Blockchain is changing finance forever: It will do the same to flawed energy markets March 16, 2017 An innovation imbalance has developed in the energy sector. Consumers can switch on their boiler with a smartphone, yet switching energy suppliers is a complex three week process. New innovations and interfaces have been layered on top of clunky pre-internet systems that make seemingly simple procedures difficult and slow. Blockchain, best known as the technology [...]
Vodafone chooses Britain to launch new jobs as part of multi-billion pound home investment March 13, 2017 Mobile operator Vodafone will today announce the creation of 2,100 jobs in one of the largest single UK employment expansions in recent years. The new roles are part of Vodafone’s ongoing £2bn investment in Britain. Customer service positions will be created in the north of England, the Midlands, Scotland and Wales Read more: Vodafone: Two reasons to [...]
Competition, not price caps, is the solution to lowering Britain’s energy bills March 10, 2017 Recent weeks have seen the cost of energy bills climbing up the news and political agenda, as suppliers large and small have imposed eye-watering hikes to their standard variable tariffs. To date, four of the Big Six (EDF, E.On, Scottish Power and Npower) and several smaller suppliers have announced rises of up to 15 per [...]
BT and Ofcom’s Openreach deal: Here’s how City analysts, competitors and consumer groups reacted March 10, 2017 BT and telecoms regulator Ofcom this morning announced that they'd settled their differences over the future of Openreach, the company that owns the majority of Britain's telecoms infrastructure. It's been a long road for both parties, and it did appear that Ofcom was going to be forced into going to European authorities to force through [...]
All firms should fear the coming consumer protection crackdown March 10, 2017 There are normally a few government reviews that businesses seem to be obsessed with. Recently, this was the government’s industrial strategy; now, it is the Taylor Review into employment practices in the modern economy. But one set to increasingly occupy the minds of businesses this year is the review being conducted on consumer protection – [...]
A former Tory minister is to lead calls for a new cap on energy price increases next week March 9, 2017 A former Conservative minister is to lead cross-party calls for a new intervention into the UK's energy market, demanding fresh restrictions on pricing. Ex-cabinet office minister John Penrose will next week tell the government to create a new “relative price cap” to limit suppliers ability to hike bills. In a backbench debate in the House of Commons on [...]
Newspaper industry calls for “urgent investigation” into Facebook, Google and fake news March 9, 2017 The newspaper industry has today cranked up the pressure of Google and Facebook, calling for an “urgent investigation” into their impact on the media landscape and fake news. The News Media Association (NMA) wants broadcast regulator Ofcom and/ or the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to examine the “Google-Facebook duopoly”. In its submission to a [...]
Budget 2017: Winners and losers of Philip Hammond’s Spring Budget March 8, 2017 Today, chancellor Philip Hammond delivered his first (and last) Spring Budget. Here are the day's winners and losers. Read more: Budget 2017: Philip Hammond's speech in full Winners Tech got quite the showing in Hammond's Budget. The chancellor pledged millions of pounds of fresh funding for disruptive new technologies like robotics, electric cars and biotech along with plans to [...]
Budget 2017: The full text of chancellor Philip Hammond’s speech March 8, 2017 Philip Hammond has delivered his first – and last – Spring Budget. Headline announcements included more cash for social care and punishing new rules for the self-employed – plus some vague comments on business rates. Read more: City A.M.'s TL;DR version of the Spring 2017 Budget Here's what he said: Mr Deputy Speaker, I report [...]
Budget 2017: Local authorities encouraged to tackle city congestion in £690m competition March 8, 2017 In the battle to tackle urban congestion, Philip Hammond will create a £690m competition for local authorities to address the issue and get local transport networks up and moving. He also repeated the £220m announced in the Autumn Statement that will be invested to tackle pinch points on national road networks – this includes £90m to the [...]