Water giants on collision course with Ofwat ahead of crunch ruling October 27, 2019 Some of the water industry’s most prominent investors are said to have complained to the Treasury that regulator Ofwat is becoming politicised. Investors that control suppliers including Anglian, Yorkshire, Affinity, South East and South Staffs reportedly met with officials this month, in a bid to pre-empt Ofwat’s final publication of its financial demands for the [...]
Microsoft beats Amazon to Pentagon’s $10bn cloud computing contract October 26, 2019 Microsoft has won a cloud-computing contract from the Pentagon worth $10bn (£8bn). The contract is for the Joint Enterprise Defence Infrastructure, dubbed Jedi, is for a 10-year period. Read more: Cloud computing drives Microsoft revenue up The project is aimed at making the US defence department more technologically agile. Amazon had been favourites for the [...]
Addison Lee lenders ‘circle’ taxi giant as sale effort continues October 26, 2019 Addison Lee has insisted it expects “a successful conclusion” to the “ongoing” sale process despite reports that its lenders are preparing to take control of the London taxi company. A syndicate of a dozen banks led by ING have drafted in advisers from Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) to consider their options, according to Sky News, [...]
Government denies report it will seek to weaken workers’ rights after Brexit October 26, 2019 The government has denied a report that it will seek to weaken workers’ rights after the UK leaves the EU. The Financial Times published extracts of leaked documents from the department for exiting the European Union on saturday, which said a “level playing field” commitment to the EU “leaves room for interpretation”. Read more: Sajid [...]
Asda rejects request to remove sack threat for thousands over compulsory contracts October 26, 2019 Asda has rejected a last-minute request from trade unions to remove the threat of dismal for thousands of staff if they fail to sign a compulsory contract by the end of next week. The GMB union has predicted that up to 12,000 of the more than 100,000 employee affected could lose their jobs because they [...]
EU agrees to Brexit delay but ‘very unlikely’ to decide on extension before Tuesday October 26, 2019 EU leaders have agreed a Brexit delay, but will not make a decision on how long for until next week. They are debating whether to extend the deadline date until 31 January or November. The latter is thought to be preferred by French President Emmanual Macron. Read more: Said Javid admits 31 October Brexit deadline [...]
Facebook announces launch of Facebook News October 25, 2019 Facebook has announced the launch of Facebook News, a new platform that will highlight news based on how relevant it is to individual users. In a blog post, Facebook’s vice president for global news partnerships said “Facebook News was built to bring people closer to the stories that affect their lives. We’ll continue to learn, [...]
Amazon share price slips after first profit drop in two years October 25, 2019 Investors have punished Amazon for a sharp fall in profits, targeting its shares as US markets opened this afternoon. Amazon’s share price fell 2.4 per cent to $1738.2 on the Nasdaq after billionaire Jeff Bezos’ company’s profits fell for the first time in two years yesterday. Read more: Amazon posts first profit drop for two [...]
Oops! Stats body admits whopping public finance error of up to £1.5bn October 25, 2019 The UK’s statistics body admitted to a rare error in its public finance data today, making the UK budget deficit between £1bn and £1.5bn less than what had previously been stated. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said there was “an error in the measurement of local government social benefits”. Read more: Metro Bank [...]
TK Maxx defies retail gloom as sales top £3bn October 25, 2019 Budget retailer TK Maxx topped £3bn in sales in the last year, shrugging off high street woes with a rise in profit. US group TJX US, which is the parent owner of the fashion group, has reported a 6.4 per cent rise in sales to £3.1bn in the 12 months to February 2019. Read more: [...]