Uber launches new UK safety features as employment appeal looms October 17, 2018 Ride-hailing firm Uber has today launched a slate of new safety features in the UK and 23 other European countries, as it heads towards a court of appeal hearing regarding workers' rights at the end of the month. The Uber app will now house a safety centre from which passengers and drivers can share their trip details [...]
Uber set to be valued at $120bn when it goes public next year October 16, 2018 Ride-hailing giant Uber could be valued at $120bn (£90.8bn) as part of its upcoming public listing in 2019, skyrocketing from its last valuation in August. Several US banks have raised Uber's valuation ahead of its intended initial public offering (IPO), sources told the Wall Street Journal, which has been suggested for an early 2019 slot. Should [...]
Richard Branson pulls out of $1bn investment talks with Saudi Arabia over missing journalist October 12, 2018 Virgin's Richard Branson said he had scrapped talks with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund about a $1bn (£755m) investment into its space ventures late last night, in light of the disappearance of a prominent Washington Post journalist. "What has reportedly happened in Turkey around the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, if proved true, would clearly change [...]
Last call: Uber drivers to stage 24hr strike in London today October 9, 2018 Hundreds of Uber drivers are set to stage a 24-hour walkout across London today, in addition to protests in Nottingham and Birmingham, over workers' rights and demands for increased wages. The strike is being organised by the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB), and is scheduled to begin at 1pm. A separate demonstration is also expected to be [...]
Forget Brexit, there’s a reason India’s top tech entrepreneurs are flocking to Britain October 9, 2018 | City Talk Trade between Britain and India looks like it is about to take an almighty hit. Both sides are in a state of stalemate over a trade deal, and huge Indian companies are issuing warnings about investing in the UK post-Brexit. But scratch beneath the surface, and trade between the country of my birth and the country [...]
Uber Eats riders and restaurant workers to strike over gig economy pay October 4, 2018 Uber Eats workers are to stage a strike later today with a small number of workers from JD Wetherspoon and TGI Fridays over gig economy pay and conditions. Some McDonalds and Deliveroo workers were also set to take part in the rally in Leicester Square at 11am this morning, while Uber Eats drivers are preparing their own separate strike outside its [...]
Bereft of new ideas, Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party is dead set on sticking its head in the sand October 3, 2018 One of the most dispiriting aspects of the Labour Party conference, which ended last week, is how deeply conservative the political left has become. Its remedies for Britain’s problems look to the past and not the future. Far from embracing new technology, the left is hostile to it. This was not always the case. Labour [...]
CEOs should get out of the board room spend time on the shop floor October 2, 2018 In a recent study, nearly 80 per cent of consumers stated that the average brand doesn’t understand them. This hints at a worrying disconnect in business, particularly at a time when changing attitudes among consumers and workforces mean leaders should be connected to what is going on outside of their office door. The day-to-day demands [...]
Addison Lee says Sadiq Khan’s congestion charge plans could cost it £4m a year October 1, 2018 Addison Lee has said Sadiq Khan's plans to remove the congestion charge exemption for private hire taxi companies could cost it £4m a year. Uber rival Addison Lee has commissioned research that suggests levying a congestion charge on minicabs in London would make the capital more congested and polluted. Read more: London Assembly votes against Sadiq [...]
Losses take a bite out of Deliveroo buzz but revenue soars amid global expansion October 1, 2018 Deliveroo’s pre-tax losses widened despite another year of booming sales in 2017, in a sign of the firm’s ambitions to bear the brunt of short-term losses for a greater slice of the UK’s increasingly competitive food delivery market. Losses before tax hit £184.7m in the 12 months of 2017, slumping from £129m the year before, with [...]