By Ari Kestin
Companies such as Airbnb, Coursera, SpotHero and DogVacay are just some examples of great businesses shaping the future of a huge variety of industries, from tourism to education to pet care.
By Jason Hesse
The most popular services to supplement or create income are Etsy, Uber and Zopa.
Instead of shunning those that steal ideas, we need to chastise those that think it is a problem, says blogger Seth Godin. It is a view widely shared by British scientist Matt Ridley, who argues that the engine of human progress and prosperity has been, and is, “ideas having sex with each other”.
To unlock business potential, British sharing economy trade body SEUK has revealed Oxford University as a partner that will work with it to develop a “trustmark” to boost consumer adoption – a move backed by Sajid Javid and Anna Soubry.
London-based Hassle.com, the on-demand cleaning marketplace helping to develop the UK’s sharing economy, has been acquired by Berlin-based counterpart Helpling in a move that will see the firms dominate Europe and expand globally.
American air travel company Rise, which delivers a private flight sharing service, has revealed plans to expand beyond the US and into Europe with a view to become as disruptive as Uber and Airbnb.
The Sharing Economy UK’s (SEUK) mission to help awareness and growth of the “insurgent” sector spread across Britain has received a renewed push as five new members, including Onfido and TrustedHousesitters, have joined the trade body.
The British sharing economy is rapidly picking up speed, so it seems rather fitting that luxury car manufacturer BMW has its foot pressed firmly down to accelerate through the market with ventures like JustPark and DriveNow.
News that Uber’s CFO has thrown the towel in, the company’s Paris offices have been raided and CEO Travis Kalanick is the subject of a criminal indictment in South Korea begs the question: can Uber, even with all of its financial firepower, weather the storm it is currently embroiled in.
Real Business has canvassed the sentiment of entrepreneurs, business owners and company managers and garnered a mixed reaction, with some feeling that the chancellor missed out on an opportunity to give businesses what is really needed
