Edinburgh’s entrepreneurial ecosystem encouraging start-up activity July 26, 2017 The secret of a great recipe lies in having the best local ingredients to work with. The same lesson applies when building an entrepreneurial ecosystem – to be truly successful, cities must evolve their own unique recipe based on the best local ingredients. A talented workforce, public sector and academic support, a culture of innovation, [...]
New hub to help grow UK’s £6 billion fintech sector February 13, 2017 A new specialist fintech hub, backed by the UK and Scottish governments, will open its doors to entrepreneurs in May 2017. The hub will be the first of its kind in Scotland and will be based in Entrepreneurial Spark at Royal Bank of Scotland’s base in Edinburgh. It will launch one year on from the [...]
Government denies no deal Brexit plans by civil servants predict “armageddon” June 3, 2018 The government today denied reports that its civil servants have predicted chaos at ports and food, medicine and fuel shortages within a fortnight of a “no deal” Brexit. The massive port at Dover would collapse “on day one”, the leaked government plans from the Department for Exiting the EU reportedly reveal. The three scenarios include [...]
Disposing of Royal Bank of Scotland: It’s the only way the chancellor can cut borrowing April 22, 2016 Whilst George Osborne was sipping some Chateau Lynch Bages 2000 as HM Government was entertaining President Obama, he surely must have been ruminating as to how he can get the UK'S borrowing requirement down from the unacceptable level of 83.5 per cent of GDP. He has tried desperately hard in recent years to achieve this goal, [...]
Blockchain consortium R3 has raised a $107m series A round of funding from top banks like HSBC, Barclays, UBS and Wells Fargo May 23, 2017 One of the biggest consortium’s working on blockchain technology has raised $107m from the world’s top banks and other big name investors, it’s been revealed. R3 founder and chief executive David Rutter announced the huge figure for its series A round on stage at a blockchain conference in New York, calling the investment “unprecedented”. Investors [...]
RBS in yet more hot water as real estate group PAG wins the right to appeal Libor case decision June 5, 2017 The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has not yet managed to shake its post-financial crisis headache, as one real estate group has won the right to appeal a high-profile legal case to the Court of Appeal. Property Alliance Group (PAG) attempted to sue RBS last year for more than £30m, alleging that it had been [...]
After financial crisis hit, retail banks are building up their reputations (to “average”): These are the UK’s most and least trusted lenders | City A.M. May 31, 2017 The reputation of UK retail banks is growing, with Nationwide, Virgin Money and Halifax leading the way. But Royal Bank of Scotland, TSB and HSBC are trailing others in the latest UK RepTrak ranking, compiled by the Reputation Institute. The figures, based on more than 35,000 UK customer ratings collected in the first quarter of [...]
RBS’ mis-selling fine is certain to highlight American hypocrisy, Worldpay’s bid invitation and no rush for the new Ofcom chair July 7, 2017 It was hard to suppress a laugh last week at the sanctimonious angst of corporate America at the fine doled out by Brussels over Google’s anti-competitive behaviour by favouring its shopping service over those of rivals. Those Europeans, came the wailing from across the Atlantic, are extracting money from flagship US companies with little justification. [...]
These are the UK’s best and worst banks – look away now Barclays users February 17, 2017 Feeling disappointed by your service at Barclays? Well, research shows you're not alone. Barclays has been voted the worst British bank yet again, falling to the bottom of MoneySavingExpert's twice yearly poll. But Barclays isn't the only high street lender that had a poor showing. HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) came towards the bottom of the table, as 21 per cent of [...]
The rise of the robots means job losses at Royal Bank of Scotland March 13, 2016 Royal Bank of Scotland is axing 550 jobs and replacing them with so-called robo-advisers, in the company's latest move to cut costs. The axe is set to fall on RBS's investment advice division as well as its protection advice team, with the bank blaming falling demand for face-to-face services for the job losses. Robo-advice, popularised [...]