Drones and robots may get their big breakthrough in 2021, says what3words CEO January 18, 2021 2020 was a volatile and unpredictable year for businesses large and small. In a sink-or-swim situation, the swimmers were those who responded fairly quickly to the pandemic and managed to come up with creative and innovative solutions. This often involved pivoting to an entirely new model, according to Shoreditch-based Chris Sheldrick, co-founder and CEO of [...]
What will the new tech visa rules mean for UK fintechs? March 4, 2021 Among a raft of new measures announced in the Budget the Chancellor has launched a new visa scheme to retain and attract the tech industry’s top talent. Announcing the Budget on Wednesday Rishi Sunak laid out plans to introduce “fast track” visa applications for people with a job offer from a recognised UK scale-up, together [...]
Novel coronavirus: Meet the writers who penned a book during lockdown December 3, 2021 They say everyone has a book in them, but usually that’s where it stays. Writing a novel is a time-consuming business, a months- or years-long project, often undertaken with little guarantee anyone will ever read it. Every successful author has their ‘origin story’, from JK Rowling scribbling away in an Edinburgh cafe to Dostoyevsky bashing out The [...]
How Blitzscaling can strengthen your business during the global health crisis July 28, 2020 In today’s volatile business environment, market share is up for grabs, the talent pool is wider than ever, and blitzscaling might just give you the edge over your competition. Let’s face it: Growing a business is challenging even in the best of times. Growing rapidly adds a whole new set of challenges. So what happens [...]
Morrisons posts sales growth but warns of higher Covid-19 costs January 5, 2021 Morrisons has reported a rise in sales during the second half of the year, but warned that tougher new Covid-19 lockdown measures would increase its costs. The supermarket chain posted an 8.1 per cent rise in like-for-like sales excluding fuel in the 22 weeks to the 3 January. Including fuel, like-for-like sales rose 1.9 per [...]
Deliveroo float under fire as major investors balk at workers’ rights row March 25, 2021 Deliveroo’s blockbuster stock market float is under pressure after a string of high-profile investors said they will steer clear of the IPO due to the way the company treats its workers. Legal & General Investment Management and M&G today became the latest institutional investors to announce they will not take part in the delivery giant’s [...]
Mike Ashley’s Game offloads UK e-sports arena network July 29, 2020 Game Digital is selling off its Belong Gaming e-sports arena network to US startup Vindex, following the forced closure of its locations during the coronavirus pandemic. New York-based Vindex intends to immediately begin rolling out new locations across the US, with Game Digital’s chief executive Martyn Gibbs to join the firm as Belong’s new boss. [...]
Search for mystery Brazil Covid variant narrows to 379 households March 2, 2021 The hunt for a mystery person infected with a new, more transmissible Brazil variant of coronavirus has narrowed to 379 households, the health secretary has announced. In total six cases of the new strain, also known as the P1 variant or Manaus variant, have been identified across England and Scotland. One case has still yet [...]
FTSE ends day with slump as Wall Street’s Nasdaq plunges nearly three per cent May 4, 2021 The FTSE 100 slipped back below the 7,000 point mark by the market close, despite a strong start to the week’s trading after the Bank Holiday weekend. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index fell 0.67 per cent by the end of the day, with banking stocks, including HSBC Holdings, Barclays and Standard Chartered posing the biggest drag on [...]
The City View: Adam Marshall of the British Chambers of Commerce on how to support an economic recovery August 19, 2020 Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS In this episode Christian talks to Adam Marshall, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, about the state of the economy and the prospects for a recovery. Adam believes that when government support schemes are withdrawn they must be replaced by more targeted schemes and that businesses must be [...]