Uber wins right to appeal Transport for London’s (TfL) English written tests for private hire drivers as court date is set for 20 February 2018 | City A.M. June 27, 2017 Transport for London (TfL) has announced it will push back the introduction of a written English language test for private hire drivers from September this year to April 2018, after Uber won its right to appeal the matter. The case will be heard from 20 February next year. The ride-hailing app lost a High Court [...]
What the rise of populism means for your investments October 25, 2016 "Fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists” was how David Cameron described members of Ukip in 2006. A decade later, Ukip has achieved its principal ambition of a Brexit vote and Cameron is no longer a politician. The growth in support for populist political movements across Europe and other developed economies has been rapid. Founded just six [...]
Kingfisher kicks off B&Q store closures as quarterly profits rise May 28, 2015 Kingfisher, Europe’s biggest home improvement retailer, said it has found buyers for a quarter of its stores earmarked for closure as it posted a rise in first quarter retail profit yesterday. Kingfisher plans to close 60 B&Q stores over the next two years in a major overhaul of the business revealed by new chief [...]
Inconsistency versus insincerity: Why this US presidential race leaves me utterly miserable April 22, 2016 I know I’m not the only person turned off by politicians’ sound-bites, but I understand why they do it. Thanks to focus groups, A/B testing, and data analysis, campaigns know which words and phrases will have the greatest impact; and repetition works. But the levels of absurdity the current US presidential race has reached should [...]
Giftastic! Giphy raises $17m valuing gif search platform at $80m February 16, 2016 Who knew gifs could be such a money-spinner? Giphy, a platform dedicated to creating and distributing animated gif images, has raised $17m (£11.3m) in a series B funding round that values the firm at $80m (£53m). The two-year-old New York-based company raised the funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners, General Catalyst and other previous investors (Betaworks, CAA [...]
We’ve not even scratched the surface of fintech’s true potential – and banks will struggle to keep up May 26, 2016 Fintech innovation has seen rapid growth over the past few years and is producing businesses with scalable products. In turn, senior executives at banks are responding to the challenge these businesses present and have begun to set up their own incubators to capture this rapid innovation. Driving much of this has been the rise of [...]
London Cocktail Club launches £750,000 crowdfunding campaign to open more bars March 8, 2016 London Cocktail Club is tapping margarita lovers and party-goers for £750,000 after launching a crowdfunding campaign to help fund more bar openings across the capital. The company, which counts restaurateur Raymond Blanc and Dragons Den judge Sarah Willingham among its backers, has turned to Crowdcube to raise new equity, with £135,000 raised so far. It currently has five basement [...]
London Fintech startup Digital Shadows raises $14m from Trinity Ventures, Paladin Capital and existing investors February 9, 2016 One of London's up and coming fintech startups Digital Shadows has landed $14m of new funding from venture capital investors. The cyber security firm which counts the Bank of England among its clients, raised the series B round from Trinity Ventures and Paladin Capital as well as existing investors Storm Ventures, TenEleven and Passion Capital. "Given Trinity's long and [...]
The real rules of engagement: iProspect’s Matt Adams on B2B, game theory and Snapchat November 15, 2015 When marketers discuss the purchasing habits of young consumers, business-to-business (B2B) transactions are seldom mentioned. “It may sound strange, but the grey-haired B2B purchaser in the pin-striped suit isn’t the norm anymore,” says Matt Adams, managing director of digital performance agency iProspect. Last month, the Dentsu Aegis Network shop launched its new global B2B [...]
Identity and security: The price we must pay to keep our information safe – and the companies helping us do it May 17, 2016 In ancient Roman mythology, Janus, the god of boundaries, is usually depicted as having two faces. Skip a few thousand years to today’s modern world, and many of us still wear more than one mask: there’s the one we present at work, one we wear in front of family, and others we wear in front [...]