TfL’s Uber proposals met with disgust from London’s Black Cab trade January 20, 2016 Transport for London's proposals for regulating private hire vehicles (PHV) have been slammed by Black Cab campaigners, who claim they allow companies like Uber to continue to "ply for hire". TfL today revealed plans for a shake-up of the sub-sector, which will include rules stipulating that drivers have a good command of English – but [...]
UK house prices: Bexley, Cambridge, Bristol and Bedford among the UK’s hottest property spots, while Aberdeen, Stockton-on-Tees and Bradford are “coldest” January 20, 2016 Cambridge, Bristol and Bedford are among the regional cities vying with Greater London as the top 10 hottest property spots in the country – but Aberdeen, Stockton-on-Tees and Bradford are where demand is weakest. That's according to online estate agent Emoov, which puts the London Borough of Bexley at the top of its index for the last [...]
US inflation rate climbs to highest since 2014 January 20, 2016 US inflation climbed to a rate of 0.7 per cent in December from 0.5 per cent the month before, according to figures released today. The US Bureau of Labor Statisitcs said inflation – as measured by the year-on-year change in the consumer price index – said average food prices had climbed 0.8 per cent while energy prices had [...]
HSBC boss Stuart Gulliver indicates bank may delay decision on moving headquarters to Asia or the US January 20, 2016 HSBC is expected to once again delay making a decision on whether or not it will relocate its headquarters. HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver said earlier today that the bank will provide an "update" next month on its plans to relocate its headquarters abroad – but the update may not include a final decision. Speaking at the World Economic [...]
The General Election cost political parties more than £39m and the Tories spent £3m more than Labour in the most-expensive UK election ever January 20, 2016 Nearly £40m was spent on the 2015 General Election, with the Conservatives out-spending all other political parties, according to new data out today from the Electoral Commission. A total of £39,023,564 was spent by 57 parties and 23 non-party campaigners in the run-up to last May's election, but the bulk of the spending came from the six largest [...]
Spotify buys up Cord Project and Soundwave startups for product innovation in fight against Apple as Deezer raises $100m January 20, 2016 Spotify has acquired two startups, one specialising in voice messaging and the other in music discovery, in the fight against new rival Apple Music. New York-based Cord Project, founded in 2014 by two former Google employees, has one million users of its flagship app Cord. Soundwave is a Dublin-based startup founded in 2012. It boasts 1.5m downloads in [...]
Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk win 2015 Luddite Award for their “alarmist” warnings about artificial intelligence January 20, 2016 Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk have just “won” the 2015 Luddite Award for their warnings about artificial intelligence. A world-renowned physicist and the entrepreneur behind ventures like Tesla and SpaceX, neither of the two are exactly what you might call afraid of technology. But the worries the two have expressed on the future of AI [...]
Russian rouble falls to 18-year low against the dollar January 20, 2016 The Russian rouble has fallen to its lowest value against the dollar since its 1998 redenomination. The rouble has lost around 57 per cent of its dollar value since mid-2014, when oil prices began to decline sharply. Swings in the rouble have closely tracked movements in oil prices over the last two years. Crude oil [...]
Uber rule changes: Transport for London to shake up private hire vehicle regulation – but it won’t insist on the five minute wait time January 20, 2016 Transport for London has revealed its plans to shake up private hire vehicles – including Uber – which would include formal English language requirements for drivers – but it won't insist on the controversial five-minute wait time. Other proposals include the introduction of guaranteed fare estimates for customers ahead of their journey, the provision of driver and vehicle details [...]
London mayoral election 2016: Why Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith may struggle to emulate Boris Johnson by defying polls to win City Hall January 20, 2016 A Tory candidate for London mayor that isn’t beloved by the wider Conservative party is down in the polls to a strong Labour candidate, but has Australian election strategist Lynton Crosby on board. It’s just over 100 days until the election and all signs point to a Labour win. Starting to sound familiar? The year [...]