Digital start ups in London - what's going on?
Inside Global Entrepreneurship
Hotels embrace smartphones as room key of the future. An app can send a text when the room is ready along with the room number, allowing keyless entry. Is this the end of hotels front desk? Find out more
UK-based metasearch engine Skyscanner has integrated its standalone hotel and car rental mobile apps into its existing flight app. Hotels and car hire are now automatically synchronised with flights search so travellers do not have to re-input check in times, destinations, pick up locations etc. Read more
Food startup Deliveroo raises $275M as Uber eats enter into its European market. Deliveroo has raised another $275 million in funding, a Series E investment that we have heard from sources values the company at around $1 billion Read more
Innovation Story of the week
Businesses call on London mayor to rethink onerous Uber rules.
Uber has drawn support in its battle against onerous minicab regulations from a list of technology and business chiefs, who have written to London’s mayor warning of the risk to the capital’s £36bn digital economy. Find out more
Photo Credits Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images
Inspirational Story of the week To mark the United Nations International Day of Charity on 5 September, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has launched the latest initiative as part of its ‘Kilo of Kindness’ campaign. Guests and residents of the 16 participating hotels can donate at least a kilo of food to organisations that will distribute these in their respective communities. Read more
Faces of Hospitality
"What I love about my restaurant is that every staff member will take into consideration what people think and feel. Sometimes I am in bed thinking about what we can change and what we can do better. I would then come up with a new idea for our menu and how we can we make it more adventurous. You have to do some solid food knowledge and then constantly challenge yourself. All we do is constantly evolving and that's what makes it exciting".
Ed Baines Chef and co-owner of Randall & Aubin