CFOs embracing leadership skills can head for the top
By David Craik
There are many recent examples of CFOs landing the top job at our biggest businesses. More will follow as CFOs become better leaders.
Tag: Real FD
Brits spent 2.5bn with contactless cards in first half of 2015
The trend of contactless payments is set to spike significantly as the limit per transaction increased to £30 on 1 September, which follows British consumers spending £2.5bn with the method in the first half of 2015.
Why businesses should feel encouraged by the challenger bank movement
By David Craik
Alternative finance is an increasingly important means for small companies to get ahead and there has been some encouraging news from three of the challenger banks this week.
Lakestar II: Investment firm behind Facebook, Airbnb and Spotify launches 350m fund
European venture capital firm Lakestar has closed a new €350m fund. The oversubscribed pot will provide “personal attention and support” alongside finance to firms with the potential to repeat the success of earlier investment projects like Facebook.
Challenges to the shareholder-centric company model are rising
At the University of Edinburgh’s Corporate Finance Conference, Andrew Haldane, chief economist at the Bank of England, suggested that the public company model is increasingly being questioned.
The designer that started a business in the sector he loathed tax and accounting
Trained designer Dave Legion has been working independently in a field he loves for more than a decade, so Real Business caught up with the entrepreneur to find out why he moved into tax and accounting – a sector he admits to loath.
The story of an FD who chose to work part-time to fuel his passion for cycling
An experienced finance director, Paul Turner is also a passionate cyclist. Some seven years ago, he became a portfolio FD to accommodate in his life the things he truly enjoyed.
A CFO’s take on how to really value a SaaS business
By Andy Jackson
Andy Jackson, CFO at Software Europe, looks at the traditional measure of valuing a company though its EBITDA and argues that cloud and SaaS companies mustn’t be afraid to invest back into the offering to keep innovation flowing and customers happy.
Why Eileen Burbidge is set to boost UK’s productivity as new special envoy of fintech
As part of the British productivity push, Eileen Burbidge, partner at London-based venture capital firm Passion Capital, has been named the government’s special envoy of British fintech.
Visa contactless payments smash one billion mark across Europe
European users of Visa cards have collectively made 1.1 billion contactless payments in the past year, generating a spend of €12.6bn.