Ryanair profits hit turbulence but the airline maintains full-year guidance February 6, 2017 Ryanair profits hit a patch of turbulence in 2016 as the devaluation of sterling following the EU referendum saw Europe’s largest airline’s wings clipped. The figures Profits fell by eight per cent to €95m (£81m) despite traffic growing by 16 per cent to reach 29m customers. Revenue grew one per cent year-on-year to €1.35bn (£1.16bn) [...]
Twitter could be the people’s platform – but not unless it turns a profit February 6, 2017 Twitter has a problem. Despite unbridled use by the President of the United States; despite being used the world round to mobilise protests and marches – to distribute news, to interact and advertise – it looks like it’s in trouble. Awareness of it has never been higher and yet, Twitter isn’t making a profit. While [...]
London travel disruption: Delays on the Central, Circle and Metropolitan lines this morning February 6, 2017 Londoners may have breathed a sigh of relief when they learned that the latest round of Tube strikes had been called off, but some commuters are still starting their weeks with a disrupted journey into work. On the Central line, westbound services are delayed because of a faulty train at Liverpool Street. https://twitter.com/centralline/status/828523735116308484 There are [...]
Yo Sushi founder Simon Woodroffe: I want to be the next Richard Branson February 6, 2017 It took a life crisis for Simon Woodroffe to set up restaurant chain Yo Sushi. “I got divorced in the early nineties and was out in the wilderness for a long time. I was down to my last £200,000 tied to my flat and was desperate to do something with my life. That’s when I set [...]
Some of the world’s biggest tech companies join the fight against US President Donald Trump’s travel ban February 6, 2017 Some of the world’s biggest tech groups have officially joined the fight against US President Donald Trump’s travel ban on nationals from certain Muslim-majority countries. Apple, Microsoft, Google and Facebook are among 97 companies to file an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief, making clear their support for efforts to stop the travel ban. [...]
Making his mark on Mediacom UK: Meet chief executive Josh Krichefski February 6, 2017 I’m waiting in the lobby of MediaCom’s home in Holborn to meet Josh Krichefski; a six storey hive, buzzing with the to-and-fro of a thousand-strong population, tied together by a dominating atrium. Expecting to head straight to the executive suite on the top floor, his assistant instead guides me to the second: “he likes to [...]
The irony of the filter bubble for advertisers is bittersweet February 6, 2017 "Algorithm" became a dirty word in 2016; few know what one is, fewer know how one actually works. Sure sounds scary though. “Filter bubble” can be added to that list, the latter a product of the former. The notion that social media algorithms nurture confirmation bias through reflecting self-affirming views, and therefore prejudice, is rife. [...]
British business leaders urge government to improve the UK’s lagging infrastructure February 6, 2017 Two thirds of British business leaders think that the UK’s infrastructure is worse than other developed economies, according to a Lloyds Bank survey released today. Only 8 per cent of the 77 boardroom-level executives who responded thought that the national infrastructure of the UK was better than that of other countries. The results of the [...]
Costs rise and margins fall on the back of the weaker pound according to a survey of 1,500 businesses by the BCC February 6, 2017 The recent fall in the value of sterling is increasing the cost base of UK businesses and squeezing sales margins, according to the British Chambers of Commerce’s (BCC) latest International Trade Survey published today. More than two thirds of the 1500 businesses surveyed in conjunction with moneycorp expect the fall in the value of sterling [...]
Brian Winterflood: The broker who has helped shape the City over 60 years, including by blocking 2000 first exchange merger attempt February 6, 2017 With not long to go before the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Boerse find out whether their third formal attempt to merge is successful, it was perhaps bold of Xavier Rolet, the French boss of the UK company, to invite Brian Winterflood to open the market last week. Celebrating his 80th birthday and retirement from the [...]