Polman bows out of Unilever with a rich legacy, but a tarnished reputation November 29, 2018 When Paul Polman announced his plan to quit as boss of Unilever last autumn, he had plenty of reasons to think he would be leaving the consumer goods giant on a high: he had fought off a £115bn takeover attempt from Kraft Heinz earlier in the year and forged a reputation as a champion of [...]
Big ambitions and grand challenges: How the industrial strategy fares one year on November 29, 2018 It’s now a year since the industrial strategy was launched. Encompassing a 255-page tome, it laid five foundations for productivity: ideas, people, infrastructure, places and the business environment. It promised waves of sector deals between government and industry to de-risk investment and improve workers’ skills. Six such deals were announced in the first year, from automotive [...]
Angry Beefeaters: Historic Royal Palaces staff may take to the picket lines after losing pension scheme November 29, 2018 Beefeaters from the Tower of London will vote tomorrow on whether to strike for the first time in more than 50 years in a row over pension cuts. The iconic guards, as well as Jewel House Wardens and other employees of Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) are set to lose their defined benefit pension schemes, and [...]
Trump lawyer admits lying to Congress over president’s Russian affairs November 29, 2018 The former lawyer of US President Donald Trump has admitted he lied to Congress amid an investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 election. Michael Cohen, who served as then-businessman Trump’s personal lawyer for several years, pleaded guilty following charges filed by special counsel Robert Mueller last night. Cohen said that he had included false [...]
Germany steps in to give UK financial services timely Brexit boost November 29, 2018 UK financial services firms could be allowed to keep operating in Germany following a no-deal Brexit after the German Treasury took matters into its own hands amid growing uncertainty. Draft law changes proposed last week could allow UK-based firms providing cross-border financial services to continue to operate in Germany until the end of 2020. The [...]
Trump cancels meeting with Putin over Ukraine crisis November 29, 2018 US President Donald Trump has cancelled a meeting with Russian leader Vladmir Putin after the Russian navy seized two Ukranian vessels. The leaders were due to meet at the G20 in Argentina over the weekend, and the meeting was confirmed earlier today by the Kremlin. However, this afternoon Trump cancelled the meeting, citing Russian aggression [...]
Qualcomm unveils $100m AI startup fund as tech companies race to invest in sector November 29, 2018 US telecoms firm Qualcomm has launched a $100m (£78.3m) fund to invest in AI startups in a bid to promote new technology for self-driving cars and robots. The Qualcomm Ventures AI Fund will focus on firms that are developing “on-device AI”, as the telecoms company looks to spread the use of the new technology on [...]
Thameslink summer delays not enough to derail Go-Ahead Group finances as revenues outpace passenger growth November 29, 2018 Public transport operator Go-Ahead Group shares closed 7 per cent up today as it reported revenue growth in the last quarter. In its first quarter trading update, the company said that despite a summer of delays and cancellations of London services revenue continued to grow faster than passenger numbers. For the quarter from July 1 [...]
Ford’s Europe president says a no-deal Brexit would be an ‘absolute disaster’ for the car industry November 29, 2018 Ford's Europe, Middle East and Africa president has said a no-deal Brexit would be an "absolute disaster" for the auto industry. Speaking at a conference in London, Steven Armstrong said Ford was already "spending money on no-deal plans that we may never need" to avoid a cliff edge in which the UK leaves the EU without a [...]
Bayer seeks buyer for major assets as company plans 12,000 redundancies November 29, 2018 Bayer will lay off 12,000 workers as part of a plan to drag the company’s share price up by its bootstraps. Management today announced it will lose around 10 per cent of its 118,200 workers worldwide, with a large portion of the redundancies being made in Germany. It is also looking to sell off its [...]