Elon Musk could learn a thing or two from Sweden about a healthy work-life balance December 7, 2018 Last month, Elon Musk issued another controversial decree from his Twitter parapet. Appealing to potential applicants to his various companies, Musk made the claim that “nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week”. When pressed for details on what would constitute an earth-altering amount of weekly work, he recommended “80 sustained, peaking above [...]
Debate: Do we need more regulation to tackle late payments to SMEs? December 7, 2018 Do we need more regulation to tackle late payments to SMEs? Yes – Jordan Marshall is policy development manager at IPSE. SMEs represent 99.9 per cent of all private sector businesses. Included in this figure are 4.8m self-employed people – the UK’s smallest enterprises. A report from MPs this week exposed the shoddy practices of [...]
O2 restores 3G and 4G services after Ericsson software issue led to day-long data outage for 32m customers December 7, 2018 O2's network has been fully restored after a data outage affecting up to 32m customers lasted the entirety of Thursday. Problems were first reported at around 5.30am yesterday, with O2 customers saying they could not use 3G or 4G data. The error also took down Giffgaff, Sky's mobile services, Lycamobile and Tesco Mobile, which all rely on [...]
Primark owner warns of challenging trading and tough retail market December 7, 2018 The chairman of the company behind Primark is today warning of a tough market for retail saying that during November Primark trading was challenging. Associated British Foods chairman Michael McLintock will say at the firm’s annual general meeting today that “during November Primark trading was challenging, in a tough retail market, but with careful inventory management [...]
Editor’s Notes: The Bank of England must protect its independence December 7, 2018 Former chair of the US Federal Reserve Janet Yellen once said “the principle that a central bank should be independent from the government is unassailable.” Donald Trump probably thinks unassailable means you can’t sell it, but even if he understood Yellan’s point he seems determined to ignore it. His broadsides against Fed policy are quite [...]
Bank of England slammed over secret Venezuelan gold summit December 6, 2018 The Bank of England (BoE) has come under fire following reports of a clandestine meeting with senior representatives of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. The BoE is due to meet high-ranking Venezuelan officials in London tomorrow to discuss the return of gold worth $550m stored in the bank’s vaults, according to sources. Today it emerged MP [...]
Gambling firms see shares drop amid reports of TV advert ban December 6, 2018 Shares in major gambling firms took a hit today following reports of a ban on advertising during live sports events. Paddy Power, Bet365 and Ladbrokes are among major bookmakers that have reportedly agreed to a ban on TV adverts during sports broadcasts amid fears aggressive marketing campaigns are fuelling the UK’s gambling problem. Shares in [...]
Visas for super rich investors scrapped amid crackdown on money laundering December 6, 2018 The government will suspend golden ticket investment visas, which allow non-EU nationals to stay in the UK if they invest £2m, amid a crackdown on organised crime. Just buying into UK companies, or buying government bonds, will no longer be enough for Russian oligarchs, Middle Eastern oil barons and other super rich investors to stay in the UK. The [...]
Sears chairman Eddie Lampert makes $4.6bn offer for troubled US department store December 6, 2018 Struggling department store Sears has received an offer from chairman Eddie Lampert's ESL Investments to buy the US retailer for $4.6bn (£3.6bn). Reuters reported that Lampert’s offer calls for about 500 Sears stores to remain open and would keep 50,000 of the retailer’s workers employed. According to Reuters, hedge fund ESL, which is Sears' largest shareholder [...]
TfL and Crossrail to pay £15m to Canary Wharf Group if Elizabeth Line station is not complete by 2021 December 6, 2018 Transport for London (TfL) and Crossrail could have to fork out £15m to the Canary Wharf Group if its new Elizabeth Line station is not complete by 2021, City A.M. can reveal. An email from outgoing Crossrail chief executive Simon Wright, seen by City A.M., reveals that TfL and Crossrail will have to pay the sum each year if the station [...]