The Notebook: Ian Whittaker is sceptical about AI – plus his take on the Telegraph takeover June 13, 2023 The Notebook is a column where interesting people say interesting things. Today, it’s Ian Whittaker, media analyst and founder of Liberty Sky Advisors Is AI’s biggest benefit its use as a buzzword? BT announced last month it is cutting up to 55,000 jobs as it restructures and stream lines its business. What particularly caught the [...]
BT boss Jansen bags £1.8m bonus as group plans to slash workforce June 8, 2023 BT has revealed its boss took home a £1.8m bonus last year as the telecoms giant plans to shed up to 55,000 jobs by the end of the decade. Philip Jansen, the group’s chief executive, secured the annual bonus despite the firm’s sweeping cost-cutting plans raising the alarm among unions. He bagged the £1.8m in [...]
FTSE 100 close: Markets close lower as housebuilders weigh on index June 7, 2023 Strong morning bumps for Primark-owner Associated British Foods and BT were offset by a slump for housebuilders today as the FTSE 100 closed marginally lower. A slump in trading for housebuilders kept movement on London’s flagship index subdued, with the index closing lower. Housebuilders were down after figures from Halifax showed a first annual fall [...]
How a telecoms exec, a Rugby World Cup winner and a host of chemists are plotting a quiet tech revolution May 26, 2023 On a non-descript industrial estate on the outskirts of Cambridge, a former telecoms executive, a Rugby World Cup winner and some disarmingly intelligent chemists are plotting a revolution that could change the shape of global politics. If that sounds overwrought, consider the phone in your pocket. The metals that make up that extraordinary piece of [...]
The Notebook: Talking down the City? Not a bit of it in this newspaper May 25, 2023 One of the delights of this job is the ability to sit down with people from across the Square Mile and ask them very simple questions. One of the perennials is “what keeps you up at night?” The CEOs you’d really want to work for say “people”. That one who said “the fact we’re going [...]
BT gets thumbs up from Ofcom to roll out new wholesale broadband pricing May 24, 2023 BT has been given the all-clear to roll out its discounted wholesale full-fibre offer to broadband providers after the telecoms watchdog found the proposals were not anti-competitive. BT’s network arm Openreach, which runs the UK’s only national broadband network, put forward plans for a pricing deal that would give lower prices to wholesale customers, such [...]
Altice ups stake in BT – but ‘does not intend’ to launch takeover bid May 23, 2023 Altice, the French telecoms firm, will up its stake in BT to 24.5 per cent, but it “does not intend” to make a takeover bid. The group owned by billionaire Patrick Drahi is BT’s largest shareholder, and said that it will acquire a further 650m shares, increasing its ownership to 2.5bn. It comes just a [...]
FTSE 100 close: BT and Burberry slump to bottom of London index as easyJet regains ground May 18, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 kicked higher this today, driven by retailers offsetting a sharp sell off in BT shares after it said it will shed 55,000 workers over the next decade. The capital’s premier index jumped 0.25 per cent to 7,742.29 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health [...]
BT share price tumbles as firm announces tens of thousands job cuts May 18, 2023 BT has announced plans to slash its workforce by as much as 42 per cent over the next seven years in a bid to slash costs and become a “leaner business”.
O’Driscoll: Champions Cup double with La Rochelle can make O’Gara as coach May 17, 2023 A La Rochelle victory in the Champions Cup final would be the greatest moment in Ronan O’Gara’s coaching career, says his former Ireland teammate Brian O’Driscoll. O’Gara’s stock has risen monumentally since he took his first role as assistant coach at Parisian side Racing 92 a decade ago. After five years in the French capital, [...]