county colleagues wither July 7, 2015 England's preparation for the Investec Ashes series has seen them tap into the knowledge and experience of former players. Read more: Root is now a master of all trades This culminated on Sunday night with a team meeting led by Sir Ian Botham: a player whose Headingley heroics took place before any of [...]
What entrepreneurs can learn from sport – Investec Comment July 5, 2015 It's as true in sport as it is in business: everything you do has a risk attached. I’m a rower and have been training for the past two years to compete at the Paralympic Games in Rio next year, but there was nothing inevitable about me getting to this stage in my career. Before [...]
Ben Stokes: I won’t back down if Aussies target my short fuse at Ashes July 2, 2015 England all-rounder Ben Stokes insists he will not shy away in the face of Australian attempts to rile him during the Investec Ashes series this summer. Read more: We’ll fight fire with fire in Ashes, England boss Trevor Bayliss tells Aussies The 24-year-old has reaffirmed his international quality this season with the standout [...]
Coral-Eclipse may prove to be a tough test for Golden Horn July 2, 2015 French Derby winner New Bay’s absence from tomorrow’s Coral-Eclipse (3.45pm) at Sandown means that Investec Derby winner Golden Horn is as short as 1/3 with Betway to see off his four rivals and land the 10 furlong Group One contest. Read more: Buick backs Jack Hobbs to gain Derby revenge on Golden Horn However, those [...]
Cricket Comment: Bayliss factor already apparent and worlds away from last Ashes July 1, 2015 Head coach Trevor Bayliss may only have started work with the England team last week but he will already have had a massive influence and that will only gather momentum during the Ashes series this summer. Read more: Root is now a master of all trades As I touched on in a previous column, [...]
Ronson merges petrol forecourt retailers and signs £1bn BP deal June 29, 2015 GERALD Ronson has merged his two petrol retailing businesses Snax 24 and Rontec to create one of the UK’s largest roadside retail businesses with £1.5bn of sales. The merger sees Snax 24’s 44 sites added to Rontec’s 166 forecourts to create a business with 210 petrol service stations, including two motorway sites. The enlarged Rontec [...]
Bill-paying app Velocity raises $12m in venture funding June 28, 2015 A smartphone app which lets diners pay for their meal and drinks without requesting the bill has raised $12m (£7.6m) in one of the largest first funding rounds for a tech business in the UK. Velocity, which was founded by two childhood friends in March 2014, has already signed 300 high end restaurants to [...]
Investec Comment: Asset finance for startups: How it can help June 28, 2015 MUCH of the discussion about small business finance focuses on the very early stages of a company’s life. Will a bank lend the money it needs for its initial stages of growth? If not, what other options does that firm have? What can be done to make it easier for very new companies to borrow? [...]
Stock Exchange Dinner beats the competition June 25, 2015 THE annual Stock Exchange Veterans’ Dinner saw a huge turnout at the St Paul’s Grange Hotel last night, despite competing with several corporate events in the same building. Last night saw a whopping 37 banks, businesses and firms put on their glad rags for a night of glamour, gourmet cuisine and generosity at the annual [...]
Weak performance in mining sector is a drag on the FTSE – London Report June 25, 2015 WEAK mining stocks and persistent concerns over Greece’s debt problems weighed on the UK market yesterday. The benchmark FTSE 100 equity index closed down 0.5 per cent at 6,807.82 points. Miners took most points off the index, with the FTSE 350 Mining Index falling 1.8 per cent as copper prices lost ground. The FTSE 100 [...]