Wizz Air investors to sell shares worth £500m February 3, 2020 A major shareholder in Wizz Air today revealed plans to sell up to £500m worth of shares in the budget airline. The sell-off has been initiated by investment funds managed by US private equity firm Indigo Partners, which currently holds a stake of almost 21 per cent in Wizz Air. The airline, which mainly flies [...]
BBC licence fee to increase by £3 from April February 3, 2020 The annual cost of the TV licence fee increase from £154.50 to £157.50 from 1 April, the BBC confirmed today. The fee is set by the government, which announced in 2016 that it would rise in line with inflation for five years from April 2017. The new charge equates to £3.02 per week or £13.13 [...]
Angela Merkel fails to unite government over Huawei plan February 3, 2020 German Chancellor Angela Merkel is failing in her bid to unite the coalition government over a verdict on whether to allow Huawei to build the country’s 5G networks. Merkel has attempted to rule out a total ban on Huawei, but has been forced to strike a compromise with hardline ministers in her Christian Democratic Union [...]
Which advert won the 2020 Super Bowl? February 3, 2020 While for American Football fans the Super Bowl is the most important match of the season, for millions more it’s a chance to watch some of the year’s most-hyped adverts. While the Kansas City Chiefs may have won the game last night, once again it was Microsoft that emerged as the advertising champion with a [...]
Amazon ‘launches search’ for new London office space February 3, 2020 Amazon is said to be on the hunt for new office space in London as the e-commerce giant doubles down on its commitment to the capital after Brexit. The tech firm has called in advisers at Cushman & Wakefield to find a building with roughly 200,000 square feet (sq ft) of office space, the Times [...]
Dominic Cummings sets up ‘spy network’ in bid to stop leaks February 3, 2020 Boris Johnson’s top adviser has set up a network of informants in plush Westminster restaurants in an audacious bid to stop ministerial aides from leaking to journalists. Dominic Cummings told special advisers on Friday that they must cough up half the bill if they go out for lunch, dinner or drinks with members of the [...]
Outernet: Is London’s new media complex the future of urban entertainment? February 3, 2020 Trying to find a definition for Outernet can sometimes feel like explaining Tiktok to a grandparent. Once completed, the 34,000 square feet (sq ft) site — sat squarely on the corner of Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road — will boast the world’s largest deployment of LED screens, as well as shops, restaurants, offices, a [...]
UK ad spend grows as brands splash cash on streaming hits January 30, 2020 Fanatical film and TV fans helped drive up UK advertising spend in the third quarter, as the video on-demand and cinema sectors continued their recent run of good form. Brands splashed out £5.97bn over the period, up 5.6 per cent year on year but down marginally on the second quarter. The figures, which mark the [...]
Mike Pompeo urges UK to reconsider Huawei 5G decision January 29, 2020 US secretary of state Mike Pompeo today urged the UK to rethink its decision to allow Huawei to help build 5G networks, describing the move as a “real risk”. Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday granted the Chinese firm a limited role in British telecoms infrastructure — defying stark warnings from the US. “There is a [...]
Shares in cyber firm Avast drop on data sale scandal January 29, 2020 Shares in Avast fell as much as 9.5 per cent today after it emerged the cybersecurity firm had been selling its user data to firms such as IBM and Microsoft. The antivirus software manufacturer tracked users’ clicks, collecting data on their searches on platforms such as Google and Linkedin, as well as their activity on [...]
