Use of #ad more than doubles in a year amid influencer marketing crackdown April 30, 2019 The number of social media influencers using the hashtag ‘ad’ has more than doubled in the last year amid a crackdown on hidden product endorsements. A report by marketing firm Socialbakers revealed the use of #ad increased 133 per cent in the 12 months to the end of the first quarter this year. Read more: [...]
Italy escapes recession but still lags behind rest of Europe April 30, 2019 Italy has dragged itself out of recession with economic growth of 0.2 per cent in the first quarter, the country’s statistics organisation said today. Read more: Eurozone economy shows stronger-than-expected growth in first quarter The quarterly figures mean the Eurozone’s third-largest economy limped to an annual growth rate of 0.1 per cent. Italy’s economy shrunk [...]
Households face a £70m windfall after Ofgem launches automatic compensation scheme April 30, 2019 More than £70m is likely to be paid to customers each year as Ofgem announced an automatic compensation scheme in a bid to shore up confidence in the process of switching suppliers. From tomorrow, customers will be given at least £30 to compensate them for “erroneous switches”, and delays to refunds of their credit balances. [...]
Trump sues Deutsche Bank and Capital One to block subpoenas to release financial records April 30, 2019 US President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against Deutsche Bank and Capital One in a bid to block the release of his financial records. Two US House Committees issued the banks with subpoenas earlier this month to release Trump’s business records as part of an investigation into the Trump family finances. Read more: US [...]
Countrywide warns of earnings hit as it blames Brexit for sales slowdown April 30, 2019 Embattled estate agent giant Countrywide warned this morning that £5m would be wiped off of the group’s first-half earnings, as it blamed Brexit uncertainty for a slowdown in the UK property market market. Read more: Countrywide losses deepen amid housing market slowdown Countrywide, which owns brands such as Bairstow Eves and Gascoigne Pees, posted a [...]
Online advertising continues to grow as UK ad spend hits £24bn April 30, 2019 Online formats are continuing to take the lion’s share of advertising pounds as UK ad spend hit almost £24bn last year, new figures have revealed. Read more: WPP suffers sales drop after ‘significant’ client losses Search and online display advertising pulled in almost £12bn in 2018, more than half of the total spend across all [...]
Care home provider Four Seasons Health Care appoints administrators April 30, 2019 Care home group Four Seasons Health Care has gone into administration, the company announced today. Alvarez & Marsal has been appointed administrator to holding companies Elli Investments and Elli Finance after rescue talks to reduce the firm’s debt pile failed. Read more: Four Seasons ticks on with a £40m injection The group said that the operating companies [...]
Londoners are bolstering the latest fintech generation April 30, 2019 Have you ever thought about the role of Londoners in guaranteeing the UK as the fintech capital of the world? Our capital is currently hosting UK Fintech Week, an opportunity to showcase and celebrate the businesses transforming our best export: financial services. On Crowdcube, the crowdfunding platform I work for, there are now over 67,000 [...]
Vodafone found security flaws in Huawei technology but denies backdoor April 30, 2019 Vodafone has denied reports it found a so-called backdoor in Huawei equipment, but confirmed it identified security flaws in the firm’s technology. The telecoms firm said it found security vulnerabilities in two Huawei products supplied to its Italian business in 2011 and 2012, and that the issue had been resolved quickly. Read more: US says [...]
Amazon boss Jeff Bezos tops list of Silicon Valley’s best performing tech CEOs April 30, 2019 Amazon’s share price has risen by 83 per cent year-on-year, making boss Jeff Bezos the US’s best performing tech chief executive. The online shopping platform’s share price has jumped $69.53 on average per year during Bezos’ 22-year reign as Amazon’s chief executive. Read more: Investigator accuses Saudi Arabia of hacking Jeff Bezos's phone In 1997, which [...]