Business

By Seb Dean from Apartment-hotels.com London is known worldwide as an economic powerhouse, with Forbes recently describing it as the most influential city in the world and it is becoming a wealth magnet, with over 100 billionaires choosing to reside in the capital. This is bad news for most, as property prices hit fever pitch and most people are being priced out of buying a house in the City. However, for some, the price of a house doesn’t actually matter...

By Vladimir Remmer The world financial equilibrium was devastated in 2006 when the US housing market bubble finally burst. Real Estate prices plummeted, wiping out securities tied to housing and striking financial institutions globally. The human toll was staggering and manifested in mass evictions, bankruptcies and foreclosures, combined with catastrophic job market contraction and prolonged unemployment. The consumer wealth adjustment, estimated to be trillions of US dollars, inhibited economic activity throughout most of the world and led to the 2008...

By Richard Benson Director of Guide London - @GuideClothing It’s no secret that fashion works in cycles. When flicking through the pages of a glossy magazine or simply walking the streets of London, we often get a sense of déjà vu — a sense that the gorgeous attire on display isn’t completely new and original. Whether it’s the return of tie-dye or the skinny jean, trends never really die. And, while we’d prefer to think the string vest and dodgy...

By Joshua Danton Boyd Ever since the recession hit, tax avoidance has increasingly come to the fore. Whether touted by the Government as a way to balance the books or calls from citizens to tackle the big offenders, pressure has mounted on HMRC to solve the problem once and for all. Of course, when there’s a lot of attention on a problem and a quick fix is called for, things can get a bit out of hand. It becomes easy...

By Duncan McCaslin Start-up businesses are constantly innovating and becoming globally competitive, particularly when attracting a younger, hungrier workforce. The on-going question for many businesses trying to build a committed workforce is the question of how to stay relevant, competitive and appealing. It’s important to invest your time wisely when marketing your start-up. Whether it’s an approach to strengthening user engagement, customer loyalty, team building and employee wellness, brand awareness, or face-to-face signups, a start-up business has the ability to...

By Toby James  Early last month, Tony Hall, the director general of the BBC, proposed changes to the way the BBC operates with regard to production of television programmes. The BBC has always been at the forefront of broadcast innovation. This throne has been somewhat usurped lately by the sheer number of other companies producing or broadcasting television, be it Sky’s grasp over sports, Endemol and Freemantle Media’s ubiquity in production or UKTV’s innovative way of broadcasting BBC and other...

By Philip Benton Recently I attended a talk here in London about digital currencies and how they could be the answer to our economic woes and the key to rebuilding our broken society. I went in with an open mind, keen to broaden my interest in the curious world of crypto currencies, but somehow came out with more questions than answers. The talk was hosted by ex-investment banker Simon Dixon and Max Keiser of The Keiser Report fame. The opening...

By Nathan Lee  The Financial Times has introduced a new scheme encouraging young authors to tackle emerging business themes. The Bracken Bower Prize has been launched by the FT alongside McKinsey & Company, organisers of the Business Book of the Year Award, with the aim of unearthing new talent and encouraging writers to research ideas that could fill future business books of the year. A prize of £15,000 will be given for the best book proposal and will be awarded...

By Jack Peat, Editor of The London Economic All this talk of the high street demise seems rather perverse walking along the streets of Shoreditch. The pop-up shops selling locally sourced produce and the wealth of arts and crafts ventures that litter the street are a massive f**k off to multinationals, demonstrating that with a bit of intuition local shops can thrive. But even Shoreditch, in all its hipster glory, seems to be changing. At the heart of Shoreditch, arguably...