Uber just renewed its feud with London’s regulators August 8, 2016 Uber is turning to its customers to help it fight "bureaucratic" new rules imposed by Transport for London, including an English exam "harder than the test for British citizenship", renewing its feud with regulators in the capital. The billion-dollar company said the rules would "threaten the livelihood of thousands of drivers", reducing their numbers and thus increasing the [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open August 4, 2016 The Bank of England has cut interest rates and markets are loving it. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time. US stock futures are pointing up ahead of the open. The S&P is up by 0.15 per cent, the Nasdaq is up by 0.05 per cent, while [...]
Four of the most jaw-dropping working practices at Sports Direct July 22, 2016 The dire working practices at Sports Direct have come under the spotlight again today as the Business, Innovation and Skills committee released the report outlining its findings on the company – and it wasn't pretty. Founder Mike Ashley has started a review looking at the conditions at Sports Direct's Shirebrook warehouse and in its stores, which [...]
Lessons from bankrupt footballers: They earn megabucks but are likely to squander it all. What can we learn from their mistakes? July 15, 2016 They earn megabucks but few actually make a decent plan for their post-working lives. While we’re not all multi-millionaires, everyone has something to learn from their mistakes, explains RBC’s Jonathan Gold. Modern football is synonymous with wealth, whether through its astronomical wages or lucrative sponsorship deals. But young players are often making a Faustian bargain [...]
Telematics will make you safer and save you money – by disrupting the disrupters July 14, 2016 Telematics – the technology for collecting and analysing driver behaviour – has been transforming the face of car insurance for a long time. Now it is set to play a key role in how people engage with market disrupters such as Uber and Zipcar. These new entrants give people a great deal of flexibility in how [...]
Airbnb your house: Here’s how much Londoners could be making from the sharing economy July 13, 2016 The sharing economy is growing faster in Britain than anywhere else in Europe. As it has become more expensive to own cars, homes and even electrical equipment, more of us are seeing the advantages of monetising our idle assets. PwC estimates that transactions on platforms in the five biggest sharing economy sectors almost doubled in [...]
Jaguar Land Rover will put driverless cars on Britain’s roads this year July 13, 2016 Jaguar Land Rover is the latest car maker to reveal its plans for driverless cars – and it aims to put them on Britain's roads incredibly soon. The car maker will begin introducing a fleet of driverless cars this year and by 2020, more than 100 of the vehicles will have hit Britain's roads on test routes [...]
This is how insurers can become part of the sharing economy July 13, 2016 If the general public was asked ‘what does the insurance industry do’, it’s unlikely the answer would be; ‘it supports entrepreneurial innovation and endeavour ’. But that’s precisely what insurers do and the exponential growth of the sharing economy has provided an interesting challenge for insurers in this role. Sharing enablers such as AirBnB, RideLink and Vrumi are [...]
Driverless car buyers may need new insurance covering cyber-attacks, and even ransom, a new report has warned July 10, 2016 Driverless car users may need to find cover against a raft of new dangers, including ransom payments demanded by hackers. A new paper from motor insurer Axa has warned that the rise of autonomous vehicles could lead to cars being hacked to conduct criminal activity, or even to be used a weapon. Alternatively, drivers could [...]
Comparethemarket owner prepares for listing that could value the company at over £2bn July 10, 2016 The owner of comparison site Comparethemarket is exploring a listing that could value to company at more than £2bn. An exact date for the listing has not been confirmed, but it is thought to be taking place in the first quarter of 2017. Read more: Cost of average car insurance soars to record high BGL group, the online financial [...]