Former Sainsbury’s boss warns of imminent price hikes October 12, 2016 The ex-boss of one of the UK's leading supermarkets has warned shops will have to start hiking prices soon in response to the plunging pound. Justin King, who spent a decade as chief executive of Sainsbury's, told a conference on Wednesday it would be impossible for shops to absorb the higher costs of raw materials and imported products without charging [...]
Mobile is the invisible infrastructure that can drive the economy in post-Brexit Britain October 6, 2016 This week’s State of Mobile Networks report served as a timely reminder of the importance that people and businesses across the UK place on mobile connectivity, particularly superfast 4G. But it also acts as a wake-up call to the fact Britain could be left behind in the global digital race and miss out on an [...]
London speeds to the top of 4G mobile ranking October 5, 2016 Londoners are almost twice as likely to get a 4G mobile signal than the rest of the country, a new report suggests. The capital is a long way ahead of other regions, with 70 per cent 4G coverage, compared to just 35 per cent in Wales. This may not be surprising to many, with coverage [...]
Sports and second screens: How stadium designers and broadcasters are dealing with the smartphone revolution October 5, 2016 Pep Guardiola isn't the only figure in elite sports for whom the prevalence of smartphone use has disrupted business as usual The Manchester City manager has cut off 3g and Wi-Fi connection from the club's training complex in order to pull his players' gaze away from screen and back onto the team. Yet for broadcasters, rights holders, club [...]
This is London First’s new chief executive October 3, 2016 London First has today announced former Save the Children International boss Jasmine Whitbread will be joining as its new chief executive. Whitbread, who has also held management positions at Thomson Financial and Rio Tinto and is a non-executive director of BT and Standard Chartered, will succeed Baroness Jo Valentine when she steps down at the end of the year. "Jasmine brings an [...]
The FTSE 100 has hit its highest point since June 2015 October 3, 2016 The FTSE 100 has hit its highest point since June 2015, reaching 6,974 points in morning trading, up 1.09 per cent at time of writing. A weaker pound has helped to edge the UK's benchmark stocks upwards, moving ever closer to that psychologically significant 7,000 mark. Many of the international blue-chips on the index will benefit [...]
Negotiations over the largest pension deficit in the FTSE 100 could be made worse by an Openreach spin-off October 2, 2016 BT's mammoth pension scheme deficit is threatening to derail Ofcom's plans to make its broadband infrastructure arm Openreach more independent from the telecoms giant. A consultation on the future of Openreach is due to close on Tuesday after attracting over 75,000 responses. Investors and analysts are deeply concerned that separating it from BT could cause significant issues for the group when it comes to [...]
City Moves for 30 September 2016 | Who’s switching jobs September 30, 2016 KPMG KPMG has appointed Paul Martin as UK head of retail. Paul will succeed David McCorquodale who has led KPMG’s retail practice in the UK since November 2012 and will be retiring at the end of April 2017 after 32 years with the firm. Paul is managing director of KPMG Boxwood and was formerly managing director of Planet Retail, [...]
BT, TalkTalk, and Vodafone all perform badly in latest set of Ofcom complaints data September 28, 2016 Telecoms watchdog Ofcom has revealed the best and the worst performers when it comes to customer complaints for broadband, landlines, mobile, and pay TV. Complaints figures are presented per 100,000 customers and covers the three-month period from April to June 2016. BT topped the list of broadband complaints, followed by its subsidiary Plusnet, with 26 and 23 respectively. The industry [...]
These are the most complained about broadband, phone and pay TV firms, according to Ofcom September 28, 2016 Telecoms regulator Ofcom has revealed the most complained about broadband, phone and pay TV providers for the three months from April to June. “We expect providers to make customer service and complaints handling top priorities," said Ofcom's consumer group director Lindsey Fussell. "While complaints have gone down, providers must work harder to better serve their [...]