The personal data wake-up call business needs to hear March 23, 2018 TO BORROW a phrase, with great power comes great responsibility. The scandal that has erupted around Facebook and Cambridge Analytica this week has shocked the markets, with billions wiped off the value of Facebook and social media stocks hitting the skids as investors fear a regulatory backlash. The situation appears to be a dereliction of [...]
Will ‘app only’ be the norm for financial services? March 21, 2018 Mobile apps for smartphones and tablets only came into existence a decade ago, but they have fast become an essential component for managing modern life. Users prefer apps as they’re an easy-to-use version of a full website, or because they represent a simplified version of a longer process. They offer the intuitive delivery and instant [...]
Lucy Watson and Clive Watson discuss Tell Your Friends, London’s upcoming vegan foodie hotspot March 19, 2018 Growing up as the daughter of a man who has launched and sold several successful pub chains, Lucy Watson never thought she would launch her own hospitality business. “I always thought of it as quite a manly industry,” she says. Apart from sometimes working as a waitress in his pubs, her aspirations were fixed elsewhere. [...]
Investors plan to plough even more into private equity this year – and get more back through distributions March 13, 2018 Investors in private equity funds are planning to plough even more money into the asset class over the next 12 months, according to a new survey, after a record year in 2017. These institutional investors, surveyed by adviser Rede Partners which helps match private equity funds with investors, are also expecting to get “significantly more” [...]
How to start investing March 9, 2018 A sense of trepidation is normal for first-time investors. While choosing, managing and monitoring your own investments has never been simpler, those new to investing should first get to grips with the basics in order to help avoid any nasty surprises. Here are some of the main factors you should consider. Set your priorities before [...]
Where’s the beef? Meat substitutes are suddenly big business: we try the UK’s first plant-based ‘bleeding burger’ and ask if meat will one day be a thing of the past March 8, 2018 In the mockumentary Carnage, Simon Amstel imagines a future in which eating meat is as socially unacceptable as cannibalism. Groups of elderly people sit in therapy sessions trying to come to terms with the atrocities they committed against the animal kingdom, with the narrator quipping “‘Meat-free Monday’ now sounds about as appealing as ‘ethnic cleansing-free [...]
Will one of these 26 companies joining Tech City’s Future Fifty become the new Zoopla or Just Eat? March 7, 2018 An AI-driven cybersecurity company, a fashion industry analytics business and a tech-based language teaching company are among the 26 UK startups that have been identified as potential future tech stars. Darktrace, Featurespace and Firefly are among the companies joining companies such as SpitfireAudio, Thread and Superawesome on Tech City’s Future Fifty programme. Future Fifty alumni [...]
The risks of pension drawdown – and how to help combat them March 1, 2018 Pension investors have two main options at retirement: Continue investing and take out money from their pot as and when needed (also known as pension drawdown), or buy an annuity that guarantees a regular income for life. This is a complex issue facing retirees, and any decision to use drawdown must be carefully considered. Drawdown [...]
Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish: VAR is “incredibly dangerous” for Premier League February 28, 2018 Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has described the potential adoption of video assistant referee (VAR) technology as an “incredibly dangerous road” for football to go down. The Palace part-owner warned that football’s hold on TV audiences could be broken by adding breaks to a game at a time when attention spans are dwindling. “I’m very [...]
New Barclaycard “Dine & Dash” technology to be trialled at Prezzo allows eaters to walk out of a restaurant without waiting for the bill February 27, 2018 One of the most frustrating parts of eating out, according to a survey conducted by Barclaycard, is waiting for the bill. So the payment business has developed a new technology which allows diners to simply walk out after eating their meal. The “Dine & Dash” technology, which is being trialled at the St Martins Lane [...]