Google accounts back up again after global outage December 14, 2020 Google’s UK accounts appear to be up and running again after multiple services including Gmail and Youtube all experienced outages. There was a huge downtime spike for Google’s services at around 11.30am GMT according to outage site Down Detector. Google’s Play Store, Drive and Calendar were also all reportedly down. Problems have mainly been reported [...]
Ofcom fines BT £6.3m for breaking rules in public sector contract December 11, 2020 The UK’s telecoms regulator has fined BT £6.3m for breaking rules in a Northern Ireland public sector contract between 2017 and 2018. Between April 2017 and March 2018, BT and Eir both bid for a public sector contract in Northern Ireland to provide shared data transfer services. Ofcom has today concluded that BT’s network arm [...]
Competition watchdog refers O2-Virgin merger for in-depth investigation December 11, 2020 The UK competition regulator has referred the £31bn O2-Virgin merger for in-depth investigation. Liberty Global and Telefonica, the respective owners of Virgin Media and O2, struck a deal to merge their UK operations back in May. Last month the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched its phase one investigation into the mega-merger, arguing the potential [...]
BRC: Businesses face £3bn ‘tariff bombshell’ on no-deal December 11, 2020 The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has warned that supermarkets and their customers face a £3.1bn ‘tariff bombshell’ if the UK leaves the EU without a trade deal. The UK’s transition period will end in three weeks and with talks at an impasse, there is growing concern the UK will be left to trade on World [...]
Calisen set to go private in £1.43bn takeover deal December 11, 2020 Smart meter firm Calisen has received a takeover offer less than a year after going public. In an update this morning Calisen announced it had received an offer from Coyote Bidco, a newly incorporated consortium of investors, which values the firm at £1.43bn. Under the terms of the deal, each Calisen shareholder will receive 261 [...]
Rolls Royce ‘on track’ to deliver £1.3bn cost savings December 11, 2020 Rolls Royce is continuing with its restructuring efforts and today confirmed it is on track to deliver £1.3bn cost savings by 2022. The firm has been battered by the pandemic, with roughly half of its income derived from the hours airlines fly using its engines. It has embarked on restructuring efforts which saw a a [...]
Sanofi and GSK announce delay in coronavirus vaccine programme December 11, 2020 Sanofi and Glaxosmithkline have announced a delay in their vaccine programme after it showed an insufficient immune response in trial results. The firms said they planned to launch another study of the experimental drug next year, with plans to produce a more effective vaccine by the end of 2021. Sanofi said the interim results of [...]
EU takes on big tech firms with new legislation December 10, 2020 Under new European regulation big tech companies will face large fines if they do not take more responsibility for policing the internet. The EU will require large tech firms, such as Facebook and Amazon, to vet third-party suppliers and share data with authorities and researchers on how they moderate illegal content, according to a document [...]
City regulator confirms mini-bond marketing ban December 10, 2020 The Financial Conduct Authority has today confirmed its permanent ban on the marketing of mini-bonds to retail investors amid concerns over losses. It comes after a series of scandals involving unregulated bonds, including the collapse of London Capital & Finance (LCF) last year. The confirmation follows a temporary ban introduced in January after the regulator [...]
FTSE 100 edges higher as Brexit talks given Sunday deadline December 10, 2020 The FTSE 100 opened higher as the lack of progress in Brexit talks continued to pressure the pound. London’s blue-chip index climbed 0.32 per cent by 8.40 GMT as investors considered how likely a Brexit deal is. Sterling sank 0.6 per cent against the dollar and 0.8 per cent against the euro. Boris Johnson and [...]
