‘If we’re serious about growth this is the lever to pull’, says Treasury adviser – as founders feel undervalued
London has highest level of antibodies in England, study finds February 25, 2021 London currently has the highest level of Covid antibodies in England, a major new study has found, following a huge surge in coronavirus cases in the capital over Christmas. Imperial College London’s latest React study used blood tests on over 155,000 people to test for immunity levels against coronavirus. One in seven people in England tested [...]
Brits could receive £480m payout in Qualcomm smartphone legal case February 25, 2021 Roughly 29m Brits could be entitled to a £480m payout if a landmark legal claim against US chipmaker Qualcomm is successful. Consumer group Which is suing Qualcomm over claims it breached UK competition law by taking advantage of its dominance in the patent-licensing and chipset market. The lawsuit alleges that this enabled the chipmaker to [...]
Australia passes online news law after row with Facebook February 25, 2021 Australia has passed a landmark law that will force tech giants Facebook and Google to pay publishers for news content. The world-first legislation follows a bitter row with Facebook, which blocked access to news in the country in protest to the changes. Following tense negotiations the law today passed with amendments that will allow the [...]
Digital health firm Babylon mulls $4bn US stock market float February 24, 2021 Babylon is said to be weighing up a US initial public offering that could value the health app at $4bn (£2.8bn). The digital health firm, which offers remote consultations with doctors, has been approached by several bank cheque firms about going public via a Spac deal, Bloomberg reported. The London-based company is also thought to [...]
Inmarsat appoints former Nokia boss as its new chief executive February 24, 2021 British satellite giant Inmarsat today said it has appointed former Nokia boss Rajeev Suri as its new chief executive. Suri, who stepped down as president and chief executive of the Finnish telecoms giant in 2020 after six years at the helm, will take up the position next month. He will replace Rupert Pearce, who has [...]
‘Vaccines are working’ against new Covid variants, says Jonathan Van-Tam February 24, 2021 “Vaccines are working” against the Kent Covid variant and will likely reduce the risk of severe disease from new mutations, the deputy chief medical officer has said. Jonathan Van-Tam said the B117 strain of coronavirus first identified in Kent now accounts for around 95 per cent of all Covid cases in the UK. Speaking to [...]
Apple acquisitions: Tech giant buys a company every three to four weeks February 24, 2021 As the giants of Silicon Valley jostle for pole position in the escalating technology arms race, mergers and acquisitions are often the name of the game. But the scale of Big Tech acquisitiveness has been laid bare after Apple boss Tim Cook revealed his company has snapped up roughly 100 companies over the last six [...]
Facebook and Google duopoly is ‘too powerful’ says CMA boss February 23, 2021 Facebook and Google’s duopoly is too powerful, and the pair have too great a share of the UK online advertising space, CMA boss Andrea Coscelli has said. Speaking to the BBC, Coscelli said he would like to see regulatory changes to deal with their market dominance, but stopped short of saying the giants should be [...]
Tesla rival Lucid Motors gears up for $24bn stock market float February 23, 2021 A luxury electric vehicle maker looking to challenge the dominance of Elon Musk’s Tesla is set to go public in a blank cheque deal that will value it at $24bn (£17bn). California-based Lucid Motors has agreed to merge with Churchill Capital IV, a special purpose acquisition company (Spac) set up by former Citigroup banker Michael [...]
Facebook reverses Australia news ban after law changes February 23, 2021 Facebook has backed down in its feud with Australia after negotiating changes to a new law that will force tech firms to pay publishers for news. The social media giant last week blocked access to news in the country in protest at the upcoming legislation, drawing widespread criticism. But following talks between the government and [...]