London should embrace new technology to make car ownership pointless April 8, 2015 London could lead a revolution in car use and car ownership over the next decade, by divorcing the two. It may soon be unnecessary to own a car to secure the full benefits of car ownership, due to a combination of continued improvement in public transport, the surge in app-based car hire services, and the [...]
This morning I rode to work in a Metrocab, London’s first electric taxi – is this black cabbies’ Uber-killer? April 8, 2015 Since taxi app Uber launched in London two years ago, the capital's traditional cabbies have developed something of an image problem. With various strikes and lawsuits on the go, the Licensed Taxi Drivers' Association (LTDA) has lost the sympathy of many of its passengers by appearing stubborn, protectionist and out of date. But now cabbies [...]
How to unlock creativity as a driver of success April 6, 2015 Most business people are clear that creativity is an essential driver of success. Companies like Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Virgin, Tesla, and Uber set the standard that others aspire to achieve. Regular surveys of business leaders rate creativity as the most important characteristic their organisation needs to show. There’s very little disagreement: creativity is [...]
Facebook makes new friends as it doubles its London HQ March 31, 2015 Silicon Roundabout? What Silicon Roundabout? Far from fleeing to the east, Facebook has just doubled its capacity at its Euston Road headquarters, signing a lease for the top seven floors of Regent's Place. The Evening Standard reported the social media company has taken 65,000 sq ft – which is also the London base of Manchester City [...]
Uber users in Singapore can hail a Lamborghini or a Maserati March 30, 2015 Commuters in Singapore can now ride in a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder or Maserati GranTurismo, after taxi app Uber added the supercars to its fleet there. Uber has partnered with luxury car rental company Dream Drive for a trial period which runs until April 20. However, the taxi app warned customers it expects demand will be high and [...]
Uber expansion: Lessons on how to rapidly scale March 29, 2015 How does a business scale in five years, from operations in one city to a presence in over 280? Uber, the Silicon Valley tech firm, has done just that – in the meantime disrupting the entire private car hire industry. What lessons does it offer other ambitious firms? Uber is a local service operating on [...]
High Court ruling on taximeters could spell the end for Uber as we know it March 28, 2015 An application by Transport for London (TfL) to the High Court could put the brakes on Uber services in London, and it all comes down to taximeters. These are the small boxes with which taxi drivers calculate the fare over the course of a journey, and the law states that in London they can only [...]
London’s new low emission black cabs will be made in Coventry with £250m Chinese investment from owner Geely March 26, 2015 The new generation of London's iconic black cabs will be made in a new factory in the Midlands being built by a Chinese company, creating 1,000 new jobs. Geely, the Chinese firm which took over the 100-year-old British cab manufacturer Manganese Bronze in 2013, will invest £250m in building a new factory and research and [...]
Uber bets on India growth with media deal March 23, 2015 UBER has partnered with the publisher of the Times of India newspaper in a bid to shore up its position in the lucrative market – its largest outside the US. The tie up includes commercial arrangements for marketing and distribution through Times Internet, the digital arm of the Times of India Group, as the taxi [...]
Uber targets second largest market growth with Times of India partnership March 23, 2015 Uber has partnered with the publisher of the Times of India newspaper in a bid to shore up its position in the lucrative market – its largest outside the US. The tie up includes commercial arrangements for marketing and distribution through Times Internet, the digital arm of the Times of India Group, as the taxi [...]