UK advertising sector faces recession in the event of a no-deal Brexit January 14, 2019 The UK advertising sector could suffer its first recession since 2009 in the event of a no-deal Brexit, a new report has warned. Research by Enders Analysis estimates ad spend in 2019 would fall three per cent if the UK leaves the EU without an agreement in place. The decline would be the worst in [...]
Police arrest man over alleged MP abuse incidents outside parliament January 12, 2019 A man in his 30s has been arrested on suspicion of public order offences after an MP was subjected to alleged verbal abuse outside parliament last week. The Metropolitan Police said the man was detained outside St James’s Park tube station in central London shortly before midday in connection with incidents in Westminster on Monday. [...]
Facebook launches UK fact-checking programme to fight fake news January 11, 2019 Facebook today said it will roll out its fact-checking service in the UK to help deal with the fake news that has plagued its platform in recent years. The social media giant will work with fact-checking charity Full Fact to review and rate the accuracy of posts on its site. Facebook said the programme will [...]
US legal business Elevate acquires UK new law company Halebury as it targets London float January 8, 2019 US legal business Elevate has today announced it has acquired UK new law business Halebury as it continues expansion ahead of a possible London float. Elevate, which has been backed by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital, brands itself as a “law company” and provides services to in-house legal departments at companies such as Oracle and Facebook. [...]
Apple analysts have let us down yet again January 8, 2019 Apple analysts, huh, what are they good for? Absolutely nothing. Say it again… Yep, that’s right, I just butchered one of the most powerful lyrics of the past 50 years. Lyrics immortalised by Edwin Starr in the 1970 Vietnam protest song, but for me it kind of grabs your attention and makes the point rather [...]
Central London office space take-up soars to highest level since 2014 January 7, 2019 Fresh evidence of the capital’s thriving office space market has been brought to light today, with new figures showing that take-up in Central London last year soared to its highest level since 2014. Property agents are forecasting that the boom in London’s letting activity will likely carry on into 2019, as supply shortages and persistent [...]
Brexit, ad fraud and #MeToo – what does the future year hold for the marketing industry? January 7, 2019 We are out of the cold December of 2018, and have now entered the, well, even colder January of 2019. Last year was a momentous one for the marketing industry – there was the fall and rise again of adland stalwart Martin Sorrell; the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) finally came into force; [...]
Honesty: Coming to an office near you January 7, 2019 Last year, after reading Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life, I wrote a column about lying. While Peterson’s book argued that one should always tell the truth, I countered that, in a work environment, such philosophy was unrealistic. Honesty can get you fired. I would know. “What did you think about my speech?” my boss [...]
CES 2019: Tech firms set to chase Vegas lights for gadget bonanza January 6, 2019 This week marks the dawn of CES 2019, an annual trade show held in Las Vegas where startups and tech giants alike debut some of the world’s hottest new gadgets. Following on from last year’s most popular trend, voice assistants and artificially intelligent products are expected to take centre stage. Samsung is thought to be [...]
Alexa: Tell me why I can’t have a flying car like in Blade Runner January 4, 2019 Bad news: it’s 2019, and that means we are now living through the year in which the original Blade Runner film was set. Released in 1982, Blade Runner has some interesting ideas about 2019. Yes, it’s a post-apocalyptic dystopian hellscape where sentient bioengineered robots (“replicants”) must be hunted down against a backdrop of a dying [...]