Sadiq Khan’s plan to ‘turbocharge’ London’s economy is wilfully naive March 3, 2025 Sadiq Khan’s London Growth Plan is an admirable and ambitious vision for the capital, but its bold projections should be taken with a pinch of salt, says James Ford When running for his historic third term last year, Sadiq Khan claimed to be the “most pro-business Mayor ever”. Now he is putting his money where [...]
Trump-Starmer: UK may dodge tariffs as work to begin on new US trade deal February 27, 2025 The UK could be set to dodge US tariffs with work to begin on a new US-UK trade deal, it was revealed during Sir Keir Starmer’s visit to US President Donald Trump. The Prime Minister flew to the States yesterday for a highly anticipated first meeting with President Trump since he reentered the White House [...]
Growth plan: Sadiq Khan wants to boost London economy by £100bn February 27, 2025 Sir Sadiq Khan unveiled his plan to “turbocharge” London’s economy, claiming it could boost the capital’s coffers by £107bn by 2035. The mayor unveiled what he’s called the London Growth Plan at Imperial College London’s campus, in a speech to council leaders, businesses and media. Sir Sadiq’s plan for the capital aims to put an [...]
What makes a great corporate mascot? February 27, 2025 As Duolingo retires then resurrects its owl, it’s clear that mascots are serious business, says Charlie Skinner First Duolingo retired its owl, then it brought it back from the dead. Publicity stunt? Well yes. And arguably quite an effective one. What’s for certain, though, is that brand mascots mean serious business. Used for millennia by [...]
WPP eyes AI-driven growth after missing estimates February 27, 2025 WPP has delivered a mixed set of full-year results today. The group reported an unexpected revenue decline despite a slight rise in operating profit. Revenue less pass-through costs dipped by just one per cent on a like-for-like basis, with its fourth quarter down 2.3 per cent due to weak client spending. Headline operating profit reached [...]
Question the hype: AI still faces huge barriers February 27, 2025 AI models have developed at a pace that was unimaginable just two years ago, but there are three big barriers to further progress, says Lewis Z Liu As the current revolution in artificial intelligence accelerates, it is more important than ever for society to engage in a well-informed debate about this technology. Through this column, [...]
Nvidia faces market test post DeepSeek chaos February 26, 2025 Nvidia is set to release its highly anticipated fourth-quarter earnings today at market close in the US, its first financial update since the emergence of China’s DeepSeek model. With expectations running high, investors will be scrutinising the results for any signs of slowing momentum or continued dominance in the AI boom. DeepSeek’s recent boom sent [...]
MPs slam Tiktok, Meta and X over misinformation failures February 26, 2025 MPs were left frustrated after questioning executives from big tech firms TikTok, Meta and X on how platforms handle misinformation and harmful content. The science, innovation and technology committee (SITC)’s evidence session on Tuesday, saw platform representatives struggle to provide clear answers on their content moderation policies. The session formed part of its ongoing inquiry [...]
Half of UK financial firms lack AI strategy, despite feeling ‘AI-ready’ February 26, 2025 There is a significant gap between confidence and action in artificial intelligence (AI) adoption across the UK financial sector, a new report has found. Professional services firm Forvis Mazars‘ report revealed that while all surveyed C-suite executives claim to be “AI-ready”, only 43 per cent of firms have a well-developed AI strategy. Meanwhile, just over [...]
Old tech driving NHS and public sector inefficiencies February 26, 2025 According to a recent report, inefficiencies in manual tech processes are adding an extra 30.6m hours of work every week across the UK’s public sector. New research from Appian found that on average, public sector workers lose five hours a week due to delays and inefficiencies, hindering the 6.12m -strong workforce. A survey of 1,000 [...]