Retail sales defy gloomy predictions ahead of a bumper Black Friday November 18, 2016 Retail sales have outperformed expectations ahead of the nation's biggest shopping spree – Black Friday. According to the Office for National Statistics, the volume of retail sales increased by 7.3 per cent in October compared to the same month in 2015 – the highest growth rate for fourteen years. The amount spent online grew by [...]
Automotive and tech firms are poaching each other’s talent to pull ahead in the driverless car race October 3, 2016 Automotive and IT firms are poaching each other’s talent in a bid to nudge ahead in the driverless car race, according to research by CPA Global. Its analysis found that more than 20 patent inventors have made the switch from automotive to IT companies or vice versa since 2008, with Google’s self-driving car programme serving [...]
The new space race: Private companies are getting into the business of space travel – and it could produce the world’s first trillionaire May 30, 2017 Five-minutes’ drive from Kennedy Space Center, among the marshes and pine trees of Merritt Island Wildlife Reserve, lies Shuttles Restaurant & Bar. On the back wall is a massive photograph of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, soaring into space on the back of an orange fuel tank. Bolted to its side are two white rockets, spouting [...]
Focus On Bayswater: Why Notting Hill’s overlooked neighbour is the next big central London investment opportunity January 6, 2017 Around any piece of prime central London, you’ll find a forlorn district on the outskirts whose fortune has improved immeasurably in recent years. Priced out of premium areas, buyers are increasingly moving to these formerly unpopular areas in search of space and affordability – and changing these areas in the process. Bayswater is a prime [...]
Rising social awareness is driving a business start-up revolution February 3, 2017 It’s a growing global movement reflecting a shift towards a more inclusive business model: social entrepreneurship promotes new approaches to solve old social problems, creating shared financial and social value. The UK is viewed around the world as a leader in social enterprise and creating social value through entrepreneurship. According to the UK Government, there [...]
Singles Day: What can British retailers learn from China’s version of Black Friday? November 11, 2016 Today marks the world’s largest e-commerce event. No, it’s not Black Friday yet – Singles Day is taking place in China, and it’s bigger than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. At midnight local time it took Alibaba just 52 seconds to take its first 1bn renminbi (£116m) and just under seven minutes to reach 10bn [...]
Biotech, robots, Fangs – what’s the hottest tech to invest in? July 26, 2016 The sudden craze for mobile game Pokémon Go has brought the spotlight back onto the potential for investors in technology. The game became the fastest-adopted in history following its release two weeks ago, and shares in co-owner Nintendo rose a massive 70 per cent. The share price has since been tempered with a 17 per cent [...]
All Saints scores fourth consecutive year of growth October 31, 2016 Fashion brand All Saints has posted its fourth consecutive year of growth. In the year ending 30 January 2016, the company clocked up total sales of £252.5m, an increase of nine per cent from £231.3m the year before. Read more: All Saints edges closer to sale amid administration fear UK sales increased 7.4 per cent to [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open July 12, 2016 Major US markets are on a tear hitting record highs and the UK blue-chip index is in bull market territory. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time. It seems nothing can stop the equity ball rolling now, with futures pointing yet higher ahead of the open. The [...]
Twitter fires its new head of VR… in the same week it hired him October 19, 2016 Twitter is ploughing on into the world of virtual reality, though it faced a small setback today after announcing it had fired its new head of VR (roughly 48 hours after he started his new job). A Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur, Gregory Gopman, had joined the struggling social network to work on a nascent team charged with [...]