WH Smith high street sales lower than pre-Covid levels after Funky Pigeon hack September 7, 2022 WH Smith has said its high street arm has been impacted by a cyber security issue with its greetings cards business, denting sales. The stationery seller said its high street business was performing in line with expectations. Sales stood at 80 per cent of 2019 revenue for the 26 weeks to 27 August 2022, following [...]
Cabinet reshuffle: Kwasi Kwarteng named chancellor as Truss picks top team September 7, 2022 Liz Truss has made close ally Kwasi Kwarteng her new chancellor as the Prime Minister picks her top team. Therese Coffey has also been appointed health secretary and deputy Prime Minister, while James Cleverly is now foreign secretary and Suella Braverman is home secretary. Jacob Rees-Mogg has also been given a large promotion to business [...]
The price cap freeze: It’s not good, but it’s not the worst September 7, 2022 With the Liz Truss facing a host of bad options, a transparent freeze on the energy price cap might be the least bad of the lot.
City Moves: Who’s switching jobs in the Square Mile? September 7, 2022 City A.M.’s Millie Turner provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every morning. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured. Lombard Odier Investment Managers Lombard Odier Investment Managers has built out its UK wholesale team with a fresh sales director. George Guest, who stepped into the London-based role at the end August, will be responsible for promoting [...]
To do more than simply stay standing, the NHS must return to its first ideas September 7, 2022 Last week, in the wake of the desperately sad passing of TV host Bill Turnbull, BBC Radio 4 dedicated a segment to the importance of prostate cancer screening. “But the NHS can’t cope if every man turns up and demands a test,” said presenter Nick Robinson. This candid, casual reflection highlights a profound deficiency in [...]
How Truss pays for her plan for energy prices is just as important as what she does September 7, 2022 Our new prime minister already has a long list of detractors. Yet something many are failing to take notice of is how well she grasps the fundamental importance of generating economic growth. This is the central issue facing the economy and it will determine how, ultimately, we pay for an intervention in the energy market. [...]
Smoking laws light up the path for a small government September 7, 2022 A Johnson government, with its tendency to lean towards state intervention, and a pandemic, which lead to restrictions not seen for decades, has left the UK in an era where the big hand of Whitehall is the norm. Rolling back the size of the state was put front and centre of Liz Truss’ leadership campaign, [...]
BAE Systems muscles in on satellite space with defence cluster September 7, 2022 British aerospace and defence giant BAE Systems is set to unveil a satellite cluster later today. The cluster, made up of four satellites, will be focused on earth observation, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and be rented out to businesses and allied governments alike. Much like the smartphone, the satellites will be able to download different [...]
Independence is ‘vital’ for effective regulation, say watchdogs September 7, 2022 The UK's top financial regulators have doubled down on their continued independence from political influence today as they warned that pursuing short term growth by "lowering" regulatory standards could threaten financial stability.
Letters: The robots won’t wait September 7, 2022 [Re: Artificial Intelligence: UK’s Supreme Court to rule on letting robots patent inventions, Sept 4] The permission to appeal to the Supreme Court to reconsider the case of whether artificial intelligence (AI) entities should be allowed to be named as inventors on UK patent applications is a clear indication of the public importance of this [...]
