General Election 2015: Paddy Ashdown borrows description of eurosceptics from John Major and savages Tory right April 21, 2015 Former Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown has given a frosty reception to John Major's warning of the perils of a Labour-SNP deal after the General Election. Ashdown couldn't resist revisiting Major's famous line referring to right-wing eurosceptics in his cabinet as "bastards". In an interview with the BBC, he warned Major not to play into [...]
London’s tech sector will grind to a halt without action on infrastructure April 20, 2015 London’s technology sector may be basking in record levels of investment – £549m in the first quarter of this year alone – but maintaining its success will become increasingly dependent on the capital’s infrastructure being fit for the future. The growth of the digital economy over the past few years has irreversibly reshaped our city. [...]
Elon Musk was on the verge of selling Tesla to Google for $11bn and even “shook” on a deal with Larry Page April 20, 2015 The millionaire magnate behind the world's best-known electric carmaker was on the verge of selling his company to Google as it failed to turn a profit. Elon Musk's Tesla was about to fall into bankruptcy and the founder had begun negotiating with Google on a deal for the firm, according to a new book on [...]
Drone sighting grounds Manchester airport flights but police find “nothing” April 20, 2015 Flights to Manchester Airport were halted for a short time after reports of a drone aircraft flying nearby with police called in to investigate. A small number of flights have been diverted to other airports and other flights have been delayed after a potential drone sighting in airspace near the airport closed the airport for [...]
Uber’s increasing fares in the UK for UberExec and UberLux customers April 20, 2015 The price of taking an Uber taxi is going up from today – but only for anyone travelling in its executive cars. Fares for two of its services aimed at corporate users – UberExec and UberLux – are increasing, calculated by the per mile and per minute costs of journeys. The cost of taking an executive [...]
Bye-bye Tech City? Spiralling office rents in Shoreditch’s Silicon Roundabout will push tech startups out of London April 17, 2015 Technology firms are being forced to consider relocating outside of London by the spiralling costs of renting office space in the capital and the home of tech in Shoreditch. A quarter of London’s tech firms have considered a move away from the capital entirely, while more than two in five lack confidence in the city’s [...]
Silicon Roundabout rents push tech firms out of hub April 16, 2015 Office take-up by tech and media firms in Whitechapel, Canary Wharf and the Docklands is on track to overtake London’s traditional industry mecca of Shoreditch this year as companies go in search of cheaper rents, according to new data seen by City A.M. Property advisory firm Colliers International said 79,740 square feet of space was [...]
Employers protected from mental health claims after landmark ruling April 16, 2015 Employers could be protected from paying out compensation for "causing" mental health problems among their employees, following a landmark ruling in the UK. The ruling came after John Yapp, a former British high commissioner to Belize, was suspended and subjected to a disciplinary process in 2008 after being accused of making a sexual advance towards [...]
The most popular lunch in Britain? Just a simple cheese sandwich April 16, 2015 When it comes to lunch, simplicity is key – Britons are more likely to opt for a good old cheese sandwich than anything else. Not only that, but three in 10 choose this humble meal every single working day, and have done so for an average of four and a half years (that's around 1,000 [...]
Tech sector divided over Google battle as EU launches antitrust probe April 15, 2015 Google faced the most serious regulatory threat in its history yesterday after EU officials launched a probe into its market dominance, sparking division among UK tech players about the benefits of the move. EU competition bosses confirmed they would investigate the US giant over its dominance and whether it abused it to rig Google shopping [...]