Hedge fund Lansdowne bets on market reversal in major portfolio shakeup October 21, 2019 Hedge fund Lansdowne Partners has reportedly undergone a major repositioning of its portfolio, betting that financial markets are nearing a reversal that will lead to falling bond prices and a slump in tech stocks. Read more: Thomas Cook collapse set to net hedge funds millions Lansdowne, one of Europe’s biggest hedge funds, is predicting a [...]
Crypto AM shines its Spotlight on Venrai July 21, 2020 Venrai provides a suite of compliance advisory, security audit and technology development services to those organisations possessing appetite to seize the disruptive benefits afforded by blockchain technologies. What is the opportunity? Blockchain can most succinctly be described as the “Internet of Value”. Whereas the internet itself is merely a digital communication network, excitement quickly ensues [...]
Kester Capital backs management buyout of Yougarden October 21, 2019 Kester Capital has thrown its weight behind a management buyout of Yougarden, as the online garden centre seeks to grow its influence over the UK’s horticultural market. Founded in 2012, Yougarden operates a direct-to-consumer brand and also supplies retailers including Amazon, Groupon and Shop Direct. Read more: M&A activity targeting UK slumps amid no-deal Brexit [...]
Who do you think you are? A conscious AI workforce could lead to a world of slaves February 18, 2020 With artificial intelligence (AI) promising to make huge numbers of people redundant across a swathe of industries, there’s been much discussion of “the world without work”. Some see in that a utopia, in which automation provides us all with limitless free time; others, a nightmarish end to human dignity. But if the machines do take [...]
Digital sovereignty: Time for Britain to take back control of our data March 5, 2020 They might not realise it, but the average person uses 36 cloud-based services every day. Chatting on WhatsApp, watching Netflix, sharing your work calendar with colleagues — all these services use the cloud, a network of remote servers accessed over the internet. But the cloud systems used by Europe have long been far from European. [...]
M&S shares jump after Goldman Sachs hikes rating December 9, 2019 Shares in Marks & Spencer jumped this morning after investment bank Goldman Sachs hiked its stock rating following improvement in the retailer’s troubled clothing and home division. The company’s share price was up more than four per cent after Goldman Sachs issued a “buy” rating, from its previous “sell” recommendation, in a boost for the [...]
Swap your office’s dominance dynamics for cognitive diversity September 12, 2019 “Meetings predict terrible outcomes even more powerfully than smoking predicts cancer.” This is the verdict of Leigh Thompson, a world expert on group dynamics. Thompson became interested in human relationships as a teenager when she witnessed her parents going through a painful divorce. She almost became a marriage guidance counsellor, but settled for academia instead. [...]
US markets hit fresh record high on trade deal optimism January 13, 2020 US stock markets hit fresh all-time highs today as investors optimistically await the signing of “phase one” of the US-China trade deal. Indices were also boosted by expectations of a pick-up in profits for US companies as fourth-quarter earnings season kicks off. Read more: Donald Trump: US to suspend planned tariffs after reaching China trade [...]
Startups clash with watchdog over digital merger regulation March 3, 2020 British startups have been plunged into a bitter war of words with the competition watchdog as the two sides clash over how major tech mergers should be regulated. Industry body the Coalition for a Digital Economy (Coadec) has penned a scathing letter to chancellor Rishi Sunak warning that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) risked [...]
DEBATE: Is it time for a review of the licence fee and how the BBC is structured? December 17, 2019 Is it time for a review of the licence fee and how the BBC is structured? Jamie Williams, managing partner at the advertising agency isobel, says YES. In a perfect world, the BBC licence fee structure could remain as it is, and the BBC would produce brilliantly entertaining content and unbiased news coverage at affordable [...]