Commentators have talked about the death of the high street for several years now, and indeed the market continues to change as customers change their shopping habits with the continued rise of online. Whilst as the high street as we know it, stuffed with large chain retailers, ancient technology and products you can find anywhere, is suffering, this in turn is creating an opportunity for a new wave of independent boutiques and retail spaces. With more independent shops opening than closing in 2016[1], the large chain retailers are no longer providing the shopping experience customers are after. With online retail here to stay, the future of retail is changing to encompass the best of the online and offline worlds, focusing on consumer experience more than ever before.
As the shift to the digital banking grows, financial institutions are facing new challenges.
At HealthUnlocked, whilst we do not focus on people’s genes in the same way Genetics Sciences do, we are building information systems that effectively describe people’s relationships with their health, both as individual and collectives.
I arrived to London 17 years ago, first to study, then to get some work experience only to wake up one morning about 10 years ago realising that this is my home and I don’t want to ever live anywhere else. My love, gratitude and respect for this city is immense. It’s openness, diversity and cultural energy made it the most vibrant city in the world and a magnet for the brightest and best. Now, I’ve always considered myself a radical optimist but I have to admit that recent developments in the UK really put my radical optimism for a test. To say that London’s status is not threatened is at best optimistic but this feels to me more like sheer arrogance and my view is that this arrogance of intellect, lack of empathy and frivolous self-indulgence threaten London’s status more than anything else.
The BorrowMyDoggy idea was developed in July 2012 after I spent the day taking care of a neighbour’s dog, Aston. I realised that lots of dog owners could use a helping paw looking after their dog, and that there are thousands of people who would love to take care of a dog for free, simply because they love them.
I got my start in this business in 1998. As a young, budding creative it was made very clear to me that originality was the prerequisite of creativity. If it wasn’t completely original, it wasn’t any good. It was a suitable guideline considering the one-way communication mediums of the day. The only chance you had to make a splash was to make it with something nobody had ever seen before. That’s how you broke through the clutter and got attention.
