Microsoft chief Satya Nadella calls for facial recognition regulation as Bing gets switched back on in China January 24, 2019 The boss of software giant Microsoft has said facial recognition technology needs to be regulated, as the company weathers another storm in China. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, chief executive Satya Nadella said that self-regulation when it comes to facial recognition may not be enough as the technology grows more popular. [...]
Jaguar Land Rover extends planned shutdown over Brexit concerns January 24, 2019 Jaguar Land Rover has announced plans to close its UK plants for an extra week in April due to the potential disruption caused by Brexit. The car giant’s three assembly plants, in Solihull, Halewood and Castle Bromwich, and its engine plant in Wolverhampton were all due to close from 15-23 April as part of planned [...]
Nationalise plant if you want to save nuclear plans, Hitachi chairman tells government January 24, 2019 Hitachi’s nuclear plants in the UK will only go ahead if the government nationalises them, the chairman of the Japanese giant has said. The shock statements at the World Economic Forum in Davos came just a week after Hitachi abandoned the £16bn Wylfa nuclear plant in north Wales. Read more: Government faces headache as Hitachi pulls out [...]
Bills could change more than ever under government’s energy price cap, experts warn January 24, 2019 The government’s energy price limit will cause prices to fluctuate more than ever, experts are warning as Ofgem looks set to raise the cap just months after it was first introduced. The “significant” rise is expected to reach around £80 to £100 a year industry insiders say, higher than the touted £76 per annum savings [...]
Apprenticeship levels up on last year but still hampered by 2017 levy January 24, 2019 More people started apprenticeships in the first quarter of the 2018-19 academic year than in the year before, but are still below equivalent figures reported in 2016-17 and 2015-16. There were 132,000 starts between August and October last year, up 15.4 per cent year-on-year from 114,300, according to Department for Education (DfE) figures published this [...]
Iceland removes its name from some products after failing to meet own palm oil deadline January 24, 2019 British supermarket Iceland removed its name from some of its own-brand products last year, after it realised it couldn't meet its campaign target of selling no products containing palm oil under its branding. The retailer said it would remove all palm oil from 100 per cent of its own products by the end of 2018, due [...]
‘The food sucks and the sex is worse’: Barclays fraud trial execs joked about prison January 24, 2019 Ex-Barclays bosses on trial for fraud joked about going to jail while organising a crucial capital raising drive at the height of the financial crisis, with wealth manager Tom Kalaris saying “the food sucks and the sex is worse”. Another executive, Richard Boath, expressed fears the bank would be “basically dead” if it were unable to secure [...]
Brussels launches campaign to entice UK creative industries ahead of Brexit January 24, 2019 Brussels has positioned itself as a potential new home for the UK’s creative industries by calling on creative businesses to move to the Belgian capital ahead of Brexit. The campaign aims to bring British companies in the film, broadcast and creative industries to Brussels to help them secure their European operations when Britain leaves the [...]
Brexit: Minister dares May to sack him for calling no deal a ‘disaster’ January 24, 2019 A business minister has dared Theresa May to sack him as he publicly agreed with claims a ‘no deal’ Brexit would be a “disaster” for industry. Richard Harrington, minister for industry and energy, said he was “delighted” to read comments from Airbus chief Tom Enders on Thursday laying into the government’s handling of Brexit. Enders claimed [...]
Household spending reaches pre-crisis levels as labour market strengthens and inflation falls January 24, 2019 Household spending rose to pre-crisis levels last year and family spending power grew at its fastest rate in more than two years. Weekly spending rose to £572.60 in the year ending March 2018, the highest since 2005 after adjusting for inflation, the Office for National Statistics said today. Family spending power was also £11.37 – [...]