Japanese economy grows one per cent, helped by weaker yen February 13, 2017 Japan’s GDP grew at an annualised rate of one per cent in the final quarter of 2016, falling slightly short of analysts’ expectations. Growth between the third and fourth quarters fell to 0.2 per cent, the slowest pace in the year and down from the 0.6 per cent growth rate achieved in the first three [...]
The mattress startup battle’s heating up in the UK as Simba gets in bed with top City investors February 13, 2017 The battle to bring you the best night's sleep is heating up as one of several mattress startups spearheading innovation, in an industry apparently ripe for disruption, has landed new funding. Simba Sleep has tempted several top City investors into bed in a fresh £9m funding round, bringing total investment in the one-year-old startup to £17.5m. Henderson [...]
Here’s who could buy the Co-operative Bank February 13, 2017 The Co-operative Bank has kicked off the week with big announcement: it's put itself up for sale. The bank said it was seeking a buyer after making "considerable progress implementing its turnaround plan" – the lender famously faced a near collapse in 2013 when it admitted to a £1bn black hole in its finances. Co-op [...]
We just found out more details about Jim Ratcliffe’s new Land Rover Defender-inspired SUV February 13, 2017 We've just been given more details about a new SUV inspired by the discontinued Land Rover Defender, which fracking boss Jim Ratcliffe has vowed to lovingly recreate – although not to the letter, it turns out. Tom Crotty, the director of Ratcliffe's Ineos, told the BBC's Today Programme Ratcliffe is planning to create a Defender-style SUV. Pro-Brexit [...]
Co-operative Bank and Capita resolve differences after row over £325m contract February 13, 2017 The Co-operative Bank and Capita have resolved their differences after a public spat over alleged failings regarding a £325m servicing contract. The lender sold its mortgage servicing company, Western Mortgages Services (WMS), to Capita in November 2014 for £25m. The deal was followed by a 10-year contract for Capita to service the Co-operative Bank's mortgage book by [...]
Now Santander lets you make payments using just your voice February 13, 2017 More proof that voice control is the future… Santander is now letting customers make payments just by asking their phone, along with several other new functions that work in a similar way to Apple's Siri or Amazon's Alexa Users of the bank's SmartBank app can use their voice to check their account balance, report a lost [...]
Kirin bows out of Brazilian market in style with £570m sale to Heineken February 13, 2017 The world’s second largest brewer, Heineken, has agreed to buy Japanese rival Kirin's Brazilian operations for 2.2bn Brazillian reals (£567m). Heineken said the acquisition will take place in the first half of this year, and will make the Dutch drinks maker second-largest beer producer in Brazil. Previously trading under the Schincariol brand, Brasil Kirin had been [...]
For the first time, pensioners are better off than working households February 13, 2017 We all knew older generations are increasingly better off than their younger counterparts – but now a new study has found recent retirees are actually living on more than working households. Incomes across older generations have risen so fast, the average pensioner household now makes £20 a week more than the average working-age household. In [...]
Co-op Bank’s message to customers: It’s business as usual February 13, 2017 The Co-operative Bank has moved to reassure customers after announcing it's putting itself up for sale. The bank said this morning it is seeking a buyer "alongside other options", three years into a turnaround plan put in place after the lender revealed a £1.5bn black hole in its finances. In a message to customers of the [...]
Can advertising be a force for good? Diageo’s Syl Saller certainly thinks so February 13, 2017 If the early bird catches the worm, then the attendees of this year’s Advertising Association LEAD summit must have been full by the time it began. Early starts are anathema to most in the media, myself included, but the full force of AdLand was on parade, bright-eyed – despite the culture secretary’s dry, cliched, keynote [...]