Klarna snaps up London ecommerce tech startup Hero July 11, 2021 Klarna has acquired London-based ecommerce tech startup Hero in a deal worth a reported $160m (£115m). Hero, which was founded in 2015, offers virtual shopping services to retailers and counts Harvey Nichols, Levi, Nike and JD Sports among its clients. Klarna said it will introduce Hero to its 250,000 retail partners, allowing them to access [...]
Huawei chief suffers extradition setback after HSBC documents blocked July 11, 2021 Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou has been dealt a major blow in her extradition case after a judge denied her application to use a trove of HSBC documents as evidence. Meng is facing extradition from Canada to the US on charges of bank fraud for allegedly misleading HSBC about Huawei’s dealings in Iran, potentially [...]
Tees Valley mayor lines up £1bn bid for Britain’s largest freeport July 11, 2021 Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen is said to be preparing a £1bn bid to take over Britain’s largest freeport in what could bring a major boost to the area. Canadian fund manager Brookfield has restarted the sale of PD Ports, which owns the huge Teesport gateway in North Yorkshire, after the process was halted due [...]
Richard Branson set for space flight aboard Virgin Galactic rocket July 11, 2021 Sir Richard Branson is today due to launch into space aboard a Virgin Galactic rocket plane as he kicks off the race to roll out space tourism. The British billionaire will be one of six people aboard the plane, which will climb more than 50 miles above the New Mexico desert to the edge of [...]
Morrisons bosses set for bumper payday from private equity takeover July 11, 2021 Three of Morrisons’ most senior executives are set to earn millions from the supermarket’s proposed private equity takeover as scrutiny grows over the deal. Morrisons has accepted a £6.3bn takeover offer by a consortium of funds led by private equity firm Fortress — the latest in a growing frenzy of US buyouts of British firms. [...]
EE to remove data charges during England Euro 2020 final July 9, 2021 EE customers will be able to stream England’s Euro 2020 final clash against Italy on Sunday night for no extra cost after the mobile network said it will remove data charges. The company today said that any data used from 6pm until midnight on Sunday will be free of charge. The data freebie, which will [...]
Murdoch shuts down aggregation site Knewz after 18 months July 9, 2021 Rupert Murdoch’s media empire has shut down its news aggregation site Knewz after just 18 months, saying it had failed to pull in a profit. News Corp set up Knewz in January 2020 in a bid to claw back advertising revenue from Google. The site, which had a garish yellow backdrop, aggregated news articles from [...]
Patriot Pact: Ministers urged not to say ‘It’s Coming Home’ ahead of England final July 9, 2021 Ministers have reportedly been urged not to say ‘It’s Coming Home’ ahead of England’s Euro 2020 final on Sunday night amid fears of offending other countries. In a briefing note sent by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) mandarins warned the phrase “does not go down well overseas” and might damage a [...]
Top Tesco executive Tony Hoggett to step down after 30 years July 9, 2021 One of Tesco’s most senior executives is stepping down after more than three decades at the supermarket. Tony Hoggett joined Tesco in 1990 and has served in a number of top roles in the UK and Asia. He became group chief operating officer in 2018 before being appointed to the newly-created role of chief strategy [...]
Biden to sign executive order cracking down on Big Tech July 9, 2021 US President Joe Biden will today sign an executive order aimed at clamping down on anti-competitive behaviour in Big Tech and across a host of other sectors. In a sweeping set of reforms, the president will call on more than a dozen agencies to undertake 72 initiatives aimed at promoting competition across the US economy. [...]