Royal Mail’s export service hit with major cyber incident and is experiencing ‘severe disruption’ January 11, 2023 Royal Mail is experiencing “severe service disruption” to its international export services following a cyber incident, the company has announced. A statement said it was temporarily unable to despatch export items including letters and parcels to overseas destinations. Royal Mail said: “We have asked customers temporarily to stop submitting any export items into the network while we work hard [...]
FCA to expand guidance for insurers on protecting cash-strapped customers January 11, 2023 The City watchdog has vowed to update guidance for insurers on protecting customers amid the UK’s cost-of-living crisis. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) today set out plans to expand guidance, which was first introduced during the pandemic, to ensure all struggling customers are protected. Under the FCA’s proposed new guidance, insurers will be [...]
Boohoo: Tears as online retailer prepares major jobs cull at London Soho office January 11, 2023 Online fast-fashion retailer Boohoo is preparing to slash over 100 jobs in its London Soho office as it continues to integrate a recent spate of big brand acquisitions. The majority of roles at risk of being cut are believed to be among Boohoo’s e-commerce, buying and design teams,; although the exact number of redundancies is [...]
Cost-of-living crisis will fuel tsunami of cyber attacks in 2023, warns industry insider January 11, 2023 The cost-of-living crisis is fuelling a surge in cyber attacks on UK businesses, a leading fraud expert has warned. Leigham Martin, group head of infrastructure and security at Connectus Business Solutions, shared with City A.M. that cutting costs on security will spell disaster for businesses. “There is increasing evidence that some businesses are looking to [...]
BNPL: Usage of buy-now pay-later with firms like Klarna rockets – but does it ease shoppers’ cost-of-living burden? January 11, 2023 Buy-now pay-later usage rocketed last year as over four million new shoppers took to the products in a bid to shield their wallets from the soaring cost of living, new data shows.
London AI startup InstaDeep bought by BionTech in half-a-billion deal January 11, 2023 London based AI startup InstaDeep has been bought out by biotechnology giant BioNTech in a half-a-billion pound deal. InstaDeep focuses on machine learning and artificial intelligence, and has raised nearly £100m across four seed rounds. The deal will allow BioNTech to use InstaDeep’s machine learning to “improve its drug discovery process, including developing personalised treatments tailored [...]
Uranium detected in package at Heathrow as terror police vow to ‘follow every avenue’ – but where did it come from? January 11, 2023 Counter-terrorism investigators will “follow every avenue” to discover how material contaminated with a radioactive substance came to be found at Heathrow Airport. Uranium was detected during routine screening of a package at the airport on December 29, that according to the Sun had originated in Pakistan and arrived on a flight from Oman. The newspaper reported [...]
Barratt: Rising mortgage costs could hit its profits as house prices slide January 11, 2023 Barratt Developments said the outlook for 2023 was ‘uncertain’ as rising mortgage costs force residential property sales down. The FTSE 100 listed house builder said demand for its homes in 2023 looks “uncertain” due to prospective home buyers shunning big ticket purchases amid a cost of living and mortgage affordability squeeze. Mortgage costs have been [...]
Darktrace shares down over 10 per cent after firm cuts revenue forecast January 11, 2023 British cyber-security company Darktrace cut its full-year revenue forecast on Wednesday after prospective customers turned more reluctant to run product trials due to the worsening economic environment. The company, which listed in April 2021, said it now expected its constant currency annual recurring revenue (ARR) to increase by between 29.0 per cent and 31.5 per [...]
Exclusive: Surge in fraud and scams sends shivers through the City’s financial services space January 11, 2023 Close to half of Londoners believe the financial services industry is more vulnerable to fraud and scams than ever before. And for good reason. In fact, with fraud costing the UK £9.3bn a year, identity theft leaping 11 per cent to an all-time high in 2021 and, for the year ending September 2021, overall fraud was [...]