Water companies turn back on pledge to not pay dividends January 19, 2020 Some of Britain’s largest water companies have given away hundreds of millions of pounds to shareholders in recent years, despite promises to stop paying dividends. Southern Water, Thames Water and Yorkshire Water all promised to stop paying dividends to shareholders, after watchdog Ofwat told them to invest in more infrastructure and cut bills. Read more: [...]
Vegan products total a quarter of food launches in 2019 January 17, 2020 Almost a quarter of all new food products to launch in the UK last year were vegan, as companies rush to cash in on the growing number of “flexitarians”, according to the latest research. The number of people who have reduced or limited the amount of meat they eat has risen from 28 per cent [...]
Can AR bring shoppers back to the high street? January 16, 2020 | Sponsored Augmented reality shopping apps can provide consumers with richer experiences and greater value that can lead to increased store footfall and conversion rates for brick-and-mortar retailers, according to new research. The study, Enabling smart retail settings via mobile augmented reality shopping apps, published in Technological Forecasting and Social Change, also found that AR apps can help to reduce [...]
BoE governor Mark Carney to advise PM on climate change January 16, 2020 Outgoing Bank of England governor Mark Carney is to be a key adviser to the government in the run-up to the UN climate change conference, COP26. Boris Johnson confirmed Carney in the role during a meeting at Number 10 today. The Canadian economist will help the UK government to “mobilise ambitious action from across the [...]
German defence minister confirms US car tariff threat over Iran January 16, 2020 Germany’s defence minister has confirmed that the US is threatening to impose new tariffs on European car exports if they continue to support the Iranian nuclear deal. Yesterday, Washington Post cited European sources as saying the Trump administration was threatening a 25 per cent levy on cars made in the UK, Germany and France, over [...]
How to use the Gender Maths formula to retain and attract top female talent January 16, 2020 A significant challenge facing financial services is how to retain the talent that we have grown or recruited. With more transparency around gender pay gap reporting and targets for achieving greater gender balance at all levels of seniority, firms are under increasing pressure to identify, hire, and retain top female talent. It is a virtuous [...]
Stay on top of your game with the best health and fitness gadgets of 2020 January 15, 2020 It’s January – misery month – a yawning chasm between paydays offering naught but the freezing grey expanse of winter to look forward to. So you know what that means: it’s time to step into last year’s battered trainers, load up a podcast and get running again. To help keep you motivated, here’s our pick [...]
Litigation costs dent Goldman Sachs’s fourth-quarter profit January 15, 2020 Goldman Sachs suffered a fall in profit in the final quarter of the year as high litigation provisions and investment banking weakness dented the Wall Street giant’s bottom line. Net earnings fell 26 per cent year on year to $1.72bn. The fall in profit took earnings per share to $4.69 in the fourth quarter from [...]
Revolution Bars secures deal to cut rents and close venues January 15, 2020 Revolution Bars Group is planning to shut two loss-making venues and has secured rent reductions at three more, as the operator aims to adapt to changing consumer habits. The company has come to an agreement with its landlord Aprirose to exit leases at five Revolution bars. Venues in Lincoln and Fallowfield – a student area in [...]
Government cyber programme unveils new intake of scale-ups January 15, 2020 The London Office for Rapid Cybersecurity Advancement (Lorca) has today announced the 20 latest scale-ups to join its cohort of cyber firms. The government-backed incubator said its fourth intake was the largest to date, and includes companies using automation and quantum to protect UK industry against online threats. Though the majority of businesses are British, [...]