LSBF Blog - Global Matters
Video: Great Minds series - LSBF interviews Chris Wakerley MBE, MD of KPMG Boxwood
As part of the LSBF Great Minds series, Chris Wakerley MBE, Managing Director and Co-Founder of KPMG Boxwood, discussed his experiences of business in an interview with Dr Steve Priddy, Head of Research at London School of Business and Finance (LSBF).
Mr Wakerley co-founded Boxwood in 2000. The company has worked across a range of sectors - including retail, infrastructure, private equity and life sciences – and was acquired by KPMG in 2015.
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UK to finalise new FinTech Bridge with South Korea
Last Friday, it was announced that the UK will soon finalise a new FinTech Bridge with South Korea to enable easier investment in fintech.
The FinTech Bridge will provide a number of benefits for financial technology businesses and investors from each country, allowing them to gain easier access to each other.
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British Business Bank invested £527 million into UK businesses
The British Business Bank invested £527 million into the UK’s small businesses from 2015 to 2016, according to its annual performance review.
The government-owned bank increased finance to small companies by 45 per cent in 2015 and now works with 90 finance partners to support over 48,000 businesses. The bank revealed that it took on nine new partners from 2015 to 2016.
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Social media critical to SMEs, survey shows
Social media is critical to SMEs, with 100 per cent of businesses turning to social channels to reach customers, according to a survey from enterprise application software company SAP Anywhere.
The survey showed that more SME retailers are using technology to help their business to develop, with over three quarters of businesses saying that it has enabled them to overcome ongoing challenges.
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Santander to invest £75 million in UK’s fintech businesses
Santander Group’s London-based fintech venture capital fund, Santander InnoVentures, is to invest £75 million in the UK’s fintech community.
Santander InnoVentures was first launched in 2014 and is part of Santander’s innovation agenda, which aims to support early-stage fintech companies and help them to grow.
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Apprenticeships help plug digital skills gap, survey shows
More companies are using apprenticeships to plug the digital skills gap, according to a survey from Tech Partnership.
Research from the cyber skills charity showed that there is a growing demand for digital skills, with companies struggling to fill tech and digital roles.
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SMEs need better access to broadband, according to government report
Small and medium-sized enterprises need access to better broadband services, according to a report from the cross-party Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee.
The report stated that the quality of the current level of broadband service is poor and that services need to be improved.
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UK employment rate reaches record high, according to ONS
The number of people in work in the UK reached a record high in the months leading up to May, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has shown.
The UK employment rate reached 74.4 per cent, with over 30 million people in work in the three months leading up to May, up by 176,000 on the previous quarter.
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More corporates want to work with start-ups, report shows
More corporates are interested in collaborating with start-up businesses, according to a report from accelerator programme MassChallenge.
The report, titled The State of Startup/Corporate Collaboration 2016, surveyed over 200 start-ups and over 100 corporates from across Europe. It found that there is a “fundamental mindset shift” in relationships between start-up businesses and corporations.
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Vodafone launches new fibre broadband for small businesses
Vodafone UK is supporting small businesses across the UK by launching a new secure broadband and fixed line service.
According to the company, the Superfast Fibre Broadband service, which will offer speeds of up to 76Mbps, is aimed at businesses that have up to nine employees.
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NatWest to help small businesses with £1bn lending fund
NatWest is launching a £1 billion lending fund to help small businesses grow.
The fund will be available to businesses across England and Wales with a turnover of under £2 million.
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Skills shortages holding back businesses, according to survey
Skills shortages are holding back businesses, with over two-thirds of businesses not feeling confident about filling high-skilled jobs in the future, according to this year’s CBI/Pearson Education and Skills survey.
The survey highlighted the areas in which there is a skills shortage, with sectors such as construction, manufacturing and professional services being affected.
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Invoice lending becoming popular with small businesses, research shows
Research conducted by the Asset Based Finance Association (ABFA) has found that invoice lending is an increasingly popular way for SMEs to access funding.
The report showed that invoice lending is now one of the main ways of funding the growth of small businesses across the UK.
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SME workers prefer flexibility, according to Regus
SME workers prefer job roles that offer flexibility, according to research from workspace provider Regus.
The research, which surveyed over 3000 professionals across a number of different sectors, showed the importance of flexibility in the workplace.
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Britons would earn less to become entrepreneurs, study shows
More than 40 per cent of people in Britain say they would be prepared to earn less in order to fulfil their dream of becoming an entrepreneur, according to research from Nectar Business.
The research, which was carried out as part of the Nectar Business Small Business Awards scheme, showed the salary that Britons would be content with in return for becoming their own boss.
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Over 1 million Brits want to start a business, shows survey
Over a million people in Britain wish to start up their own businesses in the next 12 months, according to a study by Direct Line for Business.
The research identified the types of businesses that people most want to set up, as well as the biggest barriers for doing this.
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Cyberattacks cost companies £34bn in past year, study shows
Cyberattacks cost UK companies £34.1 billion in the past year, according to a study commissioned by internet services provider Beaming.
The research revealed the most serious cybersecurity threats to businesses, with managing malware costing £7.5 billion last year and data incidents costing £6.2 billion, compared with the financial impact of burglary, which cost £5.8 billion over the same period.
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Digital startup lab opens second programme for entrepreneurs
A new digital startup lab has announced that applications are now open for its second accelerator programme.
Activate Capital, which is based in London, is searching for budding entrepreneurs to participate in its programme, which will enable them to develop their business ideas.
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Record number of companies being set up, according to research
A record number of companies are being set up every hour, says StartUp Britain's research.
Their research showed that 342,927 new companies registered with Companies House this year between January and June. This means 80 companies are being set up each hour, already beating last year’s record pace of 70 new company registrations per hour.
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Small businesses taking risks when hiring staff, research shows
Small businesses in the UK are taking risks when hiring and managing staff, according to research from job marketplace Jobandtalent.
The research, which surveyed 500 small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners found that businesses are at risk as a result of a lack of HR expertise, with only 37% having a good understanding of employee rights and regulations.
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Digital skills to be made a core subject in colleges
Digital skills will be made a core subject under a new government plan. The Department of Education and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have announced the Post-16 Skills Plan, which aims to provide young people with digital skills needed for the workplace.
Under the new plan, post-GCSE students will have the option of learning digital skills through a technical pathway or through an academic pathway.
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Finance provider teams up with accountancy experts to help SMEs
A leading UK finance provider has collaborated with accountancy experts to help small businesses control cash flow.
DueCourse will be working with top providers of accountancy packages, such as SageOne and Xero, to provide SMEs with a faster method of financing and enable them to free up valuable funds.
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Over 70 banks sign charter to help improve gender balance in finance
Over 70 banks and city companies have signed up to a charter to help improve gender balance in companies within the financial sector.
Leading banks, such as Lloyds and Barclays, have agreed to link their bosses’ bonuses to gender diversity targets in order to get more women working in senior roles.
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Apprenticeship programme helps create over 2000 apprenticeships
An apprenticeship programme has provided support for 2941 businesses, helping them to create 2367 apprenticeships.
The Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) was first launched in January 2013 to encourage businesses to provide apprenticeships for young people.
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ICAEW launches digital financial guide for start-ups and SMEs
The ICAEW has launched the British Finance Guide, which offers free advice on lending and investment for small businesses.
It also contains contributions from the British Business Bank and over 20 other bodies from the business and finance sectors.
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