‘Customers aren’t ready’: Sainsbury’s ends till-free store pilot at Holborn branch September 10, 2019 Sainsbury’s has said not all customers are ready for a till-free store as it ended a smartphone-only pilot scheme at a central London branch. The three-month trial came to an end as the supermarket reintroduced a manned till and two self-checkout points in it’s Holborn Circus store. Read more: Sainsbury’s partners with Deliveroo on pizza [...]
Lords approved HS2 Birmingham-Crewe extension before parliament shutdown September 10, 2019 The House of Lords last night approved the High Speed Two (HS2) extension from Birmingham to Crewe before parliament was suspended for five weeks. The controversial railway, which will link London to the north in stages, is currently subject to an independent review chaired by former HS2 chair Douglas Oakervee and critic Lord Berkeley, which [...]
The Secret River review: Edinburgh Festival hit a triumph at the National Theatre September 10, 2019 A smash at the Edinburgh Festival, The Secret River has transferred to the National Theatre. Slow-paced, thoughtful and direct, it demonstrates a basic truth; that the process of colonisation is inherently violent. Will Thornhill was living in Dickensian poverty in early 19th century London; forced into thievery, and – like Magwitch – transported to New [...]
Shares in British Airways owner IAG bounce as strike enters second day September 10, 2019 Shares in British Airways’ parent company IAG are up by more than five per cent this morning as the airline suffers its second day of strike action. Pilots who are members of the British Airline Pilots’ Association (Balpa) are into their second day of industrial action in an ongoing dispute over pay and working conditions. [...]
Staffers (and cricketers) named in May’s resignation honours September 10, 2019 Theresa May has named former colleagues, staffers and England cricketers in her list of resignation honours. Olly Robbins, the civil servant who acted as chief negotiator with the EU during her tenure, has been rewarded with a KCMG – making him a knight commander. The same honour has gone to May’s PPS George Hollingbery. Patrick [...]
Brexit: MPs vote to publish Downing Street team’s prorogation messages September 9, 2019 Government officials may be forced to hand over reams of private and personal communications, after MPs voted to back a motion put forward by Dominic Grieve tonight. Grieve, a former attorney general and bete noire for Number 10, told colleagues he had deployed the highly unusual method to seize texts, WhatsApp messages and emails to [...]
Treasury refuses MPs’ demands to publish Bank of England governor shortlist September 9, 2019 The Treasury has refused the demands of opposition MPs to publish the shortlist of candidates to be the next Bank of England governor, saying it “would not be appropriate” to name names. Read more: Mark Carney misses cut for IMF top job shortlist A group of 28 opposition MPs today called on chancellor Sajid Javid [...]
Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group reveal PPI balance sheet hit September 9, 2019 Two of Britain’s biggest banks warned of billion-pound costs from a rush of claims for mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI) today. Barclays revealed after trading closed tonight that it was facing costs of up to £1.6bn following a bigger-than-expected stampede of complaints in the run-up to the 29 August deadline. Read more: How did banks [...]
Blazing success: British cannabis company raises £7.8m in funding round September 9, 2019 A leading British cannabis company has raised £7.8m in a Series A funding round as it prepares to launch an “aggressive strategy” to dominate the budding industry across Europe. Cannaray, which manufactures medical cannabis and consumer cannabidiol (CBD) products, also announced that it had bought Therismos – a company with licences to import, handle and [...]