2020 Edinburgh Festivals cancelled due to coronavirus April 1, 2020 The 2020 Edinburgh Festivals have been cancelled due to the coronavirus updates, organisers confirmed today. The Edinburgh Art Festival, the Festival Fringe, Book Festival, International Festival and Military Tattoo — all set to take place in August — have become the latest cultural events to fall victim to the pandemic. The five events together comprise [...]
Morrisons wins legal case over data breach liability April 1, 2020 The UK’s highest court has ruled that Morrisons is not legally liable for the actions of a disgruntled former employee who leaked the data of more than 100,000 workers. Supreme Court judge Lord Reed ruled this morning that the supermarket was not vicariously liable for the conduct of Andrew Skelton, who was jailed in 2015 [...]
Coronavirus: UK bank shares take a hit after dividend suspension April 1, 2020 Investors have pummelled UK banks today, sending the FTSE 350 banks index tumbling after lenders suspended dividend payments amid the coronavirus crisis. Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Chartered and Santander all halted payouts yesterday following pressure from the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). Traders have today responded by selling the [...]
UK taking too long to administer coronavirus tests, minister admits April 1, 2020 A cabinet secretary has admitted that it may be taking too long too long for the UK to reach its coronavirus testing targets amidst anger at the lack of progress. The government missed its target of testing 10,000 people per day last week and has fallen well behind other OECD countries, such as Germany who [...]
O2 cuts ties with Carphone Warehouse as retailer plots store closures April 1, 2020 O2 has cut commercial ties with Carphone Warehouse after the mobile operator refused to accept revamped terms for their partnership. The tie-up, which has been in place for two decades, saw Carphone Warehouse take a commission for its sales of O2 phone contracts in store and online. But the longstanding relationship came to an end [...]
UK newspapers to lose £50m as advertisers ‘blacklist’ coronavirus April 1, 2020 UK newspapers are set to lose as much as £50m in online advertising revenue as brands use so-called blacklists to prevent their ads appearing next to stories about coronavirus. Advertisers use blacklists to automatically block their digital campaigns from running next to any articles that feature undesirable keywords — such as ‘bomb’ or ‘crash’ — [...]
Beware the corona crisis power grabs April 1, 2020 IN THE midst of the financial crisis of 2008, Rahm Emanuel, soon-to-be chief of staff for US President-Elect Barack Obama, famously announced that “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.” Emanuel was [...]
Zoom under scrutiny as popularity skyrockets during coronavirus crisis April 1, 2020 Videoconferencing app Zoom is facing fresh scrutiny over its security as its popularity skyrockets during the coronavirus pandemic. New York Attorney General Letitia James reportedly wrote to Zoom raising concerns over its ability to cope with the sharp increase in users. The app is being used by millions of people for work calls and socialising [...]
BP to take a $1bn writedown due to oil price collapse April 1, 2020 BP expects to take a write down of up to $1bn for the first quarter of 2020 as the oil giant feels the strain of the recent oil price collapse. Across the whole year, the firm will reduce spending by 20 per cent and also halve investment in its shale oil business. In a statement, [...]
English winemaker Chapel Down toasts surge in sales due to coronavirus lockdown April 1, 2020 British beer and wine producer Chapel Down has toasted a surge in supermarket sales as consumers stock up during the coronavirus lockdown. Supermarket and off licence sales have grown “substantially” and online transactions have also increased after the government ordered all pubs, theatres and hospitality venues to close in a bid to stop the spread [...]
