Just Eat share price rises as it celebrates 51 per cent surge in orders November 3, 2014 Shares in newly-listed online takeaway marketplace Just Eat rose 2.8 per cent in early trading as it reported a large surge in orders during its third quarter, with like-for-like orders up 51 per cent. Total orders rose 56 per cent, rounding off a positive interim statement. The company said its strong performance "reflect[ed] both the [...]
Finding Britain’s next Future Fifty: Tech City’s Gerard Grech in search of new UK stars October 29, 2014 Four London floats, over £260m of investment raised and just 10 months later, Gerard Grech is hunting for the UK’s top tech stars to join his new cohort. London has changed dramatically in the past year since Tech City UK, then simply Tech City, named 50 high-growth tech firms which would join its scheme [...]
Charismatic chief executives could be bad for firms October 29, 2014 Compelling as they may be, strong leaders can lack humility. I am soft, I am lovable, but what I really want to do is reach in, rip out their hearts and eat them before they die.” Not the words of a general before battle, but Lehman Brothers’s last chairman and chief executive Dick Fuld, [...]
Small is beautiful: Why the age of big business and big government is over October 29, 2014 THE CORPORATION has never been less fashionable. Politicians are falling over themselves to tell voters how they will constrain, bully and regulate large companies. It makes sense. The polls tell them that trust in the corporate world is at derisory levels. A recent Populus survey found 61 per cent wanted the government to be tougher [...]
Restaurant review: Tredwell’s – Marcus Wareing’s new venture in St Martin’s Lane October 29, 2014 Upper St Martin’s Lane, which neatly bisects the tourist wastelands of Leicester Square and Covent Garden, seems like the last place Marcus Wareing would pick for his third UK restaurant. His flagship venture “Marcus” – formerly Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley – is a two Michelin-starred love-letter to formal dining (and home to one of [...]
London’s top tech advocate October 27, 2014 Universities are not producing the graduates needed for London’s booming tech sector. While that’s not a new problem, it is the number one issue affecting businesses in the capital, according to a private sector-led group of 1,000 so-called Tech London Advocates – including BT boss Gavin Patterson, Facebook’s EMEA vice president Nicola Mendelsohn and Lastminute.com [...]
Outside the box: SpaceWays founder David Fuchs talks unwanted cars, Mexico and sexiness October 26, 2014 Budding entrepreneurs will frequently tell you that it’s heartfelt passion driving them to set up a business. But the substance of many highly-successful companies isn’t all that exciting – think chipmakers, paper shredders, kebab boxes. “It’s not that I always dreamt of owning a storage business. Nobody does that. It’s not sexy to go [...]
From cut-price gym fees to stop-smoking programmes: The dark side of staff health schemes October 22, 2014 Remember the look of successful businessmen of the past? With a self-satisfied grin and a greasy face, they’d sit down to enjoy a fine meal, with a swollen gut testing the strength of their belt. To no one’s dismay, these rounded figures have largely disappeared from the corporate scene. Still, we shouldn’t be overenthusiastic about [...]
Index expecting $10bn EU startup October 21, 2014 LONDON’S top venture capitalists expect the European startup scene to continue turning out hit tech firms, with a partner at Index Ventures predicting Europe will produce a $10bn (£6.2bn) firm within three years. “We will likely see a couple of European $10bn exits in the next two or three years. The pipeline of European companies [...]
Is the City giving you sleeping problems? Forget tablets – here are seven proven ways to help you get a good night’s sleep October 21, 2014 The City is not a place conducive to regular, high-quality sleep. Long hours and late nights spent staring at a computer screen mean even when we do get to bed, it can be difficult to switch off. It is often a vicious cycle, too – the less sleep we get, the more we worry [...]