Happy birthday Aim: How 20 years of London’s junior market stacks up June 19, 2015 Today is the 20th anniversary of the UK's junior market: despite the fact Aim is currently sitting 24 per cent below its opening price, it has enjoyed some remarkable success stories. The market started with just 10 components at its launch back in 1995; these days, 1,074 companies are listed on Aim. Its value has [...]
City Moves for 19 June 2015 | Who’s switching jobs June 18, 2015 Brooks Macdonald Group Ghislaine Perry has been appointed head of group marketing at the wealth management group. She joins from Brewin Dolphin, where she was divisional director of marketing. Perry has also held roles at Insight Investment, Merrill Lynch Investment Managers and Axa IM. VentureFounders The equity crowdfunding platform has announced three appointments. Jamie Beare [...]
Oxford Street property deals set to reach £1bn by end of this year June 17, 2015 The revamp of the eastern end of Oxford Street and the imminent arrival of Crossrail has sparked a flurry of property deals this year, with investors flocking to get a slice of London’s busiest shopping street. According to CBRE, seven record-breaking transactions totalling £645m have taken place since January, of which five were undertaken off-market. [...]
Five FinTech startups to watch: RBS, Lloyds and American Express back finance innovation June 17, 2015 Five tech startups seeking to disrupt the financial industry have caught the eye of some of the world's leading firms in the sector. A savings app, a company using visual cryptography to create secure passwords and a real-time sales platform for local businesses are just three of the winners in the search for startups creating [...]
Sainsbury’s and Tesco ditch Transport for London’s Tube station Click & Collect scheme June 17, 2015 It seems the retail revolution is still a little way off, after supermarket giants Sainsbury's and Tesco ditched a scheme introduced by Transport for London (TfL) to let shoppers collect their groceries at Tube stations. Read more: TfL given the green light to turn its HQ into flats The scheme, introduced amid much pomp and [...]
Applegreen IPO: Irish owners net €20m in petrol station listing June 16, 2015 Two Irish entrepreneurs are in line for a €20m (£14.37m) windfall after floating their petrol forecourt business on the London stock exchange. Bob Etchingham and Joe Barrett, who founded Irish petrol station group Applegreen 23 years ago, will net €15m and €5m respectively from the listing, according to regulatory documents filed yesterday. Both [...]
London’s getting an insurance tech accelerator as Startupbootcamp expands FinTech startup search June 16, 2015 A new global tech accelerator has been launched London which will search for tech companies around the world which can bring new innovation to the traditional world of insurance and its well-established companies. As FinTech takes off in the capital like never before, tech accelerator Startupbootcamp has added the new sector to its roster to [...]
Retail administrations claimed 5,000 jobs last year June 16, 2015 Nearly 5,000 people lost their jobs as a result of retail administrations last year, including Phones4U, La Senza, Jane Norman and Internacionale, a new report has revealed. The UK’s 13 biggest high street failures led to 735 stores closing up and down the country in 2014, with half the roles put under risk ultimately [...]
Apax Global Alpha share price rises after IPO as parent floats new listed vehicle on London market June 15, 2015 Shares in Apax’s new £585m listed fund Apax Global Alpha rose nearly five per cent as trading kicked off in the stock on the London stock exchange yesterday. The private equity firm raised £218.2m from investors last week to float the fund on London’s main market. The vehicle is comprised of investments made by Apax [...]
London Technology Week: The hunt for London’s unicorn tech startups June 15, 2015 There's no doubting the impressive numbers rolling out of London Tech Week. There’s also no lack of people willing to shout about these impressive feats, whether it be entrepreneurs, investors, economists, or the mayor himself. More than a dozen of London’s tech types today gathered near the summit of the Shard to kick off London [...]