In the market for disruption: SapientNitro chief executive Nigel Vaz on consumer expectations October 25, 2015 Most disruptive companies have certain characteristics in common. They adapt constantly to stay ahead of the curve, they are dedicated to digital and deliver excellent customer service. Nigel Vaz, global chief strategy officer and European chief executive of SapientNitro, likens such businesses to gryphons – mythical hybrids with the wings of an eagle and the [...]
Best of the Brokers for 21 October 2015 October 21, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com POUNDLAND Investec has initiated coverage of Poundland with a “hold” rating and a target price of 300p. The broker said near-term profit benefits from the integration of 99p Stores are expected to return Poundland to 20 per cent growth or more in 2017 [...]
Zut alors: Not a single UK company makes the Top 100 Global Innovators list again – but French firms make up 10 per cent of the list November 12, 2015 The UK may be leading the way when it comes to sectors such as fintech – but it turns out the rest of the world beats us when it comes to innovation. For the fourth year in a row, not a single UK company has been included in the Top 100 Global Innovators list. The [...]
Brown Thursday, Black Friday, Super Sunday, Cyber Monday 2015: When are the best deals going to be on offer? November 27, 2015 The UK has finally woken up to the pre-Christmas sales bonanza that has been building in the US for many years. Cyber Monday was the first to hit our shores, and, since 2009, has been the biggest single online sales day in the UK. But this year other US imports are gaining traction. What [...]
What is Cyber Monday 2015 UK, when is it and where did it come from? November 27, 2015 We're still in the warm up to Black Friday, but retailers are already bracing themselves for the online discounting bonanza Cyber Monday on 30 November 2015. But what is Cyber Monday, how does it differ from Black Friday and which of the two will be the biggest sales day? Here's everything you need to know. What [...]
Alibaba’s cloud computing arm Aliyun launches “China’s first” artificial intelligence service August 25, 2015 Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba’s cloud computing arm is breaking into the artificial intelligence market, launching what the company is proclaiming to be “China’s first AI platform”, which will give developers the capacity to analyse large amounts of data. Cloud computing division Aliyun is Alibaba’s fastest-growing division, and although the company still gets most of its [...]
Black Friday 2015 UK: Sainsbury’s big deals on Celcus TVs, Dyson vacuum cleaners and HP laptops among the best bargains this year November 26, 2015 Sainsbury's is one of the last retailers to reveal what's up its sleeves for Black Friday this year, but there are plenty of big name brands whose prices are being knocked down for the bargain bonanza. Top deals include the Celcus 32" HD Ready LED TV with Freeview, on sale for £100 instead of £180, the Dyson DC44 [...]
Forget a fintech bubble: 2016 will be the year this booming market finally gets serious December 14, 2015 In 2015, global fintech investment will top $20bn, up from $12bn in 2014. There are wide-ranging estimates of the number of fintech players around the world today, but some say it’s surpassed 10,000. In China, there are over 2,000 marketplace platforms alone. The big banks are clambering over one another to invest in (or play [...]
The biggest gaffes of 2015: Boris Johnson Vs child, Jeremy Clarkson’s clanger, fat fingers and s*** trains. December 31, 2015 The business boo boos, fantastic fubars and ghastly gaffes that made us groan and giggle this year were in some cases a little more serious than merely misplaced word or comment. And don't even get us started on VW's emissions cheating. Here are the gaffes that stuck with us in 2015. 1. Security snafus There was [...]
Twitter 10-year birthday: A short history of Twitter and where is right now at 10 March 20, 2016 There have been uprisings (the Arab Spring), numerous faux pas (hello Ed Balls), and global events (World Cup anyone?) experienced together, but it was only 10 years ago when Jack Dorsey, Twitter co-founder and current chief executive, published the first ever tweet that changed the way we communicate – "Just setting up my Twttr". Since [...]