Why debt crowdfunding platforms must evolve to support scaling businesses and rejuvenate a tired crowd September 3, 2016 Setting the global benchmark for alternative finance, Britain’s effective embrace of peer-to-peer lending platforms has secured debt crowdfunding as one of the leading sources of non-institutional growth capital for SMEs. In the five years since its inception, debt crowdfunding has supported thousands of young businesses in their evolution, from start-ups into established small to medium sized [...]
Txiki Berigistain: Manchester City director says club remains committed to developing young players despite summer spending spree September 3, 2016 Manchester City's director of football Txiki Begiristain says the Premier League club remain committed to developing and blooding youth despite a record-breaking summer spending spree. City gave new manager Pep Guardiola the ultimate show of support by bankrolling a £181m transfer window splurge on new players including £47m centre-back John Stones, £15m Spanish winger Nolito and £23m German international Ilkay Gundogan. [...]
As more and more airlines launch new routes to Iran, this increasingly open country is fast becoming a popular tourist destination September 2, 2016 T he Islamic Republic of Iran is a destination rarely found near the top of travellers’ bucket lists. It is, after all, ruled over by a strict theocracy, one in which police patrol shopping malls to enforce a mandatory dress code, and social media continues to be blocked across the country. Yet in the cities, [...]
Cafe Society film review: Woody Allen conjures up old Hollywood glamour for this formulaic, but enjoyable, romance September 2, 2016 The Cannes debut of Woody Allen’s latest film was marred by controversy when French comedian Larent Lafitte made a jibe about the allegations of sexual impropriety made against the director. The picture itself, however, is a decidedly uncontroversial trip down Tinsel Town’s memory lane. Set in the 1930s, Jesse Eisenberg plays a young man lured [...]
The Entertainer at the Garrick: Kenneth Branagh is on top form again in this perfect post-Brexit play September 2, 2016 In 1956 the Suez Crisis signalled the end of Britain as a world power, and its demise on the global stage is mirrored in the lives of Archie Rice and his family. Television and rock ‘n’ roll threaten to eclipse the traditional English music hall, and Kenneth Branagh’s Archie, scion of a vaudevillian dynasty, is [...]
Summer transfer window 2016: What does the Premier League’s spending extravaganza mean for the wider European game? September 1, 2016 Just over two months after its national team were humiliated in front of Europe at the hands of Iceland, English football has reminded the world, when it comes to the transfer market, it remains king. The Premier League flexed its financial muscles this summer by spending a record-breaking £1.165bn on new players, crushing the outlay of Europe's biggest leagues. Europe's [...]
Big banks can’t be allowed to hijack blockchain and digital currencies September 1, 2016 Digital currency and the technology that underpins it, blockchain, are still so young that nobody has worked out what they're really for yet. In this world of cutting-edge technology and pioneering disruption, we must make sure big banks and financial institutions don't try and force this new technology into old models. Last week, major financial intuitions comprising [...]
Back to school: From Postcapitalism to The Silk Roads, these are the business books you need to read this year September 1, 2016 Schools are returning and the City is beginning to wake up after the summer – but have you finished your holiday reading list? Whether you're returning from a summer break or just quickly boning up before school starts, here are the five business books you should have read this summer: 1. Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator [...]
City Moves for 1 September 2016 | Who’s switching jobs September 1, 2016 Knight Frank Knight Frank residential development has appointed Tom Hawkins as partner in its new homes team. Tom joins the firm from Hamptons International, where he worked for 10 years and latterly ran the new homes sales team. Tom previously led the sales of Portobello Square, W10, Aberfeldy Village, E14, and Rathbone Market, E16 – the [...]
Tom and Sam Curran interview: Surrey brothers in arms with world at their feet August 31, 2016 Youth is said to be wasted on the young. Not so the Curran brothers, Tom and Sam; Surrey’s trailblazing all-rounders who have every intention of realising their vast potential and ambitions. Sam picked up his A-level results just weeks ago, on the same day as Surrey’s One-Day Cup quarter-final win at Northamptonshire. He was debating whether [...]