Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered Labour’s first Budget in 14 years, announcing £40bn of tax rises, Central London Alliance comments
Carwow backer Episode 1 revs up with new £60m venture capital fund as SyndicateRoom launches new EIS | City A.M. December 1, 2017 Episode 1, the software-focused venture capital firm, has launched a new £60m fund to seed UK entrepreneur-led companies. The Enterprise Capital Fund is 60 per cent larger that Episode 1’s first, and received investment from the likes of the British Business Bank and later-stage venture capital firm Draper Esprit. Simon Murdoch, former Amazon UK chief [...]
Carwow backer Episode 1 revs up with new £60m venture capital fund as SyndicateRoom launches new EIS | City A.M. December 1, 2017 Episode 1, the software-focused venture capital firm, has launched a new £60m fund to seed UK entrepreneur-led companies. The Enterprise Capital Fund is 60 per cent larger that Episode 1’s first, and received investment from the likes of the British Business Bank and later-stage venture capital firm Draper Esprit. Simon Murdoch, former Amazon UK chief [...]
Mind the skills gap: A plan to future-proof the UK workforce November 30, 2017 How do we close the skills gap in this country? At the recent World Skills competition and conference in Abu Dhabi, I learnt that this is not just a UK problem, but also one faced by countries across the world. Addressing this imbalance sits front and centre of everything this government is trying to achieve [...]
Questioning AI ethics doesn’t make you a gloomy Luddite November 29, 2017 Last month, Google-owned DeepMind introduced AlphaGo Zero, the latest evolution of AlphaGo, the first computer programme to defeat a world champion at the ancient Chinese game of Go. Speaking at Web Summit earlier this month, Kevin Bandy, chief digital officer at Cisco, told the audience that “there are more moves in this one game than [...]
Investing in disruption: Is the US tech boom a bubble? November 28, 2017 It has been a fantastic year so far to be a technology investor. The Fang (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google) stocks are leading again and are now up 33.6 per cent on average year to date. Add Tesla and Nvidia into the mix, and we have a group of businesses that capture the imagination of both [...]
Bricks or clicks? Rumours of the high street’s demise have been greatly exaggerated November 28, 2017 The way we shop may have changed markedly over time, but the nation’s appetite for shopping is as voracious as ever. This was shown, once again, in the frenzy around Black Friday and Cyber Monday, now important landmarks in the retail calendar. Early estimates suggest that spending exceeded £7bn. The fundamental shift has been driven [...]
Victoria Beckham’s fashion brand nabs £30m from Paul bakery chain backer Neo Investment Partners November 27, 2017 Victoria Beckham Limited (VBL), the luxury fashion brand founded by the former Spice Girl whose name it shares, has caught the eye of London-based Neo Investment Partners. The growth investor, which specialises in high-end brands, has ploughed £30m into VBL to allow the company to expand its digital and physical retail presence. Beckham’s fashion business [...]
DEBATE: Is there any point to Black Friday and Cyber Monday in Britain? November 27, 2017 Is there any point to Black Friday and Cyber Monday in Britain? Olga Kotusr, chief executive and founder of retail startup Mercaux, says YES. Black Friday has matured into a major event in the UK retail calendar. While some may be sceptical about it (and the new “Cyber Monday” craze that now follows it), for [...]
Crowdfunding round on Seedrs launches for London’s latest meal delivery startup Independence Market, to rival Hello Fresh and Blue Apron November 27, 2017 Today sees the launch of London’s latest meal delivery startup, Independence Market, on crowdfunding platform Seedrs. But this business – described by its founder as “Amazon meets Avon” – is not just another Hello Fresh, Blue Apron or Graze replicant. With Independence Market, Rob Hocking – a teaching fellow at Oxford University’s Said Business School, [...]
And…We’re Live! November 24, 2017 After a lot of hard work (but thankfully not too much blood and tears), today we announced the public launch of the appScatter platform. Head over and take a look – we’d love to hear your thoughts! For the last year or so we’ve been adding interested parties to a waitlist. Those patient souls will [...]