A Facebook news feed experiment splitting it in two is freaking out media publishers October 24, 2017 Facebook has been forced to issue an assurance to media publishers that a potentially damaging change to news feeds being tested in a handful of countries will not be rolled out globally. The controversial change splits a users news feed in two, separating posts made by family and friends from that of content from publishers [...]
Struggling rent-to-own business BrightHouse agrees to return £14.8m to customers after watchdog (FCA) probe October 24, 2017 Rent-to-own business BrightHouse has agreed to return more than £14.8m to its customers, after an investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) revealed it was providing unsuitable lending agreements to customers at risk of falling into financial difficulty. The household goods retailer will pay back the sum to 249,000 customers in respect of 384,000 agreements, [...]
Juncker: Those wanting a Brexit no deal have no friends in European Commission October 24, 2017 Jean-Claude Juncker has told the European Parliament that Brussels is not in “a hostile mood”, insisting he does not want Brexit negotiations to result in a no deal. The European Commission chief, who yesterday was forced to distance himself after another embarrassing leak was laid at his door, told MEPs that “no deal is not [...]
Digital challenger bank Starling is the first to support Fitbit Pay in the UK October 24, 2017 Customers of digital challenger Starling will be able to pay using their Fitbit smartwatch as it becomes the first bank in the UK to support Fitbit Pay. It marks the wider roll out of the wearable tech company’s challenger to Apple Watch. The Ionic smartwatch launched initially last month in the US, its newest device [...]
Data might be like oil, but reputation is still the real black gold October 24, 2017 For those firms harbouring inordinate reserves of our personal information, despite the endless profit-churning opportunities, an unblemished corporate reputation remains priceless. Today’s internet giants were founded on our personal data. Amazon, Facebook, Google. They don’t have high street stores. There’s next-to no human interaction. It’s all data. But today, data is a democracy. Businesses in [...]
Commercial property investment in the City set for a record year, according to Savills October 24, 2017 Commercial property investment in the City is set to reach or beat the record of £12.6bn set in 2014, according to research from Savills. Investment in the Square Mile for the first three quarters of this year has already beaten the full-year total for 2016. Volumes hit £8.5bn by the end of September – six [...]
The future may be powered by data, but it must be piloted by humans October 24, 2017 Of the six most valuable companies in the world, five are tech firms, whose worth is embodied less in physical assets than in intellectual property and customer data. Apple and Microsoft provide the tools to connect people, and to collect and process data. Google, Facebook and Amazon provide services, and in return accumulate more data [...]
DEBATE: Is London’s new ‘T-charge’ on high-polluting vehicles a good idea? October 24, 2017 Is London’s new ‘T-charge’ on high-polluting vehicles a good idea? Jin Ng, head of data and trends at easyCar.com, says YES. While the congestion charge has been effective in reducing the number of private vehicles in central London, the T-charge is one of the first of hopefully many measures necessary to help bring emissions down [...]
The big businesses denigrating capitalism don’t understand its world-changing power October 24, 2017 We all know that capitalism is failing. Jeremy Corbyn has been telling us since the 1970s, before we had capitalism. Theresa May, who assures us she’s a fervent believer in free markets, also believes those markets are broken. Now, it’s the captains of industry who are imparting their wisdom about the demerits of the system [...]
MPs to hear from Heathrow boss and IAG’s Willie Walsh in evidence session to scrutinise impact of Brexit on aviation October 23, 2017 MPs will hold a one-off session next week to consider Brexit’s impact on aviation, after the industry has called for certainty on flying rights when Britain leaves the European Union. The Transport Select Committee has invited airline and airport representatives to the evidence session, including Heathrow boss John Holland-Kaye, and British Airways owner IAG’s chief [...]