More than two-thirds of business leaders across the UK have no idea how much employee sickness is costing their business, according to e-days, the absence intelligence platform.
French software provider, Saagie has announced a $28m fundraising round with Crédit Mutuel Innovation, alongside NewAlpha Asset Management, Seventure Partners and AG2R LA MONDIALE. Historic investors Cap Horn, BNPP Développement and C.Entrepreneurs (managed by Cathay Innovation) also participated.
The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the way the world works, and with some UK workers beginning to return to the office, some anticipating a phased return in the coming weeks and others working at home for the foreseeable future, it can be difficult to connect the workforce together.
The Lloyds Bank National Business Awards has launched the Pivot for Purpose Award, a new trophy celebrating the fantastic achievements of UK organisations to support communities and key workers during the lockdown.
The pioneering supplier discovery platform connecting retailers with verified and sustainable suppliers, Sourcing Playground has announced that it has been awarded funding by Innovate UK to deliver an AI platform that will overhaul retail supply chains.
With COVID-19 set to spark the worst economic recession since the Great Depression, new research by the World Federation of Advertisers says 89% of large international companies have put their marketing and advertising campaigns on hold. Global marketing and advertising spend is plummeting at the fastest rate since the 2007-2008 financial crisis, leading to uncertainty and trepidation within the sector.
Secto Design has made a significant investment in startup company Paptic. “Until recently, Secto Design has purely invested in developing its own production. However, Paptic has such a meaningful goal and it fits perfectly to our own philosophy, that we had to jump along,” said Tuula Jusélius, the Founder of Secto Design.
From a young age Olivia Higgs, always knew she wanted to be an entrepreneur. Although initially it was more of a dream to own a boutique hotel, rather than being the Co-founder of NAVA, an app that enables users to explore cities in a personalised way whilst supporting local independent business owners, but it was through her interest in artificial intelligence that she found herself here.
With non-essential shops beginning to open in the UK, the latest Opinium-Cebr Business Distress Tracker shows things are already looking up for retailers, as less than a fifth (18%) now see themselves at risk of insolvency. This has fallen from 40% since the last Tracker two weeks ago.
The economic turndown resulting from Coronavirus is expected to have a devastating effect on SMEs, the extent of which will cost the UK’s small and medium sized businesses an average of around £12,000, according to a survey which shows that two fifths of such firms are at risk of closing permanently.
Within the context of the economic crisis caused by COVID-19, Trump has accused China of being the cause of the virus. If this were true, Beijing would have eliminated 91% of UK exports to China over the past ten years in one fell swoop.
The world is changing and what we witnessed in the last months all over the world is the creation of a stronger sense of community: people supporting each other and companies getting together to fight the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The old world is over, as its rules. The new world is going to be different, with new rules.
The Shanghai-based personal mobility provider, AIWAYS has confirmed it is working with the biggest and best automotive technology suppliers from Europe to develop the U5 all-electric SUV. The supplier list demonstrates the Chinese startup’s commitment to quality in product development and manufacture.
As the UK marks three months under lockdown, Sage has published an in-depth report based on weekly polling of a total of 5,000 SMEs over the course of the lockdown period.
The Great Depression that hit the US in the 1930s was probably the worst economic recession ever registered. To guide the country out of it, President Roosevelt launched a series of programmes, public work projects and financial reforms known as the New Deal. While the economic implications of COVID-19 threaten to shadow the Great Depression, Harel Boren, CEO and Co-founder of Inspekto, explains why Autonomous Machine Vision (AMV) could be the new New Deal.
Provider of a data analytics acceleration platform that enables enterprises to gain insights from their massive data stores, SQream has announced that it has raised $39.4m in Series B+ funding. The round was led by Mangrove Capital Partners and Schusterman Family Investments, who joined existing investors, including Hanaco Venture Capital, Sistema VC, World Trade Center Ventures, Blumberg Capital, Silvertech Ventures and Alibaba Group. The proceeds of the investment will be used to recruit top talent to accelerate advancements in the Company’s technology and cloud innovation, and customer delivery platforms to better serve worldwide demand.
Apparently Obi-Wan Kenobi doesn’t actually say the famous line himself until Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones which we all know is the weakest of the series, however plenty of star characters encourage Luke to ‘use the Force’ throughout his journey to Jedi.
The Coronavirus pandemic could deepen the North-South divide in the UK – that is according to new Labour Party leader, Sir Keir Starmer. He did, however, make it clear that the problem could be alleviated with a fairer distribution of investment into the Northern regions.
Asto Business Capital loans are now available on the Funding Options platform as part of a long term partnership with the business finance marketplace. The Santander-backed app joins Funding Options’ roster of more than 200 lender partners, offering loans of as little as £150 or as much as £150,000, to help small businesses plug urgent cash flow holes.
The coronavirus pandemic has shaken up the way we work – and the seismic shifts it has brought about could be long-lasting. According to a Gartner survey, 74% of CFOs intend to shift some of their employees to remote work permanently.
