How two ex-consultants plan to revolutionise UK consumer credit December 3, 2024 As financial services consultants at EY, Gerald Chappell and Michelle He noticed a weak spot shared by some of the world’s biggest banks: affordable personal loans. Up against ageing data-sharing systems, bureaucratic decision-making and a lack of business motivation to enter a market easily written off as “risky”, they set out to provide finance to [...]
Starmer vows to put Ukraine ‘in strongest possible position for negotiations’ with Russia December 2, 2024 The Prime Minister will say that Ukraine must be put in the “strongest possible position for negotiations” with Russia, addressing the possibility of a negotiated settlement for the first time. Speaking at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet, Sir Keir Starmer will tell attendees at the white tie Guildhall dinner that the eastern European nation must be [...]
UK needs to innovate at wartime pace, defence secretary says December 2, 2024 The UK needs “innovation at a wartime pace”, the defence secretary has said as he announced a new strategy for the industry. As he launched a defence industrial strategy, which is being developed alongside the government’s strategic defence review, John Healey said war game exercises to test the military’s capabilities will be carried out with [...]
Will our Christmas dinner guests soon be AI chatbots? December 2, 2024 Glad tidings of comfort and joy! Christmas has traditionally been a time for congregating with your fellow homo sapiens – but play nice over the turkey and sprouts this year: it could be one of the last where unmediated human interaction is still the norm. We’re about to enter a world in which AI bots [...]
9fin: Data start-up raises £40m for credit markets tech December 2, 2024 Financial data start-up 9fin has raised $50m (£39.3m) as it looks to grow a foothold in the market for debt and private capital research. The London-based fintech announced a Series B round led by growth capital investor Highland Europe. 9fin did not disclose at what valuation it had raised the money. It was reported a [...]
Impax profit drops as ESG-focused asset manager looks forward to Trump’s return November 28, 2024 ESG-focused Impax Asset Management has reported a fall in profit and continued outflows but said Donald Trump’s return to the White House could help its portfolios deliver “excellent returns”. The London-listed firm said on Thursday that its pretax profit came in at £49m for the year ending on 30 September, down six per cent from [...]
Shoppers warned to be wary of social media scams this Black Friday November 24, 2024 Fraud is set to reach an all-time high this Black Friday, with online social media scams the most likely place for fraud to occur, according to new data. UK shoppers are expected to spend £9.14bn over the four-day Black Friday weekend – a 4.5 per cent increase on last year, according to Globaldata. But fraud [...]
Why tech bros in the White House could be a good thing November 21, 2024 Elon Musk's appointment has certainly been divisive, but more tech expertise in government is only a good thing, writes Julia Adamson.
Sage: Profit booms sends FTSE 100 tech shares flying November 20, 2024 Enterprise technology firm Sage has reported a boom in revenue and profit as the UK tech champion has capitalised on artificial intelligence. Underlying operating profit at the Newcastle-based firm rose 21 per cent over the last year to £529m. Its operating profit margin grew 220 basis points to 22.7 per cent. Meanwhile, Sage’s annualised recurring [...]
UK to relaunch trade talks with India and form new Japan partnership November 19, 2024 The UK is set to relaunch trade talks with India and form a new economic partnership with Japan, Downing Street has announced. It was confirmed that trade discussions with India will reopen at the start of next year, following a bilateral meeting between Sir Keir Starmer and Indian leader Narendra Modi at the G20 summit [...]