Mayor of London Boris Johnson accused of “cover up” over Garden Bridge meeting January 29, 2016 The Mayor of London has been accused of misleading the London Assembly over the controversial Garden Bridge, amid claims he targeted Apple for corporate sponsorship before the scheme had even received backing. According to trade magazine Architects' Journal, which has been running a series of exposes on the matter, Boris Johnson and Garden Bridge designer Thomas Heatherwick travelled [...]
A Welsh coffee shop-owner, Steve Lewis, thinks he should replace Lin Homer as chief executive of HMRC January 29, 2016 More than 140,000 people have signed a petition in supporting a Welsh coffee shop-owner's bid to be hired as the next chief executive of HMRC. Steve Lewis, a former army officer from Crickhowell in the Brecon Beacons who now runs a coffee shop, launched a petition on Change.org, saying he would be "a people's champion" at HMRC, and take a [...]
What is the age at which we feel busiest? The answer is surprisingly young – and we’re getting busier January 29, 2016 What with kids, an ageing population and various scary financial commitments, you'd have thought the older we get, the busier we'd feel – but it turns out the age at which we feel most put-upon by demands on our time is surprisingly youthful: 29. Research by personal concierge service Henchman found family commitments, work and personal admin [...]
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg just made $6bn on share price surge, making him world’s sixth richest person January 29, 2016 Facebook investors will be patting themselves on the back after last night's share price surged more than 15.5 per cent, closing just shy of $110 per share. But there's one among them who is probably feeling most pleased with himself: creator and owner of 28.8 per cent of the social media company Mark Zuckerberg, whose stake [...]
FTSE 100 hovers close to 6,000 after Bank of Japan unveils shock interest rate cut January 29, 2016 The FTSE briefly edged above 6,000 points again this morning as investors cheered a shock decision by the Japanese central bank to cut one of its main interest rates to negative. The bank cut its benchmark rate to -0.1 per cent, effectively meaning it will charge lenders interest for excessive reserves parked in its coffers. The news caused Japanese [...]
Apple recalls plug adaptors over electrification fears January 29, 2016 Apple has issued a major recall of wall plug adapters used around the world, with the tech firm warning they could cause an electric shock. Plug adapters in Europe, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, New Zealand and South Korea, which were shipped with Mac and "certain" iOS devices between 2003 and 2015, have been recalled. "In very rare [...]
Sony is in line for its biggest profit in eight years thanks to revenues from PlayStation Four and Spectre January 29, 2016 Strong PlayStation 4 (PS4) sales helped Sony to beat expectations in its third quarter results, for the three months ending December. The figures Sales in the three months to the end of December were ¥2.58 trillion (£14.9bn), up 0.5 per cent, and ahead of analysts' expectations of ¥2.53 trillion. Operating profits also beat expectations of ¥173.6bn, coming [...]
BT’s share price climbs as it completes EE deal – creating UK’s biggest telecoms firm – but Ofcom’s decision on Openreach yet to be made January 29, 2016 BT's share price climbed this morning as it completed its £12.5bn takeover of EE today, in a deal that makes it the biggest telecoms firm in the UK. The deal, which gives BT instant access to around one in three mobile phone customers in the UK, is expected to help pave the way for the [...]
Sky’s share price rises as James Murdoch named chairman (again) and broadcaster reports highest UK and Ireland growth in 10 years January 29, 2016 Rupert Murdoch's son James is to become chairman of Sky in April, as incumbent Nichols Ferguson steps down after 12 years on the board. Martin Gilbert has been appointed as deputy chairman, with Andrew Sukawaty taking over his former role as Sky's senior independent director. This is not Murdoch's first stint as chairman of the [...]
First-time housing market booming in the UK despite fall in purchases over the Christmas period January 29, 2016 THE NUMBER of first-time home buyers in the UK fell in December due to the traditional Christmas period slowdown, but showed healthy growth over the year, new data has shown today. First-time buyer numbers fell by 1,300 or 4.7 per cent month-on-month due to the “traditional winter cooling” period, according to the first-time buyer tracker [...]