Sydney cafe siege: Uber offers free rides after price rise triggers angry criticism December 15, 2014 Taxi firm Uber is offering customers in Sydney free rides out of the city’s central business district, where at least one gunman is currently holding a group of people hostage in a cafe. Uber had initially come in for criticism after its price for rides in the area surged to a minimum $100 as [...]
New York provides a better environment than London to foster innovation June 24, 2015 New York is the city that best fosters innovation and entrepreneurship, closely followed by London, according to a report that has just been launched. The city initiatives for technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship (CITE) report analysed 40 world cities to see where policy has created the best environment for entrepreneurship and disruption. The cities were tested [...]
Zac Goldsmith: 2016 London mayoral candidate hits back at Labour over business record October 14, 2015 Conservative mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith has hit back at Labour attacks on his business record, defending his positions on Heathrow expansion, the European Union and the role of business in the capital. The Richmond Park MP told City A.M. in an interview yesterday: “I don't think we've ever had a Labour party that is more [...]
Uber driver held in India over rape allegations after woman reports assault in Delhi December 7, 2014 Controversial ride hire service Uber was back in the spotlight yesterday after Indian police arrested an Uber cab driver suspected of raping a female passenger and said they would take legal action against Uber for failing to run background checks on him. Police opened an investigation after a 26-year-old woman reported that she had been [...]
P2P lender Zopa has a new chief executive Jaidev Janardana as Giles Andrews steps aside August 30, 2015 Peer-to-peer (P2P) lender Zopa has announced that former chief financial officer Jaidev Janardana has been promoted to the top spot with immediate effect. Janardana will implement the lenders strategy for its next phase of growth, as it targets £1bn in new loans for 2016, and aims to build a brand that becomes a mainstream service for [...]
Uber reaches $40bn valuation in $1.2bn fundraising as it bids to expand services December 4, 2014 RIDEHIRE service Uber has raised a massive $1.2bn (£765m) in its latest funding round, finally confirming the previously rumoured investment in a blog post last night. Travis Kalanick, Uber’s founder and chief executive, said the funding would be used “to make substantial investments, particularly in the Asia Pacific region.” The round is understood to value [...]
Uber launches first Christmas charity campaign following PR storms and bans in Spain and New Delhi December 9, 2014 After a seemingly never-ending series of controversies and criticisms, taxi hailing app Uber is hoping to raise some Christmas cheer with its biggest charitable undertaking to date. Uber has teamed up with US charity Share Our Strength to work on their “No Kid Hungry” campaign which aims to eliminate child hunger in the US [...]
Uber driver rape allegations: Can taxi app overcome its latest scandal in New Delhi? December 8, 2014 The controversial ridehire app faces public outcry after one of its drivers is accused of rape in New Delhi. Uber's success, its $40bn (£25.6bn) valuation and its rapid adoption as a verb is marred with questionable business practices and a rapid global expansion that has now brought into question whether Uber is “safest rides on [...]
Uber boss Travis Kalanick sorry over inhumane dirt-digging row November 18, 2014 The chief executive of Uber, Travis Kalanick, issued a grovelling apology on Twitter yesterday after a senior member of his team said the company should dig up dirt on hostile journalists to retaliate for bad publicity. Kalanick branded the comments made by senior vice president for business at the ride-sharing company Emil Michael “terrible”, adding: [...]
Brands without borders: OMD’s Nikki Mendonca on the digital single market November 22, 2015 Sharing data across jurisdictions remains a headache for brands that operate within a number of different markets. The situation may be about to become a lot easier in Europe, however, due to the European Commission’s digital single market strategy. “I’m optimistic about what these changes would mean for brands,” says Nikki Mendonça, president of OMD [...]