Ashtead ‘returns to growth’ with lofty shares up 143 per cent in final quarter June 15, 2021 Equipment rental group Ashtead ‘returns to growth’ with lofty shares in the final quarter after a rocky year, with its total revenue up 23 per cent to £1.27bn. Revenue raked in from rentals alone racked up to around £1bn, up 15 per cent in the three months to 30 April. While operating profits were down [...]
World Wide Web code by London-born Tim Berners-Lee auctioned as NFT June 15, 2021 The World Wide Web’s original source code that was written by its inventor Tim Berners-Lee is up for sale as part of a non-fungible token. With bids beginning at just $1,000 at auctioneers Sotheby’s, the digitally signed Ethereum blockchain non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital asset that records ownership. With the rise of cryptocurrencies, [...]
Ikea France fined €1m for spying scheme and CEO found guilty June 15, 2021 A French court has ordered Ikea to pay a fine of €1m today after the retailer was found guilty of snooping on its staff and storing illegally obtained employee data. The furniture and home furnishing giant became the focus of a criminal probe in 2012, following reports of a widespread spying scheme that was used against employees. [...]
Rare orchids last seen in 2009 found on Nomura bank’s City rooftop garden June 15, 2021 A colony of rare orchids, once thought to be extinct in the UK, have been discovered growing on the rooftop of a Nomura office building in the City of London. The last time the orchids, known as Serapias parviflora, were spotted in the UK was in Cornwall in 2009 and are typically found in the [...]
Refugees in the UK receive entrepreneurship support as part of pilot scheme June 15, 2021 The Home Office, alongside The National Lottery Community Fund, has offered business startup training to 112 refugees in a year-long pilot entrepreneurship-support programme confirmed today. The programme, overseen by the Centre for Entrepreneurs, has funded four local business support organisations which trained up the refugees. The success of the pilot has helped three of the [...]
Data intelligence firm GBG wires £217m in revenue after pandemic tech boom June 15, 2021 Data intelligence and identity validation specialist GBG has reinstated its dividend this year, as it wired in £217.7m in revenue during the pandemic-induced tech boom. With its revenue climbing 9.3 per cent in the year to 31 March, the group reaped the rewards of a pandemic that pushed its customers to use their digital channels [...]
Mean on green: LGIM oust four companies over ‘insufficient’ climate commitments June 15, 2021 One of London’s oldest fund managers Legal & General Investment Management has said today it will exclude four companies from some of its funds over their “insufficient” climate change response. US insurance giant AIG, the most notable of the divested companies, joins Chinese lender Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, US utility company PPL Corporation [...]
More gay and bisexual men to be eligible for blood donations from today June 14, 2021 More gay and bisexual men will be able to donate blood in the UK after new eligibility criteria proposed last year came into force today. The criteria have been launched on World Blood Donor Day, in Pride month, and will mean male donors will no longer be asked if they have had sex with another [...]
London North Eastern Railway tables plans for speedier trains from May 2022 June 14, 2021 London North Eastern Railway (LNER) has tabled plans for more and speedier trains towards Edinburgh, Newcastle and York from May next year. LNER is eyeing next May to bolster the East Coast main line, after the original launch planned for May this year was pushed back due to the pandemic. London King’s Cross is set [...]
Footfall shrinks despite summer sun thanks to post-Bank Holiday blues June 14, 2021 Despite the UK being blessed with summer sun, footfall across all UK retail destinations last week was 18.4 per cent below 2019 levels. Meanwhile, Greater London has been hit by a 19 per cent drop in football, in comparison to highstreets the year before the pandemic, according to retail traffic counter Springboard. But in comparison [...]
