Facebook’s Giphy takeover to face in-depth competition probe April 1, 2021 Facebook’s takeover of Giphy will face an in-depth competition probe in the UK after the social media giant declined to offer remedies to the regulator’s concerns. The Competition and Market Authority (CMA) last week gave the companies five days to address worries that their deal could harm the digital advertising market and the supply of [...]
Irish PM Micheál Martin calls for ‘reset’ of relations with the UK April 1, 2021 Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin has called for a “reset” of relations with the UK in a bid to cool tensions between the countries over Northern Ireland post-Brexit. Martin today said he and the EU were “concerned” about the UK’s tougher stance toward issues on Northern Ireland in the past few months, which has seen [...]
Airbnb blocks 200 UK listings in crackdown on party houses April 1, 2021 Airbnb has blocked a further 200 listings in the UK during a crackdown on “party houses”, bringing the total number of properties removed or suspended to 1,000 over the past six months. The holiday letting platform said the suspensions are focused on listings with descriptions that appear to allow parties, which is against Airbnb’s policy. [...]
Silicon Roundabout: What will London’s tech hub look like after lockdown? April 1, 2021 The cluster of tech companies in East London, also known as Silicon Roundabout, was largely born out of the last financial crisis after soaring rents pushed companies out. This time round the fate of East London may look a little different as tech companies make remote working the norm. Remote working is here to stay [...]
Commerzbank to cut 1,700 jobs following deep losses April 1, 2021 Commerzbank will offer voluntary redundancy to some 1,700 full-time staff in Germany, in a bid to cut costs at the bank. Entitled employees will be offered termination agreements from July 2021, and employees who make use of the voluntary programme will leave the bank by the end of the year. The decision comes after Germany’s [...]
SSE to sell contracting division to Aurelius Group for £27.5m April 1, 2021 SSE today said it has secured an agreement to sell its contracting division to asset manager Aurelius Group in a £27.5m deal. The London-listed energy group said the deal consists of a £17.5m up-front payment, which will be adjusted for items such as working capital and separation costs. A further £5m loan note will be [...]
Bank of England targeted by Extinction Rebellion activists April 1, 2021 Climate activist group Extinction Rebellion has this morning targeted the Bank of England, spraying the building with fake oil. The demonstrators were protesting investments in fossil fuels, accusing the Bank of “funding destruction in a climate crisis”. Activists, some dressed as jesters, sprayed the dye at the building, known as “the Old Lady of Threadneedle [...]
Amazon and Google unveil plans to send workers back to the office April 1, 2021 Amazon and Google have both made changes to their work-from-home policies as they look to encourage workers back into the office. In a memo to employees, Amazon said it expected most of its corporate staff to be back in the office by early autumn. The company said it planned to return to an “office-centric culture [...]
EU seeks 10m Astrazeneca vaccines from India to plug jab shortfall April 1, 2021 The EU has asked India to supply 10m doses of Astrazeneca’s Covid vaccine, as the bloc scrambles to plug a shortfall in jab supplies. EU officials have approached the Serum Institute of India — the world’s largest vaccine maker — to ship doses of the Covid jab, according to Reuters. It marks the latest signal that [...]
Moelis gives young bankers a $10,000 allowance to ‘improve mental health’ April 1, 2021 Young investment bankers working at Moelis & Co will receive a $10,000 payment in a bid to improve their mental health after a gruelling year. The boutique investment bank told employees from analyst level up to executive directors would receive a $5,000 payment followed by $2,5000 instalments to be spent on health and lifestyle. Moelis [...]