Fintech start-up Elliptic raises £3.5m to launch crackdown on suspicious blockchain and bitcoin transactions March 21, 2016 London and New York-based blockchain intelligence firm Elliptic has received $5m (£3.5m) in Series A funding to help crackdown on bitcoin crime, it announced today. Elliptic, which launched in 2013, uses graph analysis and machine learning to identify illicit activity in blockchain transactions. Blockchain, a decentralised ledger of transactions, is the technology underpinning cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. The funding boost [...]
Budget 2016: Insurance premium tax raised (again) by 0.5 per cent to fund further flood defences March 16, 2016 Chancellor George Osborne announced he will be raising insurance premium tax (IPT) by 0.5 per cent in his Budget speech today. However, he also said that the money raised from the tax hike would go towards funding flood and storm defences. IPT was increased from six to 9.5 per cent last November. The new rise [...]
M&G backs £200m Snowhill scheme in Birmingham, as part of a 20 year master plan to turn the area into a business hub March 16, 2016 Fund manager M&G real estate has swooped in to back the £200m construction of Birmingham's Three Snowhill, in what will be one of the largest city office schemes to be built outside London. The 420,000 square feet building, which is being built speculatively by developers Ballymore, is part of a wider 20-year master plan to [...]
Plus500 promotes Elad Even-Chen to group chief financial officer as non-exec Paul Boyle steps down March 15, 2016 Plus500 has promoted Elad Even-Chen to the role group chief financial officer. Even-Chen is currently finance director and vice president of business development for the Aim-listed firm, where he has worked for the last four years. Prior to joining he was at KPMG, where he specialised in commerce and real estate audit. The promotion takes [...]
Crossrail 2: The north-east to south-west line gets thumbs up from Lord Adonis who says it will keep London moving so “we should get on with it right away” March 10, 2016 Crossrail 2 was given a thumbs up by an independent body today, leading businesses to urge the chancellor to press ahead with the project. London needs Crossrail 2 as quickly as possible as the capital will "grind to a halt unless significant further improvements are made" to London's transport capacity, Lord Andrew Adonis has warned. Commenting [...]
Global fintech investment in 2015 hit $13.8bn as end of year slowdown fails to derail best year yet March 9, 2016 A slowdown at the end of 2015 failed to derail a bumper year for fintech as investors ploughed $13.8bn into startups in the sector across the globe – more than double the amount of the previous year. Investors made greater bets on disruptive technology in the finance sector than ever before, committing more money to each deal. The number of mega-deals – those worth [...]
Retail sales run out of steam in February despite half-term and Valentine’s Day boost March 8, 2016 RETAIL sales slowed in February after a strong start to the year that was boosted by the January sales. Like-for-like sales rose by 0.1 per cent last month compared with February in 2015, when they had increased 0.2 per cent, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG’s monthly data released today. The February [...]
South African retailer Foschini eyes fashion chain Whistles March 6, 2016 Another South African company could soon step up its presence in the UK retail industry, this time with upmarket high street brand Whistles as the target. Foschini, a Cape Town-based retail conglomerate which bought Phase Eight last year, is said to be eyeing a bid for Whistles after its owners hired advisers at KPMG to sound out [...]
BHS to cut a third of head office jobs, as the department store chain March 4, 2016 BHS is planning to axe around a third of its head office jobs, as part of measures to keep the business afloat. The department store chain has placed around 150 jobs from its 450-strong head office into consultation this morning, a spokeswoman told City A.M. this morning. She declined to comment further. Around 100 roles have [...]
BHS appoints KPMG as it pursues CVA in bid to end deadlock with landlords over unsustainable rents March 3, 2016 Struggling department store chain BHS is set to enter into a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) in an effort to deal with "unsustainable" rents, which could see the group, previously owned by retail mogul Sir Philip Green, disposing of a number of stores. A CVA allows insolvent companies to pay creditors over a fixed period, while continuing [...]