Government says shared parental leave take-up in the UK could be as low as two per cent February 12, 2018 The government said today that despite around 285,000 couples each year qualifying for shared parental leave, actual take-up could be as low as two per cent. Half of the general public aren’t even aware that the option exists for parents. The announcement came as part of a new drive from the Department for Business, Energy [...]
Government websites have secretly been mining bitcoin in “cryptojacking” of ICO and student loans company with Coinhive February 12, 2018 Government websites in the UK and US, including those belonging to the data regulator and the Student Loans Company, have been secretly commandeered by hackers to mine bitcoin. The website of the Information Commissioner’s Office was among several to be taken offline after a security researcher discovered that malware was being used to illegally mine [...]
Serious Fraud Office slaps Barclays with new charge over Qatar capital raising scandal February 12, 2018 The UK’s fraud watchdog has today hefted a new charge onto Barclays Bank, in relation to an emergency fundraising it conducted in the summer of 2008. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) today charged Barclays with giving “unlawful financial assistance”, after it raised £4.5bn in June 2008 and £7.3bn that October from investors including Qatar Holding [...]
Transport for London (TfL) faces near £1bn operational deficit as revenue raising efforts run into trouble February 12, 2018 Transport for London (TfL) faces a near £1bn operational deficit next year, as it looks to secure new revenue raising options amid a surprise dip in passenger numbers and the loss of government funding. The organisation said in its most recent business plan that it expects a £784m deficit this year, which will then hit [...]
A match made in blockchain? The case for bitmarriage February 12, 2018 “Are you married?” For most people this feels like an obvious question. But despite common acceptance of the definition of marriage, marital status can be highly complex. English marriage law comes from a mix of statutes from the last two centuries, which throw up bizarre lacunae: a marriage in a synagogue is automatically legally valid, [...]
Helena Morrissey Q&A: How rethinking the City’s bravado culture and accepting difference will mean women and men can have it all February 12, 2018 It’s been almost five years since Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg published Lean In, which encouraged women to raise their voices and get stuck into their workplaces. Now, the movement for gender equality has a new manifesto in the form of A Good Time to be a Girl, by the founder of the boardroom campaign The 30% [...]
Forget embracing failure, startups deserve the best possible shot at success February 12, 2018 Last year in the UK, 70 new businesses were started every hour. In just three years’ time, up to 90 per cent of them will have failed. Business failure is often a personal tragedy, though inevitable in a dynamic market economy. However, not every failure is due to a lack of demand for a product [...]
TLA’s Russ Shaw is fortifying London’s position as a global tech powerhouse February 12, 2018 With a discernibly American twang, tainted softly-British, New York-born Russ Shaw is, perhaps, not who one might expect as London’s tech cheerleader on the world stage. Although, perhaps his being here is testament to exactly why the capital, a hotchpotch of international talent and innovation, is worth shouting about so loudly. He’s the founder of [...]
Unilever threatens to pull advertising spend with tech giants Google, Facebook, and Twitter over toxic culture and fake news February 12, 2018 One of the world’s biggest advertisers is threatening to slash the amount of cash it spends with tech companies if they fail to tackle fake news and toxic cultures on their platforms. The stark warning comes from Unilever and its marketing chief Keith Weed who oversees an annual budget of €7.7bn (£6.8bn), spent on marketing [...]
McLaren F1 team appoints advisers including Sebastian Coe to help boost sponsorship income February 12, 2018 The boss of the McLaren Formula One (F1) team has revealed that he has appointed a panel of business advisers, including former London 2012 frontman Lord Coe, in a bid to boost its sponsorship income after years of dismal results. McLaren has recently announced a string of sponsorship deals culminating in the signing of computer [...]