Tag: research

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London top choice for FinTech investment

London has overtaken New York for FinTech investment deals, according to new research based on Pitchbook data released by London & Partners and Innovate Finance, 23 September.

The report, called A Fine Year for FinTech: Global Trends from a UK Perspective explores the FinTech VC-led investment trends so far in 2019, comparing countries and cities around the world, in terms of deal value, deal count and sources of investment.

It suggests 2019 has seen record levels of investment in the UK. In the first eight months of the year alone, more than US$2bn (£1.6bn) has been invested in London-based businesses across 114 deals, surpassing totals seen in any previous year. 

London has has seen the largest number of FinTech deals completed in 2019, with a total of 114, overtaking New York in second place (101). San Francisco is in third place (80), with Beijing (24) and Singapore (23) competing for fourth and fifth.    

The US remains the largest market globally, with $9.37bn raised so far in 2019. 

A country comparison of global FinTech investment by deal value reveals the US in top place ($9.37bn), the UK second place ($29bn), followed by Germany ($998.8m), China ($770.8m) and Sweden ($736.7m)

London leads overall FinTech investment in Europe with $2.11bn investment, followed by Berlin ($881m), Stockholm ($734m), Paris ($330m) and Milan ($49m). 

Out of the ten largest European investments recorded so far in 2019, London-based companies account for half these deals, totalling $1.8bn between them. The UK capital’s FinTech sector is a leading source of high value scale-up companies, with Monzo ($143m) and WorldRemit ($175m) featuring in the lofty ranks of unicorn success stories.  

The UK capital attracts a wider international variety of investors than other European hubs, with 39% of investors coming from outside Europe, compared to 32% in Berlin and Paris with 24%. London also attracts a more diverse international investor mix than North American cities; only 11% of investors in San Francisco came from outside of North America, and 15% in New York. 

Laura Citron, CEO, London & Partners, said: “London is the capital of capital. And as these numbers show, London is innovating to stay ahead, with more FinTech deals than anywhere else in the world. 

“London is the natural home of FinTech because it combines the power of global financial markets with a deep technology talent pool, supportive regulation and an early-adopting customer base. FinTech entrepreneurs in London can meet the regulator in the morning, have lunch with a global bank, hire a top engineer in the afternoon, and enjoy world-class culture in the evening. That convergence is pretty unique.”

Charlotte Crosswell, CEO, Innovate Finance, added: “The UK is the clear global leader in the FinTech sector, spearheaded by London’s success and long-standing position as a major leading financial centre. It’s no surprise London and the whole of the UK FinTech sector is experiencing record growth – we are home to world-class talent and our historical pedigree enables access to key global markets. With record investment under our belt, this is the time to boost the sector further and secure future growth.”  

The release of the research coincides with the opening of Sibos London 2019 (23 – 26 September) one of the world’s leading financial services events. Sibos 2019 marks the first-time this global financial services event has been held in London, and promises to be the biggest conference to date, with over 10,000 delegates. The conference explores the concept of thriving in a hyper-connected world with the challenges, and opportunities brought by mass digitisation and data-driven relationships. 

A Fine Year for FinTech: Global Trends from a UK Perspective.  Published September 2019 by London & Partners & Innovate Finance. The report can be downloaded here. 

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Office workers dread all-day meetings, according to new study

A new study commissioned by Drayton Manor Park has found that out of 1,000 surveyed office workers, half of them dread-all day meetings.

The survey also identified that 59 per cent of respondents would rather concentrate on their work than have to attend a training session. A further 44 per cent attributed this feeling of dread with knowing that the meeting format would be the same as the last one they attended.

Other factors included too much being crammed into an agenda and the meeting not starting on time.

As a result of this dread of meetings, half of the survey respondents admitted to zoning out, while 12 per cent confirmed they had fallen asleep during meetings and 10 per cent said they had secretly listened to music during meetings.

“Our survey results show that businesses need to seriously think about the way it delivers meetings and training sessions. In a time where businesses are scrutinising all budgets, delivering effective meetings which people look forward to can ensure that no time is wasted when lots of talent is taken out of the office and invited to an all-day session,” said Melissa Penn, Drayton Manor Park conference and events manager.

An unsurprising result from the survey is that 82 per cent of meeting attendees agreed that productivity slumped after lunch, with only 22 per cent saying they joined in energising team activities, designed to help delegates break out of the post-lunch slump.

“It is clear that enthusiasm and motivation for meetings is flat at the moment and a change in format is required.

“We hope that our report will encourage event organisers to shake up their current meeting schedule and consider new methods to help re-energise attendees for the whole session,” Penn added.

One positive that was taken from the study if that 71 per cent of respondents said that would more receptive to all-day meetings if they were held off-site.

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UKCAMS reveals Conference industry now worth £20bn

New research into the UK’s conference and meetings sector, the ‘UK Conference and Meeting Survey 2019’ (UKCAMS), reveals a robust and buoyant industry. There was an estimated £20bn of direct expenditure generated by conference and meeting delegates in venues and in wider destination spend in 2018, up from £18.1bn in 2017. At the same time, the overall number of conferences and meetings held in 2018 was the highest in recent years – an average of 428 conferences and meetings per venue compared with 373 in 2017 and 419 in 2016.

These positive UKCAMS 2019 results show the industry flourishing. The research findings also reveal that the overall number of conferences and meetings in 2018 was an estimated 1.48m compared with the 2017 figure of 1.29m (and 1.45m in 2016). While most events (66%) comprised 50 delegates or fewer, with just 6% of events having more than 200 delegates, the average event size was 72 delegates, the same as for 2017.

Levels of capital investment by venues remained strong with 73% of venues reporting that they had invested in their property in 2018, with 17% investing over £500,000.

The ‘UK Conference and Meeting Survey’, now in its 26th consecutive year, has a specific focus on the value and volume of the market and the performance of meeting venues. It also highlights key market trends identified by venues. The results provide a definitive insight into the conference and meetings sector and are widely used to inform investment, advocacy and marketing activities.

Other key findings from the research include:

  • In 2018, there were an estimated 95.3m delegates accounting for approximately 152.8m delegate days.
  • The average duration of conferences and meetings was 1.6 days (unchanged from previous years), although almost two-thirds of events lasted only one day or less
  • Conference and training centres (640 events) and hotels (453 events) hosted higher than average numbers of events
  • Just over a third (35%) of conferences and meetings in 2018 were organised by a professional conference organiser (PCO) or event management agency

While the majority of UK venues are focused on the domestic meetings market, some 10% of venues are proactive in seeking to attract international conferences, which account for 11% or more of their business. Venues tended to target international conferences through trade shows and familiarisation visits.

Kerrin MacPhie, VisitBritain’s head of business events, commented: “The ‘UK Conference and Meeting Survey 2019’ provides UK destinations and venues with valuable insights into the sector’s scale and latest trends, helping to inform their business planning and marketing activity.

“The UK is home to many world-renowned venues that consistently host leading international events. Their success not only needs to be recorded but also celebrated. VisitBritain recognises the importance of the ICCA ranking as a key tool in achieving this. The UKCAMS research results show us that more can be done by UK venues to record ICCA activity and we strongly encourage them to consistently log their international ICCA events. Doing so recognises and celebrates their world-class credentials, reinforcing the UK’s position as a leading business events destination.”

Copies of the full UKCAMS 2019 report are available priced £180 + VAT. Click here to download the form.

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Top Tips to boost meeting attendance

Meetings and conferences are vital to effective communication and a good experience is fundamental to your plans to connect both internally with your colleagues and externally with clients.

Any event that you hold will be a demonstration of how efficient your company is, and engagement is vital to driving attendance. We all know that events are not easy to plan or manage but in the competitive and time-poor environment that we work in it is essential to impress the participants.

So how do you achieve the desired outcome from your conference or meeting? Here are a few tips to help …

Research

If you’ve held this event before, make sure that you incorporate the feedback, both good and bad. That’s not only from attendees, but also the speakers and staff. They will all give you advice to improve the next. Do a SWOT analysis and check that the information you are providing is relevant and new so that attendees learn something that’s made it worthwhile leaving their desks.

Understand the audience

Who are you talking to? What have they achieved, what problems are they having and what do they want to get out of this event? What do they like and dislike?

This relates to the previous point about doing your homework, but you will also use the information to tailor the experience.

Get the audience involved

This isn’t easy when planning an event for a group of people. You can get the attendees involved before, during and afterwards by using tools such as surveys and polls. This is can valuable source of topic suggestions and will help with the agenda. At the event, ask a question to the audience and then discuss the answers to judge the feeling in the room.

Ask for help

Make the experience as easy as possible for the speakers who have agreed to help by giving their time and sharing their insights. Any pre-event surveys can highlight trends or subjects that they will cover in their presentations, which also makes sure that the audience gets the answers they want.
It might we worth finding an external expert on a particular topic who can add value. Or you might have someone who is a thought-leader within your organisation, who regularly publishes blogs, is active on social media and is highly regarded as a specialist in their field.

Planning

Preparation is essential, so share as much as you can with your team and also with the attendees beforehand. If anything changes then make sure that everyone knows immediately and has clear instructions about how to proceed. Onsite you can use the latest technology to deliver real-time notifications and dynamic alerts.

Keep everyone engaged

49% of people multitask by doing unrelated work during meetings and events. Make sure you keep everyone focused by delivering excellent content in an exciting way that really benefits the attendee. You want them to walk away knowing it was worth their while leaving the office to attend your event.

Feedback

Every meeting planner wants to collect insightful feedback so make sure attendees can deliver it in an easy, convenient way. The technology tools available now can provide you with quick and easy surveys, delivered electronically and these will allow attendees time to share their opinions, save you time and help plan the next event.

Follow up after the event and respond to contributors so everyone knows that their attendance was worthwhile and keep the engagement going afterwards. If you can create a sense of community then that will take you forwards to the next event.

We all know that meetings, conferences and events are a great contributor to successful communication, but they’re not easy to plan or manage. Hopefully, you can use these tips to improve engagement and build long-lasting relationships with attendees.

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Guests value ratings over brand value, study finds

Guest ratings and price are more influential than brand reputation when travellers book hotels, according to a new report – ‘The Big Decision: How travellers choose where to stay’ from Expedia Group and Unabashed Research.

The study’s 903 participants were asked to select two destinations; a familiar domestic city and an aspirational international location that was unfamiliar. The result? The report stated that ‘Price was by far the most important factor when picking a hotel, across both well-known and unknown brands.’ And ‘Interestingly, hotel brand carried a marginal advantage over the other attributes.’

“Our results revealed that guest ratings have a strong influence on traveler selection. Travelers are willing to pay more for hotels with higher guest ratings, and considerably more so than for premium branding.” according to the white paper by Expedia Group’s Abhijit Pal, head of research, lodging partner services.

“This shows that guest ratings have essentially leveled the playing field for independent hotels, as more potential guests seek out third-party endorsements for hotel properties they are considering,”

“Today’s brands succeed by filling up their hotels with business and group travellers, and for many second-tier business destinations, it may feel impossible to be an independent hotelier. Online marketplaces can help convince leisure travellers, as well as road warriors and their employers, to choose independent properties.”

So one of the study’s main takeaways is it “shows that a non-branded independent has opportunity to compete against an established brand player for traveler preference by focusing on the guest experience.”

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Research shows companies fail to carry out meetings risk assessments

New research reveals that many companies are failing to carry out proper risk assessments for every meeting despite the fact that 62 per cent of travel buyers say this is a growing priority.

A survey conducted by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) in partnership with WorldAware found that a quarter of organisations never or rarely conduct a formal risk assessment of specific venues.

Furthermore, 24 per cent never or rarely assess the risk of meeting locations, such as a particular city or neighbourhood.

While most travel programmes have a risk management solution in place, less than half (49 per cent) have one that includes MICE data. The GBTA says this lack of itinerary data makes it difficult for companies to track their travellers and, in turn, ensure their safety, with a third of travel buyers saying it is more difficult to track employees when they travel for meetings than for transient travel such as a sales trip.

In the event of an emergency, 80 per cent of respondents say they sometimes have a crisis communication plan for meetings, but only 36 per cent say they always have plans in place.

Some of the travel buyers responding to the survey admit they don’t have a risk solution that includes MICE data, but 28 per cent plan to adopt one within the next year.

Michael W McCormick, GBTA executive director and COO, commented: “Organisations are certainly making strides in the meetings risk management field, but current efforts leave something to be desired. Proper risk management can be the difference between a successful event and a catastrophic disaster. Although it’s encouraging to see more organisations do assess the risk of meeting locations, the research shows that many companies have some catching up to do.”

Theresa Thomas, senior VP of strategic partnerships at WorldAware, added: “Successful risk management for meetings and events requires organisations to clearly assign risk management responsibilities to an individual or team of individuals, and that responsibility must be comprehensive. In other words, those responsible for risk management must be empowered to assess risks related to location at a city and neighbourhood level, the venue itself and ground transportation, including public transit as well as private transportation.”

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New Cvent research suggests corporate travel budgets are expected to rise

According to new research, seven in ten European corporate travel buyers anticipate an increase in travel budgets this year, with 16 per cent expecting significant growth, but many said they face multiple challenges over the next 12 months.

The survey of 500 corporate travel decision makers by meetings, events and hospitality technology provider Cvent found German buyers are the most optimistic, predicting a significant increase in their budget for 2019. Only a quarter overall believe their allocation of company funds will remain the same.

Forty-four per cent of respondents manage spend of more than €1 million.

Nearly six in ten (57 per cent) of those surveyed said their hotel sourcing process occurs once a year, showing many buyers are still focused on the annual Request for Proposal (RFP). Meanwhile one in five undertake this task every two years and 16 per cent look for properties more than once a year.

Furthermore, buyers pointed to rising hotel costs and value for money (both 44.5 per cent) as the top challenges they face this year, with German decision makers especially worried about the latter (46.5 per cent).

Nearly six in ten UK respondents (59 per cent) said Brexit uncertainty was their main concern. The UK’s exit from the EU is also creating a challenge for buyers in Spain (31.7 per cent), Germany (30.7 per cent), Italy (30 per cent) and France (17.8 per cent).

Safety and security were regarded as less of an issue compared to costs (37.4 per cent overall).

Cvent says the research highlights clear opportunities for the corporate hospitality industry. When asked about their biggest challenges when negotiating with hotels, more than a quarter (26 per cent) cited rate increases that were above city or benchmark averages, followed by a lack of transparency (17.4 per cent) and bids that do not meet the requirements set out in the RFP (15.8 per cent).

A lack of transparency was the biggest issue for 24 per cent of UK decision makers.

Meanwhile, 13 per cent across Europe highlighted poor, slow, or incomplete responses from hotels and 11 per cent said chain account managers were not relaying their company information to specific hotels.

And when choosing which hotels to use in their programme, location tops the list, with 69 per cent of respondents prioritising this, followed by rates (59.7 per cent), amenities (53.6 per cent), star rating (30.8 per cent) and loyalty programmes (25.1 per cent). One per cent said they don’t prioritise any particular features, with the remaining 0.6 per cent citing other factors.

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Tourism industry confident despite Brexit, says UKinbound research

The research, which was collected by Qa Research, found that 59% of UKinbound members stated they were confident about business in the upcoming 12 months. This was the highest rate recorded since October 2017.

The increase in confidence was influenced by an influx of forward bookings, the value of the pound, and increased interest from North American and Asian markets.

Business also signalled that the number one activity they’re expecting to be most in demand from inbound tourists are cultural experiences, followed by ‘bespoke activities’.

However, businesses also stated the industry faces a number of problems in the upcoming months, notably the uncertainty around Brexit.

Staff recruitment and retention, improving the UK’s product offering and offers for visitors, attracting visitors from new markets, and currency fluctuations were also cited as general concerns.

A review of 2018 found a few interesting statistics:

  • Throughout 2018 China and the US remained the two top growth markets
  • Less than a third (28%) of members felt that over-tourism has a negative impact on their business
  • A key challenge for many members continued to be the reduction of available EU workers

UKinbound CEO Joss Croft commented: “It is encouraging that even with the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, our latest Business Barometer shows that forward bookings are strong and that there is an increase in confidence levels amongst some of our members.

“However, we remain concerned about the Government’s proposed immigration strategy post-Brexit, which will look to restrict employing EU nationals to those only earning over £30k. 

“Recruitment and retention of staff in the industry is already a challenge – due in part to Brexit, and this proposed restriction could have a real impact on the industry, which relies heavily on its EU employees due to their language and customer service skills.”