John Manzoni to step down as chief of the civil service January 22, 2020 The chief executive of the civil service, Sir John Manzoni, is stepping down from his role ahead of looming Whitehall reforms. A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “As has been planned for some time, Sir John Manzoni will step down from his post at some point this year.” Sky News first reported that Manzoni told senior colleagues of [...]
Privacy ‘cannot be a luxury good’, says Google boss Sundar Pichai January 22, 2020 Privacy “cannot be a luxury good”, Google’s chief executive said today, while vowing his company would protect its users’ information. Sundar Pichai, who also leads parent company Alphabet, said privacy was “at the heart of what we do”. “Users come to Google at very important moments, ask us questions, we deal with people’s sensitive information [...]
Davos 2020 day two live: Europe is tougher than China, says Trump January 22, 2020 Please manually refresh this page for our latest Davos 2020 updates. The World Economic Forum at Davos is focusing on climate change this year. Today, Chancellor Sajid Javid will speak on a panel on the future of financial markets. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will address the world and Prince Charles will make [...]
UK factory optimism hits six-year high after election January 22, 2020 Optimism in the UK’s factory sector surged to an almost six-year high in the three months to January, survey data has shown, in a sign that the British economic sentiment picked up following the December General Election. The sector’s performance over the period was weak, however, with output once again falling as car factories slowed [...]
Failed Asda merger ‘trigger’ for Sainsbury’s CEO Mike Coupe’s exit January 22, 2020 The departure of Sainsbury’s boss Mike Coupe’s was sparked by the failure to merge the supermarket with rival Asda, analysts said today. Industry experts said it was impossible to look beyond the failure of the Asda merger, and felt his resignation – announced today – was simply a matter of time. Coupe was caught on [...]
Jaguar Land Rover cuts 500 jobs at factory near Liverpool in ‘further blow’ for UK car industry January 22, 2020 Jaguar Land Rover has announced it is cutting 500 jobs from its Halewood factory, near Liverpool. The car maker said it is “taking action to optimise performance, enable sustainable growth and safeguard the long-term success of our business”. Jaguar Land Rover’s Halewood plant employs about 4,000 contracted workers, plus more than 1,000 agency staff. They [...]
Government confirms probe into Daily Mail takeover of i newspaper January 22, 2020 The government today confirmed that it will launch an investigation into the Daily Mail’s £50m takeover of the i newspaper amid public interest concerns. Culture secretary Nicky Morgan has issued a public interest intervention notice over fears the tie-up will impact the “sufficient plurality of viewpoints” in UK newspapers. The notice will spark a report [...]
Ted Baker reveals £25m accounting error actually cost it £58m January 22, 2020 Ted Baker’s torrid time continued this morning after the designer brand said that it had overstated the value of its inventory by £58m. Last month the luxury clothing firm said that it had appointed magic circle law firm Freshfields to investigate the issue, which it expected to cost £25m. Big four auditor Deloitte has now [...]
Davos: Steve Mnuchin warns of reprisal car taxes if UK forges ahead with digital tax January 22, 2020 The US Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin has warned the UK of reprisals in the form of taxes on car companies if the government forges ahead with plans for its digital services tax. During a panel discussion in Davos, Mnuchin said he was hoping to hold “private conversations” with UK counterpart Sajid Javid and the UK [...]
Profit halves at Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler as diesel scandal weighs January 22, 2020 Daimler has issued its third profit warning for 2019 as costs related to the diesel scandal and production issues weighed on the German luxury carmaker. Damiler, which owns Mercedes-Benz, said this morning that its 2019 earnings before interest and tax are expected to slump to €5.6bn (£4.8bn), compared to €11.1bn the previous year. These results [...]