Week in Business: The billionaires backing Britain May 1, 2025 BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Virgin supremo Sir Richard Branson, businessman John Caudwell and JP Morgan top dog Jamie Dimon – quite the quartet – have all made some fascinating interventions this week. Let’s start with BlackRock, the world’s largest investor, running more than $11 trillion on behalf of pension funds, private clients and sovereign wealth [...]
Microsoft shares jump after AI bets pay off May 1, 2025 Microsoft shares surged over six per cent in after hours trading on Wednesday after the tech giant delivered another quarter of better than expected earnings, driven by its booming cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) businesses. The company posted revenue of $70.1bn (£52.5bn) for the quarter ending in March, up 13 per cent year on year, [...]
Tesla denies claims of Musk succession search May 1, 2025 Tesla has denied reports that its board is seeking a replacement for chief executive Elon Musk, after a Wall Street Journal report claimed the company had began a search for its new chief executive, amid mounting concerns on his political entanglements. In a post early Thursday on X, the social media owned by Musk, Tesla [...]
Meta surges on bold AI spend – but tariff risks loom May 1, 2025 Meta platforms delivered strong first quarter earnings after market close on Wednesday, with revenue and profit surpassing Wall Street expectations thanks to continued growth in advertising and an aggressive push into AI. But the firm’s exposure to global trade tensions and regulatory headwinds in its European market present a complicated picture for investors evaluating the [...]
Puma to move UK head office from London to Manchester May 1, 2025 Puma is to relocate its UK head office from London to Manchester after signing up to take space in a new £87m building. The global sportswear brand is to take 20,000 sq ft at 3 Circle Square in the city centre, which is due to open this summer. The head office will become home to [...]
London’s AI surge at risk from skills crunch, Amazon warns April 30, 2025 London businesses are embracing artificial intelligence (AI) faster and more comprehensively than the rest of the UK, but the capital’s acute digital skills shortage risks limiting the broader economic gains from this progress. New research from Amazon Web Services (AWS) revealed exclusively to City AM that 67 per cent of London-based businesses have now adopted [...]
Supply, skills and sustainability: futureproofing procurement for the UK April 30, 2025 UK procurement professionals face a range of challenges in the next few years, from global political and economic uncertainty to recruitment and making the most of technology. Procurement in the UK is changing. The wider environment, with political uncertainty coupled with economic volatility, makes for a challenging landscape. Procurement is increasingly tasked with striking the [...]
FTSE 100 continues longest winning streak since 2017 April 30, 2025 The FTSE 100 is on track for another strong day after 12 days of positive performance, marking its best winning streak since 2017 amid a calming of investor nerves over an erratic US tariff policy. London’s main index has had a positive performance every day since 10 April, and is currently up 0.12 per cent [...]
Can AI replace the boardroom? April 30, 2025 AI is quietly taking over strategic decisions and that’s a mistake. If strategy is going to stay human, then it has to stay messy, says Paul Armstrong Automation used to mean invoices, scheduling and sorting PDFs. Now it means suggesting layoffs, flagging underperforming units, reshaping go-to-market strategy, and proposing M&A targets. AI isn’t just in [...]
Meta launches ChatGPT rival app ahead of key earnings April 29, 2025 Meta platforms debuted its standalone AI app on Tuesday, marking its most direct move yet against OpenAI’s ChatGPT – and doing so just 24 hours ahead of its first earnings report of the year. The app, built on Meta’s llama models, features on AI assistant, image generation, and a ‘discover’ feed to showcase user prompts, [...]