DEBATE: Do protests over fuel duty rises show that President Macron is out of touch with French citizens? November 20, 2018 Do protests over fuel duty rises show that President Macron is out of touch with French citizens? Beatrice Timpson, director at Media Intelligence Partners, says YES. “I want to rule like Jupiter,” President Emmanuel Macron famously declared, “above the political maelstrom.” To be fair to Macron, he has always been consistent. His is the vox dei, [...]
Labour’s childish antics over Brexit are an embarrassment November 20, 2018 The Brexit deal is on the table and the bids to support it, scrap it, or make it utterly redundant are now in full swing. As Theresa May moves forward with her plan to engineer a parliamentary majority for a proposed exit deal, clear political camps have begun to form. The Tory moderates who have [...]
Google and DeepMind are playing fast and loose with society’s trust November 20, 2018 Last week, we were greeted by the disturbing news that DeepMind, an artificial intelligence subsidiary owned by Google’ s parent company Alphabet, is moving some of its healthcare activities into the newly formed Google Health. This isn’t the first time that one of the tech giants has been accused of making misrepresentations to consumers, using [...]
All I want for Christmas… is for retailers to get real and rethink their festive ads November 20, 2018 TV has long been a staple of Christmas advertising, highlighted by the millions of people who look forward to the annual John Lewis spot. This year, the retailer reportedly spent millions of pounds on a cameo from Elton John, though it is being tight-lipped about exactly how much. However, while the department store’s festive offering [...]
Banks should watch out – the fintech era has barely begun November 20, 2018 The fintech sector makes a lot of noise in London. There’s an endless stream of news about open banking and challenger banks, while the traditional finance sector watches on with a mixture of admiration and suspicion. Banks have come under attack, not only from the hype-machine, but more meaningfully from startups. Traditional finance providers that assumed [...]
Bonmarche maintains dividend despite lower store sales shredding profits in half November 20, 2018 Retailer Bonmarche laid bare its high street struggles today after a recent profit warning, revealing that store sales fell in the first six months to the end of September despite a boost to online income. The figures Revenue came in flat in its half-year results compared to the same period last year at £97.9m. In-store like-for-like sales dropped [...]
Draper Esprit and Barclays back London fintech Form3 in $13m funding round November 20, 2018 Payments technology fintech startup Form3 will today reveal the close of a $13m (£10.1m) series B fundraising round, led by Graze and Perkbox-backer Draper Esprit. Existing investors Barclays Bank, Angel Cofund and several other individual backers also participated in the round. Established in 2016, the Monument-based startup builds payments-processing technology for banks and fintech firms [...]
DUP abstain from key votes sending Brexit warning to Theresa May November 19, 2018 Theresa May has suffered a fresh blow tonight as the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) abstained on several key Finance Bill votes, breaking a voting deal and sending a warning to the government. Just hours earlier DUP leader Arlene Foster had said May should demand a better Brexit deal. The confidence and supply agreement negotiated by Foster [...]
Societe Generale to pay $1.3bn fine for US sanctions violations November 19, 2018 French bank Societe Generale has agreed to pay US authorities $1.3bn (£1bn) to resolve allegations it violated US sanctions on Cuba, Iran and other countries. US authorities said the bank processed billions of dollars in illegal transactions to parties in countries under US sanction, including Iran, Sudan, Cuba and Libya. Societe Generale said the penalties would [...]
Boris’s water cannon fetch junk price as they are sold off for scrap November 19, 2018 Three water cannon bought and renovated for over £300,000 by former London mayor Boris Johnson will be broken down for scrap after being sold for a fraction of their value. The machines, which were never used, have been sold for parts to Reclamations (Ollerton) Ltd for just over £11,000, the mayor’s office announced yesterday. The [...]