UBS to cut 500 jobs as firm begins wealth unit revamp January 7, 2020 UBS will cut up to 500 jobs at its wealth management business as division co-head Iqbal Khan looks to tackle flagging profit at the bank. The cuts, which amount to roughly two per cent of the division’s workforce, will get rid of three layers of management and split the firm’s Europe, Middle East and Africa [...]
South Western Railway’s future at risk as losses hit £137m January 7, 2020 South Western Railway is on the brink of collapse, its auditor has warned after it swung to a massive £137m loss in its latest financial year. Deloitte warned there is “significant doubt” over the future of the strike-hit firm, which could be nationalised by the Department of Transport (DfT) in order to keep its rail [...]
CES 2020: Amazon, Sony and Toyota put mobility centre stage at tech conference January 7, 2020 Amazon signalled a concerted push into the car industry at CES 2020, as it announced a partnership with Lamborghini and other firms working on driverless car tech. It signals the latest move into the mobility sector for one of Silicon Valley’s tech giants, as the internet retailer said it would add its voice assistant Alexa [...]
Tech giants lobby EU not to hold them liable for illegal content January 7, 2020 The biggest tech companies have called on the EU not to hold them liable for all content on their platforms, but have accepted that their efforts to remove illegal or harmful content could be regulated by a new European watchdog. A lobby group that represents tech titans including Google, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon has written [...]
TfL and Santander to mark 10-year anniversary of Boris bikes January 7, 2020 Santander and Transport for London (TfL) are set to celebrate the 10th anniversary of so-called “Boris bikes”. The hire scheme – officially known as Santander Cycles – began in July 2010 with 315 docking stations over eight boroughs and was informally named after Prime Minister, and then mayor of London, Boris Johnson. Read more: TfL [...]
Hobbs returns to profit as retailer opens new concession stores January 7, 2020 Fashion retailer Hobbs returned to profit last year despite a “challenging retail environment” as the firm ramped up its concession store expansion plan. The womenswear brand reported a profit after tax of £4.9m compared to a loss of £4.8m the previous year when it was hit with costs related to its 2017 sale to TFG [...]
Christmas supermarket sales growth slows to four-year low January 7, 2020 Supermarket sales growth over the Christmas period slowed to the lowest rate in four years as shoppers watched their budgets over the festive period. Retailers reported sales of £29.3bn, up £50m on last year, however growth slumped to the lowest rate since 2015. Read more: Morrisons sales fall in ‘unusually challenging Christmas period’ Year-on-year supermarket [...]
London house prices rose twice as fast as the rest of UK in 2010s January 7, 2020 London house prices rose twice as fast as the UK average during the 2010s, a new report has shown, notching up a 66 per cent growth rate that was far faster than any other region. In the country as a whole, the average house price rose 33 per cent over the last decade as it [...]
Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill returns to House of Commons January 7, 2020 Boris Johnson’s EU withdrawal bill agreement will return to parliament today for the first of three days of scrutiny from MPs. The Brexit bill has a tight timetable of just three days of debate, before it looks to be pushed through in time for the UK to leave the EU on 31 January. Read more: [...]
Elon Musk stripteases at launch of Tesla SUV at new China factory January 7, 2020 Elon Musk left his army of followers hot under the collar this morning, when he posted a video of himself seemingly beginning a striptease on stage at the launch of Tesla’s Model Y in Shanghai. The Tesla boss was at his firm’s new Gigafactory in the city, when he started dancing in front of the [...]