Helping refugees is a tech challenge December 17, 2015 While there have been many causes worthy of our attention in 2015, the plight of Europe’s refugees and migrants has been the most visible. There are currently 20m people feeing violence and oppression around the world and many of them arrived on our continent’s shores this summer in the hope of a better life. Shocking [...]
London house prices: TfL files planning applications for its first residential developments at Nine Elms, Northwood and Parsons Green November 18, 2015 Transport for London (TfL) may be best known for signal failures, but London's transport authority also has recently announced plans to branch out into property development. Today it announced where its first developments will be, after it submitted planning applications in Nine Elms, Northwood and Parsons Green. Between them, the three sites will yield more [...]
UK unemployment figures set to be in the spotlight – London Report November 8, 2015 Following the US jobs report on Friday, UK investors will focus on Wednesday’s release of the September employment report and October’s tally for the claimant count. They will be published alongside a raft of secondtier indicators on retail sales and house prices. Today, funeral operator Dignity is expected to reveal a jump in revenues when [...]
Eviction notice: Rising rents could topple London’s thriving tech industry October 20, 2015 If nothing is done to tackle the capital’s surging property prices, the future looks bleak for London’s small businesses. Today’s Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) “London Manifesto” revealed that over half of the 7,000 London-based small businesses it surveyed said that business property costs require urgent reform. This comes as no surprise, seeing as firms [...]
UK fintech needs more than just London: Manchester and Northern Powerhouse cities are the next hubs September 30, 2015 By some accounts the UK already leads the world in fintech – technology for the financial services sector. Much of this stems from the fact that London has always been one of the world’s leading financial centres, is home to 300 of the world’s banks and counts more than 130,000 knowledge workers in its financial [...]
From Open-plan offices to FinTech and regulation: Four ways the City is changing September 17, 2015 The City will face a number of opportunities, as well as a few adversities, in the years to come according to a new report by published by the City of London Corporation. Here's a quick round-up of the main changes: Rise of the open-plan office The rise in flexible working, technological changes and cost pressures are [...]
Three ideas for the future of London housing September 16, 2015 How do you solve London's housing crisis? A "floatilla" of floating homes on the capital's waterways and new homes built on top of hospitals or schools are just some of the ideas put forward by leading architects and developers to revolutionise how we live in London. A 100-strong shortlist of concepts, which also include a [...]
Meet the Leisure Learners: those who pick galleries over the pub September 16, 2015 If you've ever endured friends shouting garbled German greetings into their smartphones, or observed your colleagues bashing out HTML tags during their lunch hour, then you’ve witnessed the skills revolution in action. Thanks to new apps and web-based training portals such as Duolingo and Codecademy, it has never been easier to access cheap or [...]
Meet the Gartner Hype Cycle for 2015: It’s all about self-driving cars and smart dust in emerging tech trends August 18, 2015 You've probably heard of the self-driving car, but smart dust probably isn't on your radar just yet. That's because the autonomous vehicle trend has hit what's known as the peak of inflated expectation. Smart dust on the other hand, is at the earliest stage of innovation, as defined by Gartner in its annual research on [...]
QBE’s David Hall on how insurers are the unsung heroes of major sporting events: “I like to think we are the glue that allows the World Cup to operate” August 9, 2015 For A few short weeks next month, England's rugby team will find itself at the centre of the sporting universe. The World Cup will provide nailbiting thrills and drama, established stars will shine, new stars will burst into life, and seminal moments will be etched into the sport’s history books. Amid this landscape of excitement, [...]