The Works: Arts and crafts retailer slashes losses as new strategy unveiled January 24, 2025 High street arts and crafts retailer The Works reported a significant improvement in profitability for the first half of its financial year, as it unveiled a new strategy. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) showed a market improvement, with losses narrowing from £8.5m to £2.8m since the same period last year. Adjusted [...]
‘Consent or pay’ cookie models allowed across UK websites January 23, 2025 The use of “consent or pay” cookie models is now acceptable for UK websites, as long as data protection laws are met, says information watchdog. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has announced that the UK’s top 1,000 websites will be brought into compliance over cookie policies. Under this, it has produced guidance on using ‘consent [...]
Smartphone dominance: Samsung races Apple with new AI launch January 23, 2025 Samsung launched its new artificial intelligence (AI) powered series, marking the latest salvo in its ongoing battle with Apple for dominance in the global market. While Apple continues to hold its commanding lead in the US, with 53 per cent market share compared to Samsung’s 23 per cent; the latter is betting on its AI [...]
Is your Netflix subscription price about to rise? January 22, 2025 Netflix is to increase its prices in several countries after reportedly gaining nearly 19 million subscribers during its last quarter. The streaming giant confirmed price hikes in the US, Canada, Argentina and Portugal. On whether price rises could soon be made in the UK, a Netflix spokesperson said there is “nothing to share as of [...]
President Trump says he’s open to X owner Elon Musk buying Tiktok January 22, 2025 President Donald Trump said he was open to the idea of X-owner Elon Musk buying TikTok as well, as the app navigates attempts to ban it in the US. The social media platform with links to the Chinese government, which boasts over 170m American users, briefly went dark on Sunday after the Supreme Court upheld [...]
Tesla’s brand value plummeted in 2024 as Musk splits opinion January 22, 2025 Tesla‘s brand value plummeted in 2024, paving the way for Toyota to claim the top spot as the global auto market’s most valuable brand. According to research from the consulting firm Brand Finance, the US EV maker’s brand value dropped 26 per cent last year to $43bn (£35bn), the second straight year it has fallen. [...]
UK entrepreneurs have mixed views on Trump agenda January 22, 2025 Two thirds of British entrepreneurs see Donald Trump’s second term in office as “good for business” as it could provide opportunities for expansion and growth, but fears linger of the impact of US trade policy. Helm, a group of 400 UK entrepreneurs with a combined revenue of £8bn, found that while 66 per cent of [...]
Public sector tackles inefficiency with new AI tools January 21, 2025 The government has launched a new digital strategy to modernise public services, using a series of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to fix government inefficiency. The science and technology secretary Peter Kyle announced the initiative following a review which revealed various efficiencies within the government. Daily, HMRC was dealing with over 100,000 phone calls, while DVLA [...]
‘Tone deaf’: Much-hyped AI bot triggers backlash with mock Trump email January 21, 2025 Much-hyped AI startup Boardy faced backlash from users on Monday after a “tone-deaf” email campaign commented on its users’ appearance in the mock tone of Donald Trump. Boardy, a tech start-up which aims to forge connections between professionals, sent a mass email to its customers yesterday imitating the newly inaugurated president. However, users were left [...]
X and Meta: Who’s benefiting from Tiktok’s brief hiatus? January 20, 2025 As Tiktok temporarily went down on Sunday afternoon, rival social media platforms such as X and Meta scrambled to fill the void left by the app’s absence. Several competitors moved quickly to capitalise on its downfall, hoping to attract its 170m US user base by picking up its various features. Before the ban took effect [...]
