Unions protest outside Amazon’s London HQ on Cyber Monday December 2, 2019 Union members demonstrated outside Amazon’s London headquarters this morning and accused the e-commerce giant of failing to pay the correct amount of corporation tax. The GMB union estimated that the retailer should have paid £103m in corporation tax last year, but claims the company’s biggest UK arm paid £14m of tax on £2.3bn worth of [...]
British drivers launch Volkswagen ‘Dieselgate’ action in High Court December 2, 2019 Tens of thousands of motorists have accused Volkswagen of fitting its cars with software to cheat emissions tests, as the UK’s biggest class action case kicked off at the High Court this morning. British drivers who bought Volkswagen diesel vehicles are seeking compensation following the Dieselgate emissions scandal. Read more: Volkswagen cuts forecasts amid downturn [...]
Andrew Tinkler moves to block rivals from voting on Eddie Stobart rescue deal December 1, 2019 Advisers to former Eddie Stobart Logistics boss Andrew Tinkler are planning to submit an appeal to the City mergers watchdog tomorrow ahead of a vote on a controversial takeover bid for the distribution company The appeal to the Takeover Panel is an attempt to prevent Dbay Advisors from voting on 6 December, Sky News reported. [...]
US seeks extradition of Autonomy founder Mike Lynch to face charges December 1, 2019 The US has formally requested that the UK extradites British tech billionaire Mike Lynch to stand trial on charges of securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy related to the sale of his company Autonomy to Hewlett Packard (HP). The US embassy submitted the request on 21 November for Lynch, who is currently embroiled in a [...]
Uber eyes Square Mile move despite London licence ban December 1, 2019 Uber is eyeing offices space in the Square Mile as it looks to expand in the capital despite Transport for London’s decision last week to not renew its licence. The ride-hailing app is reportedly looking for a bigger European headquarters after the lease on its Aldgate office expires, and is mulling options at 60 London [...]
Inside Amazon’s Black Friday operations hub: How the e-commerce giant prepares for its busiest day of the year November 29, 2019 Where could be a better place to witness the behind-the-scenes impact of Black Friday than at the heart of Amazon’s UK warehouse operations? Some of the credit – or perhaps, blame – for the annual shopping event’s popularity in Britain surely lies with the US e-commerce giant. The fulfilment centre – which is the size [...]
UK consumer confidence is at its lowest point since 2013 ahead of General Election November 29, 2019 Consumer confidence was flat this month as the UK waits for the outcome of the upcoming General Election and for the new government’s Brexit plan to become clear. The overall index score for consumer confidence this month was minus 14, according to the latest data from GfK. This is the same score as was recorded in [...]
Asian expansion boosts Fortnum & Mason sales growth November 29, 2019 London luxury food retailer Fortnum & Mason has reported double-digit sales growth in its full-year results, boosted by the company’s global expansion. Sales across the business increased 12 per cent to £138m, while profits soared 26 per cent, driven by growth in Hong Kong and Japan where sales grew 16 and 28 per cent respectively. [...]
Price comparison rivals urge EU regulators to take action against Google November 28, 2019 Axel Springer’s price comparison shopping service Idealo and a group of European rivals have urged the EU’s competition regulators to enforce a ruling against Google as they accused the tech giant of favouring its own service. In a letter to European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager signed by companies from 21 EU countries, the group said [...]
UK house prices: Growth hits seven-month high November 28, 2019 UK house price growth ticked up this month, showing the strongest annual rise since April. However, annual house price growth remained below one per cent for the 12th month in a row at 0.8 per cent, reaching an average price of £215.734. House prices were up 0.5 per cent month-on-month, according to the latest Nationwide [...]