Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Cover Story”
Several tech founders are trying to break into the NHS. How will their smartphone-powered ideas get on in an institution sceptical of change, underpinned by a notorious tangle of IT and bureaucracy? A near-sacred institution, the NHS has spent little time out of the public psyche since its inception in 1948. Today, far from being a celebrated feat of public welfare, …
The search for a digital fitness business that sticks It’s impossible to ignore the scaling problem fitness businesses run into. The need to have a great big building full of equipment, located close to where lots of people live or work, is expensive. To build several is even harder. Facing this conundrum, many startups are experimenting with digital fitness. There’s …
The relentless cost-cutters that are clobbering Virgin Active and Fitness First. At first glance, something doesn’t quite add up. More people are taking an interest in fitness than ever, the UK gym market is growing faster than anywhere in Europe and yet, the two most dominant firms, Fitness First and Virgin Active, closed more clubs than they opened in the …
Style and social media have become as integral as sweat to startup fitness brands. Blame LA. The health-conscious Californian city has been luring the fashion world to its sunny streets; perhaps as significant a factor as any behind the coming together of fashion, food and fitness. What used to be called ‘exercise’ has, for many, morphed into something far broader and …
Barry’s Bootcamp is a workout, a brand and a buzz word for the wave of fitness fanaticism that’s sweeping across from the US to Europe. Courier meets CEO Joey Gonzalez. Barry Jay devised an intense workout inside a gym that attracted a small but fast-growing local following. It led to the formation of Barry’s Bootcamp, with outposts opening across the US and more …
Hot on the heels of SoulCycle’s explosive growth and £90m annual sales, a bunch of UK startups are attempting to build a blockbuster fitness business out of London. Is there substance behind the lifestyle fluff? 26 Sep 2016 Some 15 months after opening his first site in Holland Park, Core Collective founder Jason de Savary was sweating over securing leases on his next two …
Nightclubs are shutting down at a surprisingly fast rate with complaints of crime taking a toll. However, owners prove they are here to stay and describe the methods taken to adapt to their new climate. 25 Aug 2016 Running nightclubs has never been a business for the faint-hearted, but the current climate is testing the wit and invention of London’s promoters …
A small group in Peckham are putting on parties that could well make them the unlikely heroes keeping London’s after-hours culture alive. Somewhere after the succession of hair weaves and fish being hawked on Rye Lane is a grubby red door next to a closed down chiropodist. A sign that looks like it’s been there since the 1980s at the …
The British furniture industry lags behind Europeans despite a wealth of design talent. Why? It’s perhaps an interesting time to reflect on the fact that Europeans simply do some things better than Britain and in a way that we would do well to learn from. This includes the making and selling of furniture. It’s a sore point for individuals in the …
There are two reasons to believe this spirited band of digital upstart banks will achieve mass-market success. Firstly, the smartphone is still underexploited as a tool in various facets of everyday life. The other is that big banks can’t innovate. It’s this second sentiment that appears to be the bigger driver in the case for proper disruption than anything the …
