Covid connections: Pandemic narrows digital divide as more Brits go online April 28, 2021 While it may be hard to find silver linings in lockdown, it appears the rapid shift to online services has had its benefits. A surge in demand for internet services over the last year means the UK’s digital divide has narrowed even further, with more and more Brits getting connected. The proportion of homes without [...]
Britain’s top bosses call for ‘national prosperity’ plan to boost growth post-pandemic April 28, 2021 Some of the UK’s top business leaders have called on the Government to set out a plan to boost growth as the country deals with the devastating impact of the pandemic. The Covid Recovery Commission, a group set up by last summer which includes top executives from Tesco, Shell and Heathrow Airport , has set [...]
Westminster report praises Brexit deal for maintaining Northern Ireland cross-border security April 28, 2021 A new Westminster report has praised the government’s Brexit trade deal for “putting to rest” concerns about cross-border safety in Northern Ireland. The report, from parliament’s Northern Ireland Affairs Committee said the deal “mitigated concerns about extradition processes and intelligence blind spots”. The UK-EU trade deal ensured “the need for strong cooperation between national police [...]
Binance jumps on the NFT market April 27, 2021 Cryptocurrency exchange Binance today announced plans to launch an NFT marketplace in June.
Travel restrictions pull Visa quarterly profit lower April 27, 2021 Visa reported a small fall in its quarterly profit as lockdown restrictions continue to have an impact on the world’s travel and retail industries. The payments company reported net income slipped two per cent in the second quarter to $3bn, equivalent to $1.38 per Class A Share. Analysts had expected a profit of $1.27 per [...]
Microsoft sees continued demand for cloud services April 27, 2021 It was another stellar quarter for Microsoft as it continued to benefit from the pandemic-induced shift to the cloud. The tech heavyweight beat Wall Street expectations for quarterly revenue, rising 19 per cent to $41.7bn in the three months to March just ahead of analysts’ estimates of $41.03bn. Last quarter Microsoft reported a 17 per [...]
Google owner Alphabet beats revenue expectations as ad spend recovers April 27, 2021 Google’s parent company Alphabet beat Wall Street estimates for the first quarter amidst a recovery in digital ad spend. Revenue rose to $55.31bn in the first quarter from $41.16bn a year earlier, beating analyst estimates of $51.7bn according to Refinitiv data. Alphabet shares rose about five per cent to $2,405 in after-hours trading. Digital advertising [...]
Mayor of London election: Minor candidates create a race within a race April 27, 2021 This year’s mayor of London election has set a record for the most ever candidates – a 20-strong field of career politicians, chancers, grifters, oddballs, cranks, culture warriors and earnest small party hopefuls. The race itself has provided little interest for the public at large, with a Sadiq Khan victory a foregone conclusion at a [...]
Softbank leads $525m round in British drug developer Exscientia April 27, 2021 British pharmaceutical company Exscientia has received funding from Softbank Vision Fund just a month after closing its last investment round. Exscientia uses artificial intelligence to discover new drug molecules and has now designed two drugs that are in Phase 1 of clinical trials. The Oxford-based company today announced it had completed a $225m Series D [...]
Shell Q1 results: What to expect April 27, 2021 After BP today gave the market “all it could have asked for”, attention will now turn to rival oil giant Shell ahead of Thursday’s first quarter results. While the former firm came into the results trumpeting the fact that it would hit its debt reduction targets a year early, prompting the restart of share buybacks, [...]
