Sazka taps Olympics chief Keith Mills to lead National Lottery bid October 31, 2020 European lottery group Sazka has appointed the man behind London’s successful bid for the 2012 Olympics to lead its tender for the UK’s National Lottery licence. Earlier this month Sazka, which is Europe’s largest lottery owner, launched a surprise challenge to take the licence from current operator Camelot for the first time since the prize [...]
Covid-19 now spreading faster than worst case scenario, Sage warns October 30, 2020 Covid-19 is now spreading “significantly” faster across England than the government’s worst-case scenario, top scientists have warned. Newly published documents from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) warned the rapid spread of the virus meant the number of deaths this winter could surpass the 85,000 previously forecast. The document, which is dated 14 October, [...]
Nightclub owner Deltic puts itself up for sale as cash dries up October 30, 2020 The UK’s largest nightclub owner Deltic Group has put itself up for sale after months of closure due to the Covid-19 crisis has driven it to the brink of collapse. Deltic, which owns brands including Pryzm and Atik, has begun a sale process while it considers other options, including a company voluntary arrangement, in a [...]
Tech stocks drag down Wall Street as FTSE 100 suffers worst month since March October 30, 2020 Sliding tech stocks dragged down Wall Street this afternoon, while the FTSE rounded off its worst monthly fall since March amid a wave of new coronavirus lockdowns. The three main US indexes were on course for their worst week since March as ongoing pandemic-related uncertainty and the looming presidential election sparked market volatility. Read more: [...]
Marriott International fined £18.4m over customer data breach October 30, 2020 Marriott International has been handed an £18.4m fine by the UK data watchdog over a data breach that compromised the personal details of millions of customers. The fine relates to an attack on the Starwood hotels chain that exposed records belonging to 339m guests worldwide. The cyber attack began in 2014, before Marriott took over [...]
Screenshot: Will Tim Davie win the generation game? October 30, 2020 A weekly column from City A.M. bringing you all the biggest stories and trends in technology, media and telecoms This week: ** Media Moment of the Week: A sorry soy saga ** Tim Davie and the BBC’s tug of war ** The tech titans’ tumultuous year Media Moment of the Week This week it’s another [...]
Premier League testing firm snaps up Oxford University Covid-19 test business October 30, 2020 The company behind the Premier League and Heathrow testing programmes has acquired a rapid Covid-19 testing business spun out of Oxford University. Biotech firm Prenetics today said it has acquired exclusive global rights to Oxsed, which has developed a low-cost coronavirus test that delivers results in 15 to 30 minutes. The companies are now targeting [...]
Amazon quarterly sales near $100bn amid online shopping boom October 29, 2020 Amazon has continued its bumper year of trading, posting quarterly sales of nearly $100bn (£77.4bn) as the pandemic sparked a surge in demand for online shopping. The ecommerce giant said net sales had increased 37 per cent year on year to hit $96.1bn in the three months to the end of September. Net profit hit [...]
Facebook revenue jumps as pandemic drives up traffic October 29, 2020 Facebook today posted better-than-expected revenue for the third quarter as higher user numbers during the coronavirus pandemic helped drive up revenue. The social media platform posted revenue of $21.5bn (£16.6bn) in the three-month period, up from $17.7bn last year. Net income rose from $6.1bn to $7.8bn. The bulk of the revenue was generated by advertising [...]
Google parent Alphabet returns to growth as advertisers flock back October 29, 2020 Google parent company Alphabet reported a return to growth in the third quarter as advertisers flocked back in their droves after a coronavirus-induced slump. The tech giant, which also owns Amazon, reported revenue of $46.2bn (£35.7bn) in the three months to the end of September, up 14 per cent on the same period last year. [...]
