Chatbots and more: What to make of Facebook’s F8 reveals? April 14, 2016 Facebook’s announcements from its F8 developer conference push two of its key products into becoming full ecosystems in their own right. With large numbers of companies and users using them, as well as a number of different business models running on them, both Messenger and video have reached a scale where they are ready for this next step. [...]
EU referendum: Why it’s crucial to remind ourselves that the European Union and Europe are not the same thing April 14, 2016 It’s got to that stage in the EU referendum campaign where we need to remind ourselves, again, that Europe and the European Union are not the same thing. The Remain campaign love to try and guilt trip people into voting to stay in June’s referendum by reminding us of the importance of being part of Europe. [...]
After high profile cyber attacks at firms like TalkTalk, companies ignore this risk at their peril April 14, 2016 If you found your company to be the victim of cyber crime, do you know who to call? Would you dial 999? Who would you speak to first – your customers, or your insurers? You probably have a company plan for the event of fire or power failure – but do you have a strategy [...]
BP must not brush off shareholder revolt over pay April 14, 2016 The Wedding Fair, a groove dance competition and a celebration of all things Star Wars-related: three of the events being held at ExCel, the London exhibition venue, in the coming months. BP’s annual meeting, which takes place there today, won’t have the same international pulling power – a fact for which Carl-Henric Svanberg and Bob Dudley might [...]
How London can turn the cyber-attack onslaught into an opportunity April 14, 2016 Whether it be the spectre of terror attack or catastrophic flood, reinsurance pools across the globe have historically been developed to handle the kind of risk judged too great for the insurance industry to bear alone. When the IRA bombed the Baltic Exchange in 1992, the scale of physical damage to buildings in the City [...]
Declining levels of public trust could have chilling implications for future prosperity April 14, 2016 With the debate over whether politicians should be required to publish their tax returns, the past week has seen the issue of trust thrust, yet again, to the forefront of politics. Understanding the concept of trust is easy when applied to individuals. Does he/she or doesn’t he/she tell the truth? But what is less obvious, [...]
UK banks have yet to address the elephant in the room: Their current business model is unsustainable April 14, 2016 It was another tough year for UK banks in 2015, and the challenges look set to continue. Our high-street banks are at a vital juncture: they’ve survived the crisis and are now preparing for one of the biggest overhauls of UK banking we have ever known with the introduction of ring fencing. KPMG analysis out today [...]
With Tesco’s profits up but facing an “uncertain market”, has Dave Lewis saved the supermarket? April 14, 2016 John Ibbotson, director of retail consultancy Retail Vision, says Yes. Yesterday’s fall in Tesco’s share price should be taken with a Value sack of salt. Chief executive Dave Lewis is achieving an extraordinary feat, turning around an oil tanker in a very tight spot. With Tesco hemmed in by ruthless competition and food price deflation, it’s [...]
Birdseye needs its Captain to come to the rescue April 13, 2016 Birds Eye has reintroduced the famous and much-loved Captain Birds Eye character to its advertising campaign – 10 years after he was cut adrift by the frozen food provider. The return of the well-known, white-bearded seafarer is part of an £8m campaign which will coincide with the re-launch of some of Birds Eye’s key products [...]
Tesco’s share price has recovered this year as Dave Lewis implements his turnaround plan, but the preliminary results could affect sentiment April 13, 2016 When Dave Lewis took over as Tesco chief executive in September 2014, much was made of his nickname Drastic Dave, particularly as drastic measures were necessary to revive the group's flagging fortunes. Lewis was parachuted in from Unilever to turn around the Tesco juggernaut after a scandal that had seen the retailer overstate its profits. [...]