The Golden Age: Octopus’s George Whitehead on an extraordinary five years for UK technology and enterprise March 1, 2015 It's been an impressive five years for the UK technology and enterprise industry. From the establishment of Tech City to the development of world-leading accelerator programmes, and the international success stories of businesses like Deep Mind, Asos, Zoopla, CSR and Shazam, it is no secret that Britain has become a leading light in entrepreneurship. DISPROPORTIONATE [...]
EasyJet finance chief is to leave January 8, 2015 BUDGET airline EasyJet has begun looking for a new chief financial officer to replace Chris Kennedy, who is leaving to take up the same role at Arm Holdings. Kennedy is replacing Tim Score at software company Arm, but will not join the firm until EasyJet has secured his successor. He has been a member of [...]
After the economy lost momentum in the fourth quarter of 2014, should the UK fear a slowdown? January 27, 2015 Nancy Curtin, chief investment officer of Close Brothers Asset Management, says Yes The figures for the fourth quarter point to UK growth losing pace, and we are likely to see this continue into the first half of 2015. Economic growth remains too imbalanced. While improved consumer spending is supporting a buoyant services sector, production and construction [...]
Labour has identified the right problem – but independent schools can’t build a New Jerusalem alone November 25, 2014 TRISTRAM Hunt, the Labour shadow education secretary, argued yesterday that independent schools need to be doing much more to form meaningful partnerships with state schools. If they don’t do so, they will risk being stripped of up to £700m in tax breaks, should Labour be elected in the general election next Spring. He said that [...]
Unleash the Junior Isas: How do the experts invest to unlock decades-long returns April 23, 2015 With a time horizon of up to 18 years, Junior Isas have tremendous growth potential. Annabelle Williams asks the experts how they invest to unlock decades-long returns. One of the best ways to save for your child’s future is the Junior Isa (Jisa). As with an adult Isa, there is an annual allowance for each [...]
Five policies that will transform the UK into a truly capital-owning democracy February 23, 2015 As a nation, we are bad at saving. While the reasons for this are many and varied, the belief that house prices are a one-way bet, the design of our welfare system, and the inability of humans to properly judge their future financial needs all contribute to UK households putting less aside than their counterparts [...]
Cenkos: A British banking model makes a comeback March 26, 2015 A boardroom chat between an Oxbridge-educated dealermaker who grew up on a Liverpool council estate and the former head of a scrap metal firm from Scotland is a scene only imagineable in a City of London boardroom. But the meeting between Avril Palmer-Baunack, former head of Universal Salvage, and Jim Durkin, chief executive of Cenkos [...]
Shell share price falls as it sets out plan to fight falling oil prices as earnings rise 94pc January 29, 2015 The figures Shell's shares fell 3.8 per cent in early trading, despite the fact it announced fourth-quarter earnings had soared to $4.2bn (£2.8bn), 93 per cent up from $2.2bn (£1.5bn) for the same quarter a year ago. Full-year earnings also recorded a healthy 14 per cent jump to $19.04bn (£12.6bn), up from $16bn (£10.6bn) a year [...]
Quindell share price leaps 27 per cent as it names Richard Rose as chairman and makes three more executive hires January 12, 2015 Shares in troubled insurance claims outsourcer Quindell jumped 27 per cent in late morning trading after it confirmed it has hired four new executives. Richard Rose, the chairman of online electrical goods retailer AO.com and cash-and-carry operator Booker Group, has been named as its new chairman, replacing Rob Terry who stepped down in November. Meanwhile [...]
Entrepreneurship is not the preserve of the young: You can succeed at any age March 8, 2015 Popular portrayals of entrepreneurialism might leave you convinced that the only people who are going to make it in business are twenty-somethings – millennials. But the reality is not nearly so clear cut. My own experience of setting up Zendesk is a testament to the fact that, if you’ve got a great idea and the [...]