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 [...]
Coronavirus: UK manufacturing sector suffers worst slump since 2012 April 1, 2020 UK manufacturing output fell at the fastest rate since 2012 in March, survey data showed today, as the coronavirus outbreak broke up supply chains and caused demand to slump. The IHS Markit/Cips purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to a three-month low of 47.8 in March, down from 51.7 in February. A score of below 50 [...]
Taylor Wimpey adds executive pay cuts to coronavirus defence measures April 1, 2020 Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey is ramping up its coronavirus defences by cancelling a planned pay rise and bonus payments for executive management. A two per cent annual salary increase due to come into effect on 1 April 2020 has been cancelled, while bonuses for executives have been cancelled this year. The executive directors have taken a [...]
Coronavirus: Eurozone factory output slumps to 11-year low April 1, 2020 The Eurozone’s factory sector suffered its worst month since the bloc’s economic crisis of 2012 in March as coronavirus shut down swaths of the euro area’s economy. The IHS Markit manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) – a gauge of the health of the sector – slumped to a lower than expected 44.5 in March from [...]
