Crowdfunding: Enter the disruptive finance revolution October 1, 2015 The funding situation for British startups has changed irrevocably since the global financial crisis. Equity crowdfunding has quickly become an important funding mechanism for many small businesses and is now a major part of the UK’s entrepreneurial finance landscape. Currently valued at £146m in 2015, this is almost double the figure for 2014, and [...]
B&M Retail bags £1.1bn to buck market gloom June 12, 2014 B&M RETAIL yesterday shook off the gloom in the new issues market to debut the biggest stock market flotation in London since Royal Mail. The budget chain, chaired by former Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy, raised £1.1bn by selling 40 per cent of the company to City investors. Shares rose in informal trading to close [...]
Inside Track: United banking syndicate does a sound job for B&M June 12, 2014 Given that one of the City’s star fund managers said less than three weeks ago that the Saga flotation had “probably killed” the market for further new issues, bankers were mightily relieved yesterday that shares in B&M immediately ticked up nicely in first day trading for the discount retailing group’s shares. So frayed were nerves [...]
Black Friday UK 2015 deals: Asda confirms it is “calling time” on the bargain bonanza day November 10, 2015 Looking for Black Friday deals? Don't bother checking out Asda this year. Black Friday might be rather more grey at the supermarket for 2015, with the Walmart-owned supermarket confirming it is scaling back its plans around the bargain bonanza day. The supermarket said it was "calling time" on the day, and instead of stomaching the [...]
Christmas travel: Engineering works to disrupt train services including Gatwick Express, Heathrow Express, Thameslink, Southern, Southeastern and many, many more December 18, 2015 Hoping to get away this Christmas? Well, start working on plan B because Network Rail has other ideas. This Christmas and New Year, one of the biggest-ever investment programmes is being carried out on the country's train infrastructure. New station facilities, longer platforms, extra tracks, new junctions and thousands of pieces of new equipment will be installed [...]
When blockchain meets online lending: The business using one to improve the other April 13, 2017 Leveraging technology to create a new asset class has been done a fair amount in the financial world – most notably in recent years by the P2P industry, which makes credit more accessible, faster and cheaper for individuals and business while delivering a return to investors, via increasingly accurate risk profiling. Sydney-based platform Othera goes [...]
Rugby World Cup 2015: Bryan Habana equals Jonah Lomu’s all-time try record as South Africa thrash United States October 7, 2015 South Africa head coach Heyneke Meyer hailed Bryan Habana after the winger equalled Jonah Lomu's all-time record tally of 15 World Cup tries. Habana plundered a hat-trick as the Springboks routed the United States 64-0 at the Olympic Stadium — a victory that guaranteed their progress to the quarter-finals as Pool B winners. Flanker Fancois Louw [...]
Delays at Kings Cross Station after 40 year-old man is detained by police following evacuation August 13, 2015 British Transport Police (BTP) have detained a 40 year-old man on suspicion of intent to supply a Class B drug at King's Cross Station, after hundreds of passengers were evacuated just before the beginning of the evening rush hour. On Twitter, users reported the station being "full of armed police". Others said platforms 1-8 were [...]
Equity crowdfunding: The 2016 refresher guide for investors January 21, 2016 Alternative finance has provided us with several new asset classes, and one of them is equity crowdfunding. In 2015, the global crowdfunding industry grew to $34.4bn – more than doubling from a year earlier – according to a report from Massolution. In the UK, research from Alt Fi published in November of last year suggested [...]
UK house prices: Persimmon share price falls despite jump in sales November 4, 2015 Are housebuilders finally feeling the heat? FTSE-listed builder Persimmon reported a 12 per cent sales hike in the third quarter this morning – but shares continued to slide after the sector had a spot of bother with a broker yesterday. The figures Sales were 12 per cent higher in the period since it reported its half year results on [...]