Equity interest requirement removed from new £800m taxpayer-funded research agency February 1, 2022 Proposals to create a new taxpayer-backed £800m research agency have been considered further by MPs. The Government wants the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria) to focus on “high-risk, high-reward” research to explore new ideas while having “strategic and cultural” independence and the freedom to fail. The House of Lords had supported an amendment which [...]
Hasta la vista: Arnold Schwarzenegger vows to ‘terminate pollution’ at climate change summit February 1, 2022 Former California governor and Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger has vowed to “terminate pollution” at the sixth annual Austrian World Summit climate conference. The former bodybuilder and actor said he and Austrian president Alexander Van der Bellen would be welcoming “climate action heroes” from around the world for the event. The conference will take place in [...]
Tesco axes fresh meat, fish and deli counters in 317 stores January 31, 2022 The supermarket giant said it will shut counters across 317 of its supermarkets where it has seen “lowest demand” amid changes in customer habits. It is understood the move will impact hundreds of workers, although the retailer did not disclose the total number of affected staff. It added that it will shut seven of its [...]
Even at seven times their income, single homebuyers are priced out of the market by £24,000 January 31, 2022 Despite many lenders relaxing their loan to income criteria, the average UK homebuyer is still priced out of the market unless purchasing with a partner. The current average loan to value, or the multiple of salary that a lender will loan to a buyer, has increased from 3.87 to 4.12 in the last ten years [...]
Open warfare: Ocado claims Autostore is lying while rival says online grocer’s IP rights are ‘invalid’ January 31, 2022 The war of words between Ocado and its rival Autostore reached new heights today as Ocado accused Autostore of misleading investors over its legal battle with the online grocer in Germany. Autostore issued an update on the Norwegian stock market on Monday claiming that a judge in a Mannheim Court said Ocado’s intellectual property rights [...]
FTSE 100 loses one of its biggest components as mining giant BHP bows out January 31, 2022 The FTSE 100 lost one of its biggest components on Monday as miner BHP was removed from the index, after deciding to unify its dual-listed structure into one entity in Sydney. The business’s size was only eclipsed by AstraZeneca and Shell among its peers in London. Its primary listing moved to Australia, ending a decades-long [...]
Millions moved via shell companies: Laundered fortune linked to chair of UK-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Committee forfeited January 31, 2022 Millions of pounds derived from the Azerbaijan laundromat – a sophisticated international money laundering scheme – have been seized following a National Crime Agency investigation into money held in bank accounts linked to an Azeri politician, the NCA said this morning. Financial investigators secured a Forfeiture Order for £5.6m in UK bank accounts belonging to [...]
Nine out of ten Londoners can no longer afford the rent as demand for rooms goes through the roof January 31, 2022 Insurance giant Admiral has warned that nearly nine out of ten Londoners can no longer afford the average cost of rent in the capital. The demand for rooms to rent is much higher than the available supply, thereby leading to such increases that most Londoners cannot keep up with, the company cited as the main [...]
First-time buyer hell: The London areas where you pay more than £20k per square meter January 31, 2022 New research has revealed the most expensive areas for homebuyers in the UK. The area where your money will get you the least floor space is Kensington & Chelsea, with an average cost of £28,509 per square metre, while another affluent area ranks second, with the average house in Westminster costing just over £1m, with [...]
Four-day work week reaches UK telco sector as Yo Telecom embraces less time for same pay January 31, 2022 Telecoms provider Yo Telecom has become the latest company to embrace the UK four-day week pilot, the company said this morning. The announcement comes after video game developers Hutch and MBL Seminars said they would also shave off one day. The UK arm of British camera company Canon, Canon Medical Research Europe, has also expressed [...]
