Jeff Bezos to step down as Amazon chief executive as quarterly sales hit $125bn February 3, 2021 Jeff Bezos will step down as chief executive of Amazon this year, moving to the new role of executive chair. Amazon today said Bezos will transition to the new job in the third quarter and will be replaced as chief executive by Andy Jassy, who currently leads Amazon Web Services. It came as the ecommerce [...]
Too many bosses are using Covid-19 to indulge their Big Brother tendencies February 3, 2021 Controversy around technologies used to monitor employees is not new. However, against the backdrop of COVID-19 with office-based workforces operating remotely, businesses have struggled with how to effectively manage staff and have hastily deployed surveillance technologies. This knee-jerk reaction is perhaps understandable, but employers must be wary. The backlash can be severe, unexpected, and sometimes [...]
Asos purchases Arcadia’s principal brands to improve its own quality perception February 3, 2021 Online fashion giant Asos has announced it has beat competitors to purchase the four main Arcadia brands – Miss Selfridge, HIIT, Topman and Topshop – in order to become the number one fashion destination for young, fashion-conscious shoppers worldwide. Chief executive Nick Beighton said that the brands were a “natural fit” and resonated with their [...]
Debate: Was Asos right to pass over Topshop’s physical stores? February 3, 2021 Digital retailer Asos has picked up Arcadia’s principal brands – but they didn’t bother with the physical premises. A good decision? Mike Colling of the Kite Factory says yes: To bring great brands back to life you often have to cut away dead wood. The news that ASOS has bought Topshop & Miss Selfridge has [...]
Climate co-operation could be welcome boost to the special relationship February 3, 2021 A new US President always brings a renewed sense of hope and optimism, not only to the 50 states themselves but across the globe. Another norm in the early days of any new administration is a jostling for position from foreign allies and diplomats, not only to secure the trophies of early phone calls and [...]
Google owner Alphabet beats revenue estimates as cloud losses grow February 2, 2021 Google parent company Alphabet beat revenue expectations for the fourth quarter, but revealed hefty losses in its cloud computing division. The tech giant posted revenue of $56.9bn (£41.7bn) in the final three months of the year, up from $46bn in the same period last year. Alphabet said the figures were driven by strong performance from [...]
Covid-19: Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine could cut transmission by two-thirds February 2, 2021 The Oxford University/Astrazeneca Covid-19 vaccine could cut the transmission of infections by two-thirds and a three-month delay between doses does not reduce efficacy, a new report has found. A pre-print paper published by Oxford and the Lancet found there was a 67 per cent reduction in positive swabs among those vaccinated. The research also found [...]
Pilots slam Norwegian Air over owed salaries following UK collapse February 2, 2021 Pilots have hit back at Norwegian Air after it emerged the airline will not pay outstanding salaries to laid-off staff following the collapse of its UK operations. The British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) today said staff were demanding answers as to why they had been left with “absolutely nothing”. Norwegian Air last month announced it [...]
Gamestops? Shares plunge more than 50 per cent as Reddit rally retreats February 2, 2021 Reddit day traders’ hold on the market seemed to be running out of steam on Tuesday as the price of silver stalled and Gamestop shares plunged more than 50 per cent on the open. Gamestop has dominated the headlines in the past week after r/wallstreetbets took the fight to Wall Street’s hedge funds. The bricks-and-mortar [...]
Why baijiu is set to take the UK spirits business by storm February 2, 2021 The famous Chinese poet Li Bai of the Tang Dynasty had some very precise ideas about drinking. He once wrote, “One’s drinking companions should be elegant, unrestrained, forthright, understanding, old friends or beautiful”. He further counselled that “The best places for drinking should be in front of flowers, in the bamboo forest, in a high [...]
