Tory chair: Matt Hancock hurt Conservatives in Batley and Spen by-election July 2, 2021 The Conservative party co-chair has said Matt Hancock’s resignation came up on the doorstep in the Batley and Spen by-election and likely cost them votes. Amanda Milling said there were a “whole load of issues that affected our campaign” and that Hancock “was something that came up on the doorstep, I have to be honest about [...]
Screenshot: Who will win the summer TV ratings war? July 2, 2021 This week **Media Moment of the Week: Rob Beckett’s Wembley wisdom **Who will win the summer TV ratings war? **Kantar’s boardroom carousel Media Moment of the Week: Rob Beckett’s Wembley wisdom We all had a great time on Tuesday, didn’t we, but arguably no one had a better time than Rob Beckett. Fortunately, the comedian [...]
Alibaba founders pledge company stock to secure bank loans July 2, 2021 Chinese tycoons Jack Ma and Joe Tsai have pledged part of their combined $35bn (£25bn) stake in Alibaba in exchange for large loans from investment banks. The share pledges, which were made to lenders including UBS, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs, were made by offshore companies that control half of the two billionaire’s stake in [...]
Kim Leadbeater wins Batley and Spen for Labour in by-election nail-biter July 2, 2021 Kim Leadbeater wins Batley and Spen for Labour in by-election nail-biter
How El Salvador is providing a glimpse into what mass adoption might look like July 2, 2021 Luke Stokes, MD of the Foundation for Interwallet Operability, discusses his recent visit to El Salvador and discovers how close we are to the prospect mass adoption of cryptocurrency.
On the prowl for a new global goal for nature: will the UN pounce on “nature positive by 2030”? July 2, 2021 20 years ago I gave a talk to a group of investors about why it was important to think about issues beyond profit in investment decisions. I gave an example of an oil spill. I showed them pictures of environmental damage, of polluted waterways, habitat destruction and oil-soaked birds. My talk bombed – they weren’t [...]
Former competition chief urges government to speed up CMA overhaul July 2, 2021 The former chairman of the UK’s competition watchdog has called on the government to speed up an overhaul of the organisation. Lord Andrew Tyrie, who chaired the Competition and Markets Authority from 2018 to 2020, warned that the organisation’s effectiveness will be eroded unless it is urgently reformed, in a report published today. Speaking to [...]
Richard Branson set to beat Jeff Bezos in space race July 2, 2021 Sir Richard Branson is aiming to beat billionaire rival Jeff Bezos into space by just nine days after setting a launch date for his Virgin Galactic rocket ship. The entrepreneur plans to join as a passenger on VSS Unity as early as 11 July, subject to weather and technical checks. The journey to the edge [...]
Defence firm Qinetiq taps new chief financial officer July 2, 2021 Defence and security group Qinetiq has tapped a new chief financial officer following the departure of incumbent finance chief David Smith. Smith, who joined Qinetiq in 2017, will step down from the role and his position on the board on 30 November. He will be replaced by Carol Borg, currently chief financial officer of solar [...]
Financial services have an incredible power to improve social mobility – but it’s been left behind in ‘levelling up’ July 2, 2021 Levelling up has become the watchword for Boris Johnson’s political agenda. It has been used as an umbrella term for investment across the country where growth has traditionally been slower than that in the South East and London. Its focus, however, has overwhelmingly been for sectors such as manufacturing. We have seen dozens of pictures [...]
