Aluminium price and nickel price continue to surge on Russia sanction fears April 19, 2018 Metals markets have rallied today as pressure from US sanctions on Russia and rising oil prices boost commodities to multi-year highs. Aluminium giant Rusal continues to feel the heat from sanctions issued earlier this month to target Russian oligarchs and the companies they control. The metal rose to highs not seen since 2011 today while [...]
Bank of England official warns of risks building in the British mortgage market April 19, 2018 A top Bank of England official has warned that the UK’s mortgage market is showing signs of increasing risk in a speech today. Alex Brazier, executive director for financial stability strategy and risk at the Bank of England, said that the UK’s mortgage market was showing signs of greater risk. “A sharp slowing in credit [...]
Low-carbon UK: Britain just went more than two days without coal – a new record April 19, 2018 The UK has just gone a record amount of time without using coal to generate electricity. National Grid confirmed Britain operated without coal for more than two days, or just under 55 hours, between 10.25pm on Monday to 5.20am this morning. The previous record was a stretch of 40.5 hours between the 28 and 30 [...]
Retail sales fall on weather hit but department stores provide unlikely bright spot April 19, 2018 Retail sales fell in the three months to March as bad weather froze petrol sales, although department stores provided an unlikely bright spot thanks to improved web traffic. The volume of sales fell by 0.5 per cent in the three months to March, in line with economists consensus expectations, according to the Office for National [...]
Melrose says £8bn GKN offer is “unconditional in all respects” as the engineering giant’s board resigns April 19, 2018 Industrial turnaround firm Melrose has declared its £8.1bn offer for GKN is now “unconditional in all respects” as the entire board of the more than 250-year-old firm resigned. “Today sees the formation of a new manufacturing powerhouse, headquartered in the UK and with diverse operations around the world,” said Melrose chairman Christopher Miller. Melrose thanked [...]
SpaceX has launched a rocket carrying a planet-hunting NASA telescope into space April 19, 2018 A NASA satellite has just catapulted into space with the help of Elon Musk’s SpaceX on the first-of-its-kind mission to discover planets beyond our solar system. NASA’s Tess [transiting exoplanet survey satellite] took off on Wednesday evening in Florida with the help of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The satellite is on a mission to find [...]
Elon Musk shares how to improve productivity with Tesla employees telling them to walk out of meetings April 19, 2018 Tesla boss Elon Musk has told employees to walk out of meetings and end calls as soon as possible in an effort to boost productivity. In an email to employees at the electric car firm, Musk has sought to boost production of the highly-awaited Model 3 sedan, with goals to lift output in the coming [...]
Outdated recruitment attitudes are blocking the best young digital talent from getting jobs April 19, 2018 The digital skills gap in the UK is well documented, with employers struggling to fill 43 per cent of STEM vacancies, according to the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, and the Federation of Small Businesses reporting that 22 per cent of business owners think a lack of digital skills is holding them back. But [...]
London’s technology powerhouse needs to look in the mirror and promise to do better April 19, 2018 As Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the hot seat in the US Congress to provide evidence on the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, the tech industry once again found itself under scrutiny, scorn, and suspicion. Was this the death of the stereotype of the eternally optimistic and ambitious tech entrepreneur? 2017 was cited as the annus [...]
London weather heats up as temperatures expected to soar to 27 degrees celsius in hottest day of the year so far April 19, 2018 Get searching for rooftop bars and beer gardens folks, for today is expected to be the hottest day of the year so far. The Met Office’s latest forecast today expects temperatures to soar to 27°C in parts of the capital and the South East of England, saying it will be very warm and sunny. “It [...]