Pingdemic shutdown: No industry untouched by NHS Test and Trace havoc July 16, 2021 Staffing shortages have turned manufacturing, bin collections, retail, transport and healthcare upside down as the NHS Test and Trace app “pinged” more than half a million people into isolation last week. The contact tracing app’s sensitivity is now under review after reports that the app is “pinging wrong” and Brits are being told to self-isolate [...]
EP: 72 Newbury & Curragh July 16, 2021 Newbury takes centre stage in England on Saturday where the 2-year olds battle for a big prize in the Wetherbys Super Sprint over 5 furlongs, whilst the Curragh hosts the Group 1 Irish Oaks for the fillies on the same day. Eve Johnson Houghton runs the exciting Chipotle in the Super Sprint and she joins [...]
Covid unlocking lifts card spending above pre-pandemic levels July 16, 2021 The initial lifting of Covid restrictions in April provided a shot in the arm for card spending in the UK, shows new figures released today. Data from UK Finance reveals the value of card transactions in the UK in April was 11.2 per cent higher than in the same in 2019, before the onset of [...]
Britain is running out of new ideas and it’s killing productivity July 16, 2021 It is no secret that Britain is in a productivity slump. The statistics should be familiar. In the decade before the pandemic, productivity grew at just 0.3 per cent per year. Before the financial crisis, it grew at 2 per cent. That might sound like an abstract or wonkish concern, but it is the difference [...]
‘Stable-coins’: Japan to join race to regulate digital currency July 16, 2021 Japan is gearing up its efforts to regulate digital currencies internationally, according to reports, as other economic powers race to push out their own, ‘more stable’, tech-based currency. It is a sign that the Japanese government, alongside other G7 states, fear that the growing popularity of digital currency could rattle current financial systems beyond repair, [...]
Joe Biden’s executive order smoothing a transition to open-banking should inspire UK competition and innovation July 16, 2021 President Biden won a lot of praise when he issued a slew of consumer-friendly executive orders last week. One of them could have an impact here, an ocean away from the US consumers who’ll feel the direct benefit. The order aims to make it easier for US customers to access and share their banking data. [...]
FTSE pushes higher as City awaits Monday’s reopening July 16, 2021 London’s markets rose this morning as the City geared up for Monday’s loosening of coronavirus restrictions and the unlocking of the rest of the economy. Both the FTSE 100 and mid-cap sibling the FTSE 250 are up 0.4 per cent so far today, pushed higher by a raft of heavyweight stocks. Although energy group DCC [...]
Ireland holds position against global corporate tax deal July 16, 2021 Ireland said it is pushing to keep its lower tax rates, denying a report that the country would abandon its 12.5 per cent rate for the proposed global rate of 15 per cent. The country’s finance minister, Paschal Donohoe, told RTE yesterday he was “committed” to maintaining his country’s low tax rate as it has [...]
Ripple gains upper hand as judge slaps down SEC’s bid to remove ex director from court case July 16, 2021 The Securities and Exchange Commission has failed to have its former director scratched from proceedings, handing Ripple’s lawyers a distinct advantage as the drawn-out court case drags on.
Valhalla! Aston Martin’s 950hp ‘road racer’ revealed July 16, 2021 The 217mph Valhalla is a new kind of Aston Martin: mid-engined, hybrid and utterly exotic. We’re among the first to see it at Silverstone.