Bridging and Commercial introduce ArchOver’s new appointments, David Swanson as Head of Lending, and Tom Malley as Head of Finance. Read the full article here.
Tag: finance
Business Finance Industry reacts to Spring Statement 2018
Despite the increase in the UK’s growth projection, Angus Dent suggests that the lack of an increase in productivity outlook means that SMEs will need to be bolder in their business projects, and seek out alternative finance to help their businesses grow. Read more here.
FinTech & Guildhall: Where new money meets old
This week, ‘new’ money met ‘old’ under the watchful gaze of City guardians.
Interesting to note that the venue chosen to hold the Innovative Finance Global Summit 2017 – the show piece event for the techiest of FinTech aficionados – was Grade I-listed Guildhall, in the heart of the City of London. It is a place where money men have gathered for centuries (apparently, even the name means ‘payment’ in Anglo Saxon) and also home to effigies of Gog and Magog, the giant guardians of the City, who get hauled out once a year to be paraded at the head of the Lord Mayor’s Show.
These two must have shared a silent chuckle this week when it was a case of those with a vision for the future, but no money, meeting in the heartland of those who have bundles of the stuff, but who stubbornly insist on clinging to the old ways that made them rich. The unavoidable truth is that both factions actually need each other if London is to preserve its reputation as the FinTech capital of the world.
Perhaps the other inescapable conclusion is that, although its consequences currently dominate our thoughts and headlines, Brexit actually means very little in terms of addressing the world’s overriding priorities. FinTech wizards may find ways to cut down on the time it takes to make faster money transactions or process loan applications – objectives that appeal to developed countries and those in charge of financial systems – but they will contribute very little to solving the massive problems facing the under-developed world that represents most of humanity.
What is needed is more widespread access to capital so that billions of people can be lifted out of poverty, to live in millions more homes that have yet to be built (estimated circa 50m in India alone) and to eat food that still has to be produced. Capitalism works, but it still only serves the minority.
FinTech has a lot to deliver and expectations are sky high. There is an abundance of good ideas, some may even be brilliant and world-changing. But they will not progress to anything remotely useful without the support of ‘old’ money. And therein lies the greatest challenge.
Brexit: Keep Calm and Carry On
The longer Brexit, and the impending doom it will apparently drag in its wake dominates the headlines, the more I find myself wondering: is it really relevant? There’s a tendency among the press – on every part of the political spectrum – to blame Brexit for just about everything. Taking a glance at the papers this week, you would be forgiven for believing Brexit is all that anyone cared about, and is the only significant factor at play in the whole of the UK and Europe. Increasingly, however, I think Brexit is just a political sideshow to the less headline-worthy forces that are driving fundamental, irrefutable change.
Take car manufacturing, currently a great success story for the UK. For a start, thanks must be given to Ratan Tata and an Indian appetite for risk, which is pretty far removed from anything Brexit or even EU related. But aside from this, the wind of change is certainly blowing through this industry. BMW, JLR and Tesla are all focusing their efforts ever more on electric cars, while Toyota, who has never built an all-electric car, is now heading for hydrogen. This is not a Brexit-inspired change. It was in 1925 that the founder of Toyota dreamed of freeing Japan from its dependence on imported oil by using hydroelectric power, decades before the European Union even came into being. It is perhaps more to do with a dwindling supply of hydro-carbons and a wish not to joke ourselves that we press ahead with this new technology, which will bring profound and lasting change the car manufacturing industry, and little more than coincidence that it is happening just as the UK drifts away from its neighbours on the continent.
Another story that has cropped up recently is Lloyd’s of London’s decision to establish their European base in Brussels. Surely motivated by Brexit, I hear you say! The press certainly thinks so, but in light of another, less prominent article about Lloyd’s, I would disagree. Here, they acknowledge that dramatic change, a euphemism for drastic improvements in productivity, is needed if they are to remain competitive. Likely this will involve a wholesale adoption of new technology. Meanwhile, Lloyds recognise that to underwrite large risks, and there are many large risks in Europe, you need to be able to meet and deal face to face, and to look the other party squarely in the eye. Again, it appears, Brexit is coincidental and is not driving change.
It’s safe to say, we will not be seeing an end to Brexit related news anytime soon. While it is easy to get swept up in the drama of the divorce, it is now down to the politicians and the civil servants to get it done. For us laymen, it’s a compelling sideshow. If we are to keep our chins up and our powder dry during this uncertain time, we would do well to remember that Brexit is not the only force at play. It’s just one more opportunity in a world of change, so let’s keep calm and carry on.