Equality and Diversity
Lisa Leid
Head of Communications and PR
United Kingdom
Focused on campaigning for equality and diversity, and acting as a vocal voice for leading, socially-focused businesses.
United Kingdom
Focused on campaigning for equality and diversity, and acting as a vocal voice for leading, socially-focused businesses.
Equality and Diversity
At Fractal we unequivocally stand by those making a change for the better to give Black individuals rights most people take for granted; to lead a life without fear, without discrimination and equal opportunities to succeed and flourish.
Articulating the topic of mental health is not easy, so I will not pretend that this will be a one-size-fits-all post for everyone. The last year we have been hearing a lot about our mental health - good, bad or otherwise - be it royals, celebrities or the charities who do such a wonderful job supporting those in need.
To celebrate this year's International Women's Day, I spoke to a formidable woman in the fintech space - Kristy Duncan, CEO and founder of the professional association Women in Payments.
At Fractal, we believe that cultivating a diverse workplace is very important. An equal world is an enabled world. Diversity can cover race, a person's capabilities, and gender which is the focal point of today as we celebrate International Women's Day.
Throughout time, women have had to overcome and fight many injustices stemming from societal perceptions of gender. Viola Llewellyn of Ovamba said, "The challenges women face within our industry are slowly improving. We are all becoming comfortable with these uncomfortable conversations".
As said in Quartz, "Over time, having women in powerful positions-placing bets on women and taking meetings with women founders who might never have gotten through the door at male-dominated firms-could radically transform the industry".
BYP Network is a community for black young professionals to network, socialise or date. Join us and get connected!
This piece focuses on Women's International day, it features influential women in finance such as, Victoria Raffe and Emilie Bellet.
Running a business and raising a child simultaneously can feel like an impossible task at times. Both jobs are very similar; both require dedication, time, and a lot of trial and error along the way. Stephanie Douglas, founder of Don't Buy Her Flowers, and a mother to two small kids told us: "You can't run a business and do everything you did before.
Fintech
Since lockdown was imposed in Wuhan, China on the 23rd January 2020, a ripple of concern waved through the financial markets with the CSI 300 Index (an aggregate measure of the top 300 stocks in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges) dropping almost 9% GDP (Gross Domestic Product) by 3rd February 2020.
So who's making a play for finance? There's Apple Pay, Google Pay, Amazon has multiple credit products, and everyone's favourite omnipresent power, Facebook, are capitalising on their huge user base to sell their cryptocurrency, Libra. Out of the four, Facebook's venture into finance is somewhat unique.
March 15th, also known as the Ides of March, signalled the beginning of a new year for the Romans. Courts would reopen and everyone was expected to settle their debts to start the new year afresh, and of course, avoid being sued. This was a very laborious task.
We're all experiencing such an enormous shift in technology in today's technology-obsessed world - and make no mistake - we are obsessed, it has become a lot easier to look at any issue in society and think 'I'm sure this can be improved using AI, machine learning or blockchain'.
Artificial intelligence can contribute to many products and services to make a consumer, or a small business's life, much simpler. Although AI has had its fair share of press, from the good, the bad, to the absolute ugly, it's still anyone's guess as to how it will truly change society.
We empathise completely with the world, and small businesses throughout this difficult time. At Fractal, we need to be at our most productive, now more than ever, to enable small businesses to overcome their cash flow issues.
London is a city like no other. Its attitude towards positive change through open collaboration heavily contributes to its status as a global hub for finance and technology. Today, the fourth industrial revolution is forcing the rapid evolution of technology impacting many industries on a global scale.
Machine learning is at the heart of our predictive models which enables our platform to give a small business timely insights into its forecasted expenditure and better financial product recommendations.
All over Europe, hundreds of tech companies submitted their applications to compete for the title of Shift Money Challenge Winner 2018. Shift Money selected a group of 10 tech companies, including us at Fractal, to pitch in Zagreb, Croatia.
This week, the Department for International Trade will be hosting the second thought-leadership summit - the India Future Tech Festival - in New Delhi.
Happy first birthday, Open Banking! Today, you are one year older and wiser - and so are we.
Making finance more inclusive for small businesses was never going to be an easy task, but it's one that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can take head-on.
Fashion
Having already written a blog on the issue of diversity in fashion, I think it is only appropriate to look back at London Fashion Week's choice in models and question why there wasn't more diversity on the runway this season.
18 year old Kendall Jenner of E!'s Keeping up with the Kardashians fame, made her fashion week debut this week at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week at Armory, New York on Thursday 13th February.
Designers and models were all over the news and social media in the past few weeks, due to the ongoing fashion shows at the four major fashion capitals in the world, New York, London, Milan and Paris.
According to a Vice article in December: "New York Fashion Week catwalks for A/W 2014, out of 4,621 looks, only 985 were worn by models of colour. Of all the models that walked during the week, 78.69 percent were white." Unfortunately these results are not surprising.
London Fashion Week kicked off with a conference on the 14th February this year announcing positive growth in the UK fashion industry. Chairman of the British Fashion Council, Natalie Massenet, announced figures showing growth in the UK fashion industry over the past five years.
What is one of the biggest compliments a leading fashion house can give to a young model? A comparison to supermodels Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell perhaps? Burberry is clearly impressed by Cara Delevingne and Jourdan Dunn, having both worked alongside the two fashion icons in separate campaigns.
Small Business
Despite cultural and economic differences, small businesses from all over the world face similar challenges and share the same concerns, ranging from uncertainty about future cash flow to accessing affordable finance. There are several reasons as to why small businesses struggle financially -- dealing with late payments from customers, lack of foresight into their future cash flow, and minimal support from those with financial experience.
It's not every day that you're invited to have dinner at the British Ambassador's house at The Hague, Netherlands to discuss solutions to fix the small business banking problem and why it even exists in the first place.
Just under a year ago, Open Banking gathered a group of leading fintechs (including us at Fractal) and the UK Small Business Commissioner, Paul Uppal, to discuss an ongoing issue that significantly affects small business owners and their cash flow - late payments.
No one could have ever predicted the sheer speed of COVID-19's virality, and the cataclysmic impact it would make on the world. In the past three months, we have seen some of the most prosperous countries completely lockdown in light of the pandemic, the economy go into freefall, and the livelihood of billions of small business owners out at risk or snatched away before help could arrive.
Over the past 12 months, we have been fortunate enough to visit nearly every continent in the world (closing the small business funding gap in Antarctica, anyone?) to better understand how small businesses function globally.
No one could have ever predicted the sheer speed of COVID-19's virality, and the cataclysmic impact it would make on the world. In the past three months, we have seen some of the most prosperous countries completely lockdown in light of the pandemic, the economy go into freefall, and the livelihood of billions of small business owners out at risk or snatched away before help could arrive.
If there's one thing that the entire fintech community can agree on, it's this - 2018 has been quite the year for new regulatory changes that will affect small businesses and the way they bank, but it hasn't even started yet.
There's no doubt that every small business owner will be going through a difficult time right now. The BBC suggests that between 800,000 to 1 million businesses could be forced to shut up shop because they can no longer cover rent, salaries and other expenses.
Australia, the fourth happiest country in the world, and is a renowned destination for many reasons, so it's no wonder that Australia is a hotspot for aspiring small business owners to set up shop and serve a very diverse crowd of people with a wide set of needs.
Reviews
Ben Affleck and Rosemary Pike star in David Fincher's mystery thriller Gone Girl, a film cleverly written and very rare to find these days. Having not guessed the movies ending within the first half hour I was impressed.
For those who were disappointed with the Oscar nominations or the Golden Globes this year, do not despair. If you prefer a more indie setting for your film award ceremonies, Berlin hosts the yearly Berlin International Film Festival 2016. For a 10 day spectacle.
Caribbean sea and fairytale castles: here are 9 dreamy villages in the south of France that you must visit. For a romantic escape, with a wink to adventure.
Described as a one-woman tour de force, newcomer Maddy Anholt, has been getting rave reviews for her dynamic performances. Her new comedy performance, Maddy's Many Mouths, allows the audience to watch Maddy's journey through 12 diverse characters.
Bubbly, straight to the point and very funny; Katie Lynch, the fashionable 22 year old, Vogue approved entrepreneur from Kent, created her online boutique whilst studying (and graduating) from Kingston University and hasn't looked back since.
News
One in five Kingston students have tried MDMA
Thrive Battersea Park will be opening its Herb Garden and the Old English Garden to the public during London's Open Garden Squares Weekend. The day will include children's activities, plant sales and guided tours of the Jo Malone London funded Old English Garden.
The public can see inside Raven's Ait this month thanks to a pop-up restaurant with a classic British theme. Live music will lull diners enjoying either afternoon tea or a three-course meal on Sunday, August 17. The lease to the iconic island was bought in September by Middle Eastern businessman Marshal Gasper from former Olympic sailing medallist Ossie Stewart, for a rumoured £1.9m.