Liberum wins another broking mandate after employee raid October 9, 2013 LIBERUM, the investment bank and research house, has won its second new broking client in the wake of its hiring of 14 people from Espirito Santo in July. Workspace, the office rental group focused on new and growing companies, said yesterday it had appointed Liberum as its broker alongside Investec, the South African bank. The [...]
Innovation Diary: Startup collaboration isn’t new – but it’s increasingly intentional September 29, 2013 ROYAL Mail’s privatisation is certainly an expression of confidence in the company, with investment set to speed up the pace of restructuring away from its declining letters business. But the future may not be so rosy. Writing in City A.M., the futurist Ian Pearson suggested that Royal Mail’s profitable package business could itself be challenged [...]
How the geography of global innovation is rapidly changing September 12, 2013 Liam Ward-Proud investigates the cities that are attempting to foster new startup cultures WIKIPEDIA founder Jimmy Wales has called on Britain to extend its entrepreneurship visa scheme to make London more enticing to startups. He joked that “nobody wants to live in San Jose, California – it’s incredibly boring”. But the geography of global innovation [...]
From prison cells to helter-skelters September 11, 2013 Office design has come a long way since the days of windowless boxes THERE’S a point, around half way through university, when all the conscientious students put down their pints of lager, cease their earnest conversations about Middle-Eastern geo-politics and begin applying for jobs. My housemate was one of those students. Concerned at my relative [...]
Five of the UK’s coolest offices September 11, 2013 Google Located behind Tottenham Court Road station, Google’s UK headquarters features Union Jacks, allotments where employees can grow veg and outdoor workplaces called “secret gardens”. Mother London There’s only one desk at ad agency Mother: a 240ft concrete work surface that stretches through the entire building. Workers change positions every six weeks thanks to a randomly [...]
How the geography of global innovation is rapidly changing September 8, 2013 Liam Ward-Proud investigates the cities that are attempting to foster new startup cultures WIKIPEDIA founder Jimmy Wales has called on Britain to extend its entrepreneurship visa scheme to make London more enticing to startups. He joked that “nobody wants to live in San Jose, California – it’s incredibly boring”. But the geography of global innovation [...]
King of the supermarket: The long-serving boss of Sainsbury’s talks shop September 1, 2013 Justin King speaks to Elizabeth Fournier as he nears 10 years at the top of the UK’s third-biggest retailer IT’S not been an easy 2013 for Britain’s supermarkets. From January’s discovery of horsemeat in the UK food chain to the disastrous collapse of a Bangladeshi clothing factory in April, retail bosses have been forced to [...]
Innovation Diary: The Valley vs the Roundabout: London is starting to close the gap August 11, 2013 WHEN I met David Richards – the British founder of Silicon Valley success story WANDisco – last year, I asked him whether he thought London’s Silicon Roundabout could compete with its San Francisco equivalent. Richards replied: “It would be ridiculous to contrast the two.” Richards – who recently brought his product development team from the [...]
Remote working: A new approach to 9-5 January 30, 2013 LAST November, Nick Clegg hit headlines when he made a speech on flexible working. His proposal may only have extended the right to request flexible working hours to all employees, but this phenomenon is here to stay. And it won’t exclusively be for the benefit of those with children. Flexible working can be an appealing [...]
Workspace plans Tower Bridge building as pre-tax profits soar November 13, 2012 WORKSPACE yesterday posted better-than-expected half year results, driven by strong tenant demand for its trendy London office space and its focus on asset management. The company, which provides offices to some 4,000 businesses such as Moonpig, as well as the Metropolitan Police, became a stock market darling after posting stellar annual results in May and [...]