Japanese firms ‘very concerned’ about prospect of no-deal Brexit, warns foreign minister June 27, 2019 Japan’s foreign minister has urged the UK to avoid a no-deal Brexit, admitting that Japanese firms are “very concerned” by the possibility. Taro Kono has warned the Tory leadership hopefuls, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, that a failure to agree on a withdrawal bill will have “very negative” implications for the 1,000 Japanese companies operating [...]
Unilever and SAP lead £4m investment round in digital reward platform WeGift June 27, 2019 The likes of SAP and Unilever have led a £4m investment round into London startup WeGift, which is aiming to become the first real-time digital reward platform. The company secured the £4m Series A funding, which was also led by venture capital firm Stride, as it also reported a 500 per cent growth in annual [...]
Tube drivers get ear defenders for ‘screeching’ Underground lines June 27, 2019 Transport for London (TfL) has offered Tube drivers ear defenders to protect them against high levels of noise from new sections of track, after their union threatened a strike. Drivers on the Victoria, Jubilee, Central, Piccadilly, Bakerloo and Northern Lines will receive the mufflers to cope with noise levels that reportedly reach up to 109.5 [...]
Podcast: Why invest in AIM shares? June 27, 2019 | City Talk AIM is 24 years-old! To celebrate, our head of equity strategy Lee Wild and head of markets Richard Hunter discuss why it can be a happy hunting ground for investors, and how to do it successfully. AIM was launched in 1995, has a combined market capitalisation of more than £70 billion, and is home to [...]
US and China ‘agree tentative trade truce’ ahead of G20 summit June 27, 2019 China and the US have reportedly agreed to a tentative truce in their ongoing trade war, two days before crucial talks at the G20 summit this weekend. Details of the agreement, which would scrap plans for a further round of US tariffs on an additional $300bn (£236bn) of Chinese goods, will be laid out in [...]
Greene King posts robust sales growth despite fall in profit after summer washout June 27, 2019 Pub chain operator Greene King has posted a robust rise in sales for the full year, despite a slump in profit and the impact of unseasonable weather in the first eight weeks. The figures Group revenue rose 1.8 per cent to £2.2bn in the 52 weeks to the end of April. Pre-tax profit dropped 12.5 [...]
Calling the data doctor: How Chronomics wants to educate you about your epigenetics June 27, 2019 How old are you? A simple enough question, you may think, but not for Dr Tom Stubbs, co-founder and chief executive of epigenetic testing company Chronomics. Epigenetics is (to quote the Chronomics website) the study of heritable phenotype changes that do not involve alteration in the DNA sequence. It’s essentially how environmental factors – from [...]
UK passes law to slash greenhouse gas emissions to ‘net zero’ by 2050 June 27, 2019 The UK has enshrined in law a target to cut greenhouse gas emissions to “net zero” by 2050, becoming the first major economy to legislate to curb its global warming contribution. That compares with a previous target to slash greenhouse emissions by 80 per cent from 1990 levels. Read more: Is there any merit to [...]
H&M shares rise after spike in summer sales June 27, 2019 Shares in H&M jumped ten per cent this morning after the Swedish fashion group reported that summer collection sales were up. H&M, which is the world’s second biggest fashion retailer after Zara owner Inditex, said that sales in June rose 12 per cent, beating analyst expectations. Read more: H&M shares soar despite profit fall Sales [...]
Self-driving cars get first London test routes June 27, 2019 Self-driving cars have been granted their first ever London test routes in a major step forward for real-world driverless vehicle trials The testbed, which is a UK industry first, will consist of 26km of public road in Greenwich and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford. Read more: Uber’s self-driving unit raises $1bn ahead of [...]