How to invest in a recession – staycations and drinking at home will become trendy again if there’s a downturn July 27, 2016 One month on from the Brexit vote and the UK economy seems in a precarious state. Economic activity is slowing, and economists have warned there’s a risk of a recession this year. The out vote has, in the International Monetary Fund’s words, put a spanner in the works. The value of the pound has fallen too, [...]
Just Eat earnings up 62 per cent as the digital food business keeps piling on the pounds August 4, 2015 Just Eat is gobbling up market share, with earnings up almost two-thirds in the first half of 2015 as the business says it expects at least two years of “over-performance”, The figures The digital food marketplace grew revenues 54 per cent to £107.8m in the six months to 30 June, while underlying EBITDA rose [...]
Amazon Echo review: Or how I started talking to a little black cylinder every day October 25, 2016 How often do you trust Siri to do much besides setting a timer when you’re cooking pasta, or telling you whether or not it’s going to rain? Since they crept into our pockets, virtual assistants haven’t progressed much past the point of pseudo-capable helpers, who are unreliable in most roles beyond fancy egg-timers and meteorologists [...]
It takes a village: How Simon Rogan transformed a Cumbrian town into an international culinary destination July 6, 2017 The village of Cartmel lies just beyond the boundaries of the Lake District. It’s quietly beautiful, with squat stone buildings, rows of shops selling postcards and tourist knick-knacks, and a 12th century priory that dominates the town square. You can find lazy, bucolic idylls like this dotted across this part of the world; it’s the [...]
City Moves for 13 May 2016 | Who’s switching jobs May 13, 2016 Currency Cloud Currency Cloud, the international payments engine, has announced the appointment of Fiona Tee as chief financial officer (CFO). Fiona brings over 30 years’ financial and commercial experience within the technology and software industries. Previous CFO roles include Mondex International, a leading early adopter of digital payments, Intelligent Environments Europe, and Anite Telecoms. In [...]
Sedentary office lifestyles are as bad for you as smoking, so why do we all do it? April 19, 2017 “Sitting is the smoking of our generation,” you may have heard. It’s a maxim touted by health experts and the press alike, borne from our increasingly sedentary lifestyles. But why is it that, especially in London offices, many of us remain so inactive for hours at a time? A new report commissioned by Lendlease and [...]
Lost for words: The indie bookshop has weathered many storms, from the rise of Amazon to rising rents. But its future has never looked so perilous September 7, 2017 Prospero’s Books stood on Crouch End Broadway for 10 years. I remember it, though not well. The bookshops of my childhood memories are all vaguely similar – they were places where I’d be both happy and bored. To hear locals tell it, there wasn’t any sign that Prospero’s was in trouble. It seemed to plod [...]
Just Eat share price falls as it raises £445m June 9, 2015 Shares in Just Eat, the takeaway site which listed last April, fell 1.9 per cent to 416p this morning after it announced it had raised £445m through a placing and open offer. The company – listed in the UK but founded in Denmark – announced in May that it was planning to raise cash to [...]
Being smart about fees could extend pension income by 10 years June 19, 2017 Rising longevity and low interest rates are stirring up a perfect storm for investors – but a few smart decisions could help generate a sustainable income for an extra 10 years or more in later life. One smart move open to investors is to choose an investment vehicle whose costs will eat up less of [...]
Amazon’s virtual home assistant Echo comes to the UK September 14, 2016 Amazon has launched its virtual home assistant Echo in the UK and Germany, its first markets for the device outside the US, which lets users control their home and do tasks online via simple voice commands. The device, priced at £149.99 or £99.99 for Prime members, is powered by Amazon's Alexa, an artificial intelligence voice assistant similar to [...]