Bank of mum and dad facing a funding crisis as children rack up £6,000 in withdrawals May 18, 2016 Parents are dipping into savings, eating up their pay packets and even taking out credit cards to provide assistance to their supposedly financially independent children. Over half of all parents have been tapped up by children over the age of 18 for financial assistance from the “bank of mum and dad”, according to a new [...]
Dreaming of Derby success: Bill Esdaile visits Newmarket ahead of this year’s Classic May 17, 2016 With this year’s Investec Derby just over two weeks away, Newmarket is a hive of activity as the world’s most prestigious flat race draws ever closer. While trainers finalise their preparations for Epsom, breeders in the same equine parish are plotting the creation of future contenders. Trainer John Gosden, who saddled last year’s winner Golden [...]
We’ve hit peak stuff: Why we now spend on “doing” rather than “things” May 17, 2016 Earlier this year Ikea’s head of sustainability suggested the West was approaching “peak stuff” – the idea that consumer appetite to own ever more goods was probably waning. Indeed it seems that we’re seeing a fundamental shift in consumer behaviour from buying products to spending money on experiences. We’ve been keeping an eye on this trend at Visa [...]
Lessons from New York: Bigger is no longer better in the new world of ambitious scaleups May 17, 2016 Every business is a hypothesis based on a bet. And if you want to bet big, grow small. That’s the lesson I learned on a recent visit to New York to meet the scaleup businesses aiming to become tomorrow’s titans. Of course, think New York and you think big. The Big Apple, big business and [...]
Long Weekend: Healthouse Las Dunas in Marbella, the five star detox hotel with a menu created by a two-Michelin-starred chef May 16, 2016 The weekend: Smoke too much? Drink too much? Check into Healthouse Las Dunas, where they don’t let you do very much at all. Its detox programmes – lasting between two and 21 nights – use a blend of healthy fine-dining, medical consultations, cooking lessons and spa treatments to relax and re-educate its guests. Or just [...]
Aerobics in the aisles: How supermarkets could solve the obesity crisis, according to Oliver Wyman May 16, 2016 Are the UK's Big Four supermarkets responsible for the obesity crisis? Global management consultancy Oliver Wyman seems to think so. In a report released today, Oliver Wyman has said the Big Four "hold the answer" to the crisis should be using their "considerable influence" to save one million people from being obese and 1.5mn from being [...]
Watch out Tesco, now Amazon’s creating its own-brand range May 16, 2016 Is Amazon trying to eat even more of Tesco and the rest of the supermarkets' lunch? Not satisfied with muscling in on the grocery world with speedy deliveries straight to your door, the retailer-slash-tech giant is now planning on selling its own-label range of food and other sundries, according to reports. A new line of products that [...]
City Moves for 13 May 2016 | Who’s switching jobs May 13, 2016 Currency Cloud Currency Cloud, the international payments engine, has announced the appointment of Fiona Tee as chief financial officer (CFO). Fiona brings over 30 years’ financial and commercial experience within the technology and software industries. Previous CFO roles include Mondex International, a leading early adopter of digital payments, Intelligent Environments Europe, and Anite Telecoms. In [...]
Dragon boats and running a firm: What business can learn from this unusual sport May 13, 2016 A dragon boat team has to work in the same direction. If the paddles don’t hit the water at the same time, they knock each other, creating inefficiency. If you don’t reach far enough with the paddles, they don’t deliver enough power and the boat goes slower. If not deep enough, then you are wasting [...]
Eight of London’s best rooftop bars and summer terraces in London to drink cocktails, eat BBQ and get sunburned, from Chelsea to The City to Canary Wharf May 11, 2016 The weekend's mini-heatwave may already seem like a distant memory, but fear not – we're due plenty more long, hot afternoons that are good for nothing but sitting on a terrace sipping pink cocktails and sweating. But where can one achieve such a glorious thing? Well, let us tell you – here's a round-up of some [...]