Elon Musk is about to put thousands of driverless cars on the road – but drivers of Tesla Model S with Autopilot have been warned: Keep your hands on the wheel October 15, 2015 Did the future just arrive on the world's roads and we didn't even notice? Cult electric car maker Tesla said last night that it's about to push an update to 60,000 of its Model S vehicles which will allow them to autonomously park (including finding a parking spot) and change lanes. Elon Musk, the company's [...]
Amazon Fresh UK Vs Ocado: One chart showing why Amazon is about to seriously disrupt supermarkets’ online grocery delivery October 15, 2015 As if supermarkets weren't suffering enough with the threat of discounters, a new spectre is rearing its head – Amazon Fresh. Stealthily launched in London and Birmingham under the Amazon Prime Now banner, kitchen essentials like milk will be delivered to people's door within the hour. Analysts have already warned that Amazon will have an impact [...]
Bank of England and PRA’s new ring-fencing rules “could cost banks five per cent” of their operating budget October 15, 2015 The Bank of England has today laid out further details about how Britain's biggest banks will have to restructure in order to comply with so-called ring-fencing regulations. From 2019, banks with core deposits greater than £25bn will have to separate their retail activities from the riskier parts of the business. The requirements were first set out in the Financial Services [...]
Virgin Money share price rises as mortgage lending jumps: More proof challenger banks are winning? October 15, 2015 The "Big Four" have good reason to worry about challenger banks, after Virgin Money announced net mortgage lending almost doubled in the nine months to the end of September. The figures Gross mortgage lending jumped 38 per cent to £5.5bn in the first three quarters of the year, the bank said today, with net mortgage lending rising 98 per [...]
Adult colouring-in books helps WH Smith to another year of growth October 15, 2015 WH Smith's share price jumped this morning after reporting a surge in profits thanks, in part, to the phenomenon of "colouring therapy", which has been sweeping the country this year. The figures Prelims for the year to 31 August suggest each part of the stationer has performed well, giving the group pre-tax profit an eight per cent [...]
Burberry share price down as retailer needs “accelerated actions” to keep profits steady against Chinese slowdown October 15, 2015 Burberry shares fell 11 per cent in morning trading as the company warned of deeper and quicker costs to keep profits on track, against falling demand in China and Hong Kong. The figures Overall, Burberry’s retail sales ticked up by two per cent, despite what the company is calling an “increasingly difficult” environment for luxury, to [...]
Tesco sells 14 development sites in London, South East and Bath to Meyer Bergman for £250m October 15, 2015 Tesco is selling 14 developments sites for a total of £250m as the troubled supermarket continues to sell-off assets while it shores up its balance sheet. The Spenhill sites, which are split across London, the South East and Bath, have been sold to a fund and clients advised by real estate manager Meyer Bergman. It is [...]
Creative and tech firms fuel surge in rents north of London’s west end October 15, 2015 Technology and creative firms have sent rental prices rocketing across central London since the financial crisis, particularly in areas such as the north of Oxford Street and Euston where these firms have created hubs, according to new research out today by Knight Frank. Noho – which stands for North of Soho and encompasses the area [...]
West End landlords club together to create business improvement district October 15, 2015 The lobby group behind London’s West End has unveiled plans to launch a new business improvement district (BID) run by the area’s landlords to oversee £16m of investment into the area. The New West End Company, which represents 600 businesses around Oxford Street, Bond Street and Regent Street, is already a BID itself but funded [...]
Retailers face £25.6m in extra costs from National Living Wage – PwC October 15, 2015 Large retailers could see their wage bills increase, on average, by £25.6m by 2020 due to the new National Living Wage (NLW), according to a new report out today from PwC. PwC polled more than 100 businesses with an average of 11,000 employees, finding that firms expect to pay, on average, an extra £1.6m in [...]