City rolls out fastest free wifi network in the UK October 16, 2017 City workers are to be treated to Britain’s fastest free wifi network starting from today. The City of London Corporation has launched the new service in conjunction with O2 and Virgin Media. Over 150 WiFi access points have been installed using street furniture. Users will only have to sign-up once and the service will be [...]
The UK’s law firms are seeing revenues plateau as they struggle to keep up with client expectations, according to PwC October 16, 2017 Law firms in the UK have seen muted revenue growth this year, as they are struggling to keep up with client expectations and advancing technologies. PwC’s annual UK law firms survey noted average fee income growth of just three per cent, while half of the businesses saw domestic profits fall. This was due to increased [...]
Graze’s private equity owners ready to chomp down on £300m sale October 15, 2017 The owners of healthy snack box delivery company Graze are preparing to get their teeth into a £300m sale, according to reports. Private equity firm Carlyle, which bought a majority stake in the business for a rumoured £50m in 2013, has appointed boutique investment bank Harris Williams to run the sale according to the Sunday [...]
Saudi Aramco refutes claims IPO to be shelved as the Investment Association objects to the bending of London listing rules October 15, 2017 Saudi Aramco has refuted reports that its planned float is set to be shelved. The group was addressing claims in the Financial Times over the weekend that the oil giant was considering shelving plans for an international listing in favour of a private share sale to the world’s biggest sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors. [...]
Budget 2017: Philip Hammond mulling tax cuts for the young paid for by slashing pension tax reliefs October 15, 2017 Chancellor Philip Hammond is planning a “big, bold” Budget with plenty of items aimed at pleasing young people, in a bid to win some of the youth vote back from Labour. A Treasury source confirmed to City A.M. that Hammond has been seeking advice on addressing intergenerational fairness, with a focus on taxes. Among his [...]
Jeremy Corbyn wants Uber to be replaced with a co-operative and workplace robots to be owned by workers October 14, 2017 Jeremy Corbyn has said the next Labour government could push for so-called gig economy firms like Uber to be run as co-operatives and put robots in the hands of workers. Speaking at the Co-operative Party Conference in London today, the Labour leader said technology had led to a more “rapacious and exploitative form of capitalism”. [...]
Iran has been blamed for the cyber attack on Parliament over the summer October 14, 2017 Iran carried out a cyber attack on parliament this summer, according to reports. MPs including Theresa May and other cabinet officials were hit by the June attack, which affected around 9,000 email accounts. In total, around 90 were compromised. The Times first reported the “sustained and determined” attack was traced to Tehran, citing a secret [...]
Tesla fires hundreds of employees after performance review October 14, 2017 Electric vehicle maker Tesla fired hundreds of employees this week following a performance review, according to reports. Tesla has not confirmed the number of dismissals, but Reuters reported a former employee said the number was around 400 and included associates, team leaders and supervisors, while the San Jose Mercury News put the number at between [...]
Iran nuclear deal: Here’s how world leaders reacted to Donald Trump’s refusal to certify the Iran nuclear deal October 14, 2017 US President Donald Trump last night refused to formally certify that Iran was complying with a nuclear deal signed in 2015, but key US allies defended the pact. The deal, which was signed by Britain, China, France, Russia, Germany and the European Union, must be re-certified by the US every 90 days, but Trump defied [...]
Bank of England governor Mark Carney declines to give details on rate rise in “coming months” October 14, 2017 The governor of the Bank of England (BoE) has confirmed the UK will raise interest rates “in the coming months”, but he declined to confirm market expectations of a November hike. In an interview with CNBC yesterday evening at the meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington DC, Mark Carney said: [...]