Apple reveals HomePod, a smart home speaker to rival Amazon Echo and Google Home powered by Siri – price, release date, spec June 5, 2017 Apple has confirmed the rumours and unveiled a home speaker taking on rivals Google and Amazon – it’s called HomePod. “No one’s quite nailed it yet” said Apple executive Phil Schiller of the increasing number of home speakers and voice assistants on the market. “Just like iPod reinvented music in our pockets, HomePod will reinvent [...]
RBS in yet more hot water as real estate group PAG wins the right to appeal Libor case decision June 5, 2017 The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has not yet managed to shake its post-financial crisis headache, as one real estate group has won the right to appeal a high-profile legal case to the Court of Appeal. Property Alliance Group (PAG) attempted to sue RBS last year for more than £30m, alleging that it had been [...]
What Brexit, the General Election and foreign demand means for London’s commercial property market June 5, 2017 Martin Samworth practically lives on a plane. As the chief executive for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) for one of the world’s largest property consultancies CBRE, he’s a busy man. In the last few weeks, he has travelled to Madrid, Colorado, Dusseldorf, Tel Aviv, Frankfurt, Lisbon, and New York. The property veteran, who joined [...]
Sovereign investors snubbing post-Brexit Britain in favour of Germany and the US, according to an Invesco survey June 5, 2017 Sovereign wealth funds and central banks are choosing to invest less in the UK following Brexit, as Germany and the US see a surge in popularity. The UK’s investment attractiveness dropped from scoring 7.5 out of 10 last year to just 5.5 this year, as rated by the 97 sovereign investors and central bank reserve [...]
General Election 2017: Dear Prime Minister, please listen to British business June 5, 2017 morning I am pleased to support an open letter signed by over 50 entrepreneurs, leaders and experts from across the UK. This letter will be delivered to the successful party elected to government on Thursday evening. The accompanying report, by The Entrepreneurs Network, “A Boost for British Businesses”, includes the ideas and policy proposals of [...]
Heathrow airport eyes a series of “viaducts” over the M25 as a simpler solution to its £17bn third runway June 4, 2017 Heathrow Airport is considering plans to construct its third runway across a series of “viaducts” that would cross above the M25. These would consist of three parallel bridges, the widest of which would be the runway itself and two thinner ones which would be taxiways for planes. The plans were presented to an engineering conference [...]
London Bridge attacks: Facebook, Google and Twitter respond after Prime Minister Theresa May accuses them of providing “safe space” for terrorists June 4, 2017 Silicon Valley tech giants have responded after Prime Minister Theresa May accused internet companies of providing a “safe space” for terrorism in the wake of the attacks at London Bridge. In a strongly worded speech, May set her sights on the companies as one of the four important ways “things need to change” in the [...]
London Bridge attack: Uber will refund journeys of people caught up in terror after surge pricing backlash June 4, 2017 Uber has said it will be refunding passengers who were caught up in the terror attack in London Bridge on Saturday night. Many people were left stranded in central London with public transport in the area closed down. Uber drew criticism from for so-called surge pricing, increasing the price by more than twice the normal [...]
Trump lets loose and revives travel ban from Muslim countries, just hours after withdrawing the US from the Paris Agreement June 2, 2017 President Donald Trump clearly got a taste for shaking things up yesterday, as he turned to the Supreme Court to reinstate his ill-fated travel ban just hours after withdrawing the US from a historic climate change agreement. The Trump administration last night filed an appeal to the highest court in the country, asking the nine [...]
Plus500 share price rockets on share buyback announcement June 2, 2017 Shares in spreadbetting firm Plus500 leapt nearly 10 per cent this morning after the firm announced a share buyback programme and assured investors trading had been “stronger” despite a tumultuous few months. Some $10m (£8m) of shares will be bought back by the London-listed firm, paid for by what chief executive Asaf Elimelech called Plus500’s [...]