Our productivity problem is one of the biggest threats to the UK’s future | City A.M. July 19, 2018 If the summer of 2018 was remembered by one adjective, surely “hot” is a top contender. Be it the weather, sporting contests, or the latest twists and turns in Westminster, it’s certainly brought some heated discussions and blood-boiling moments. And talking of turning up the temperature, it’s nearly 55 years since former Prime Minister Harold [...]
Demand for London retail space slumps as high street woes deepen | City A.M. July 19, 2018 Demand for retail space in London has dived as woes around high street closures grow, according to a highly-regarded survey out today. Roughly 68 per cent more chartered surveyors in London’s retail sector noted a quarterly fall, rather than a rise, in demand for space in the capital, reaching levels not seen since 2008. The [...]
Brussels fines Google as the war continues | City A.M. July 19, 2018 Google has suffered another casualty in the battle between global tech giants and the EU. The European Commission yesterday fined the company a record €4.34bn for anti-competitive behaviour which competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager deemed “illegal”. The accusation is essentially that Google used the dominance of its Android operating system to promote its other products, such [...]
Why has there been a crackdown on sports ticket touting? A solicitor explains | City A.M. July 18, 2018 Solicitor Ilana Baines explains why a legal crackdown on bots should spell the end of outrageous mark-ups on secondary ticket sales – for now, at least. What are the problems surrounding ticket resales in sport? We have seen a crackdown in the secondary ticketing market, widely known as touting, in the UK. A series of [...]
Amazon (AMZN) reaches $900bn market cap milestone in a race with Apple (AAPL) to become the first trillion-dollar company | City A.M. July 18, 2018 Tech giant Amazon briefly broke past the $900bn (£689.7bn) market value mark today, making it the second company ever to reach the milestone. The company hit $902bn in a session high earlier today, after its share price rose 0.8 per cent at $1,858.88. Apple is the only other company to be valued above that mark, [...]
US tech giant Google hit with record-breaking fine amid Android app controversy | City A.M. July 18, 2018 Google has been slapped with a record €4.3bn (£3.8bn) fine over claims that the tech giant abused its dominance in the mobile operating systems market. The penalty, which relates to Google’s “illegal practices” in making its search engine the default on the majority of Android mobiles, was announced at midday today by Margrethe Vestager, the [...]
Steak restaurant chain Gaucho has filed for administration | City A.M. July 18, 2018 Steak restaurant Gaucho is expected to fall into administration as early as today after rescue talks for the chain failed. The company has filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator, it confirmed this morning. “Despite an extensive options process which attracted proposals from a number of parties, it is with regret that due [...]
Sir Cliff Richard awarded £210,000 in damages after winning privacy battle with BBC | City A.M. July 18, 2018 Pop star Sir Cliff Richard has won £210,000 in damages from the BBC after the broadcaster televised a police raid of his home while he was being investigated for historic child sexual assault claims. The case against Richard was eventually dropped, but the musician argued the BBC’s coverage which filmed the raid from helicopters caused [...]
STEM skills are needed, but don’t neglect the value of arts degrees to technology companies | City A.M. July 18, 2018 Amid concerns of skills shortages in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), the UK government is doubling down its focus on STEM curriculum in schools and higher education, going as far as excluding arts and creative subjects from the English Baccalaureate. This is a mistake for our future workforce, because it denies students the opportunity [...]
Digital screens and VR is cool, but artificial intelligence is creepy to most consumers | City A.M. July 18, 2018 Fingerprint scanners, voice recognition, targeted ads, home voice assistants. These technologies are all part of everyday modern life and are revolutionising the way retailers sell their products to consumers across the world. But have we actually taken the time to stop and consider what customers think of our ever increasing arsenal of tech tricks to [...]