Hermes Investment Management steps up Dublin presence in no-deal Brexit contingency planning January 14, 2019 Hermes Investment Management has stepped up its presence in Ireland to mitigate against the risks posed by Brexit, the company announced today. The City-headquartered firm has set up an Irish management company, saying its mitigation activities have been based on the presumption of a “hard Brexit” without any transitional arrangements. Read more: 60 per cent [...]
Littlewoods and Very owner Shop Direct enjoys Christmas sales bounce January 14, 2019 Very and Littlewoods operator Shop Direct saw a rise in revenues over the festive period, as Black Friday discounts and Christmas shopping boosted sales. Revenue climbed 3.7 per cent year-on-year for the seven weeks to 28 December, with clothing and footwear seeing a particular bounce, rising eight per cent at group level. Very, the company’s [...]
EU repeats it does not want to use Brexit backstop in letter designed to help May win crunch vote January 14, 2019 EU leaders have released a letter reiterating the so-called backstop plan would only ever be temporary after Brexit, but have refused to reopen negotiations to amend the proposal in the withdrawal deal. European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council president Donald Tusk gave the assurances in a letter published a day before MPs vote [...]
Sterling slips as trader nerves kick in ahead of crunch Brexit vote January 14, 2019 Sterling has dropped from the seven-week highs of last week as investor nerves kick in ahead of tomorrow’s crunch Commons vote. The pound rallied on Friday, hitting $1.286, on suggestions Article 50 could be extended if Theresa May loses her Brexit deal vote as predicted. Read more: Sterling falls as investors fears of a general election [...]
Spyro Reignited Trilogy review: The purple dragon with attitude is back January 14, 2019 Back in the late 1990s Spyro, the purple dragon with a bad boy attitude, aspired to be the next Mario or Sonic. Though he never reached the same heights of mascot fame, he was beloved by fans and has at least done enough to earn this remastered edition for nostalgia junkies. With the Spyro Reignited [...]
Fallout 76 review : Bethesda fails to cram multiplayer into the long-running RPG series January 14, 2019 Fallout 76, the latest in the long-running series of RPGs, is the answer to a question no-one was asking: what if it was multiplayer? In the new release, you play as a member of a nuclear bomb shelter sent out to reclaim post-apocalyptic America. You explore Appalachia (a reimagined West Virginia) and scavenge the wasteland [...]
Apple chip supplier Dialog Semiconductor predicts low quarterly sales January 14, 2019 Apple chipmaker Dialog Semiconductor today said it expects quarterly sales to be at the bottom end of its target range after the iPhone manufacturer issued a shock profit warning. Dialog reported preliminary revenue of roughly $431m (£336m) for the fourth quarter, which is at the lower end of its $430m to $470m forecast. In October [...]
Ophir Energy rejects Medco’s £343m offer, saying price is too low January 14, 2019 Shares in Ophir Energy fell 2.2 per cent this morning as the company’s board rejected a takeover bid from Medco Global. The company’s directors unanimously decided to reject the 48.5p per share bid from Medco, claiming it undervalues Ophir. Although it represents a 46 per cent premium on Ophir’s share price when the bid was [...]
Data and machine-learning needs human intelligence to achieve the best business results January 14, 2019 Data has become the most valuable currency in business. But without the right tools or intelligence, its true value will not be realised. According to a MiQ survey, 43 per cent of US and UK brand marketers think that the lack of measurement of business impact, such as sales or growth, is the main hurdle [...]
What3words wants to replace your address with three simple words, but how do you market such a revolutionary idea? January 14, 2019 Erase. Damp. Name. No, I’ve not gone mad due to the latest Brexit drama – these three words make up my exact location as I write this article. This information comes from What3words, a technology startup that’s trying to revolutionise – wait for it – addresses. It has divided up the entire world into a [...]