Red tape warriors to the rescue: London’s top compliance staff to save City’s status post-Brexit January 22, 2017 Banking experts have identified an unexpected reason why big banks could keep major operations in London following Brexit – the capital's high numbers of top quality compliance staff. Bosses at HSBC and UBS said last week they could move thousands of staff out of London due to Brexit, triggering worries the UK could lose its [...]
Donald Trump’s business meddling: Crony capitalism to a Tea January 17, 2017 To understand why many large businesses and pro-market US policy wonks are anxious about a Donald Trump presidency, one has to understand the lessons of the Tea Party. No, not the recent grassroots phenomenon caricatured in the UK media. I’m talking about the Boston Tea Party of 1773 – in which American colonists, belonging to [...]
Here are some of the trends from CES 2017 January 12, 2017 If CES 2017 is anything to go by, this will be quite a year for consumer technology. While I didn’t see any brand-new, game-changing products (most of the technology prevalent at the show has existed in one form or another for a few years now), it’s starting to feel like the future we’ve been promised [...]
BMW commits to Mexico plant as Fiat Chrysler says it’s ready to take the lead from President-elect Donald Trump’s new rules January 9, 2017 BMW has committed to plans to build a new $1bn (£814m) plant in Mexico, despite recent comments from President-elect Donald Trump that have spooked other car firms. The German car giant's sales and marketing director, Ian Robertson, said the firm was "absolutely" committed to its plant in San Luis Potosi, where it will make its [...]
The average price of leasing popular cars surges eight per cent in two months thanks to post-Brexit vote inflation January 9, 2017 While the process of Britain leaving the European Union hasn't yet started, the wheels are already in motion for a rise in the cost of cars to consumers. The monthly cost of leasing a basket of some of the more popular car models has risen by an average of eight per cent, from £245.70 to £264.70, [...]
As the CES tech show closes in Las Vegas, what will be the most exciting consumer development in 2017? January 9, 2017 Alex Wood, founder and editor of The Memo, says Amazon's Alexa. Amazon’s Alexa is about to take over the world, in a good way. The home of the future is filled with internet-connected devices but, until now, no one has figured out how we’ll manage all these bleeping and blooping smart machines. In Las Vegas [...]
Donald Trump threatens Toyota with high tax tariff in tweet January 6, 2017 President-elect Donald Trump has hit out at Japanese car manufacturer Toyota, saying that if the firm builds a car factory in Mexico, it will be forced to pay a hefty tax. In a tweet – Trump's preferred method of political communication – the President-elect demanded Toyota build a car factory in the U.S. Toyota Motor said [...]
Here’s our pick of 2017’s best upcoming films January 5, 2017 Blade Runner 2049 Dir. Denis Villeneuve, out late 2017 Set thirty years after the events of Ridley Scott’s seminal science-fiction classic, Blade Runner 2049 stars Ryan Gosling as the wet-behind-the-ears replicant hunter tasked with tracking down a missing Rick Deckard, played by the unknowable force of nature that keeps Harrison Ford’s seemingly immortal body in [...]
Amazon’s Alexa totally infiltrated CES this year January 5, 2017 Amid gimmicky gadgets that may never make it to the shelves (smart whistle, anyone?) Amazon's Alexa artificial intelligence voice assistant has stealthily become the stand out winner of the Consumer Electronics Show. The technology which first appeared in Amazon's own smart home speaker Echo and Echo Dot made surprise appearances almost everywhere, from fridges and cars to robots and baby monitors. [...]
They’ve only Donald done it: Ford bins $1.6bn Mexican factory in favour of smaller US investment January 3, 2017 Ford has binned plans to build a $1.6bn (£1.3bn) car plant in Mexico, choosing a $700m investment in Michigan instead. Chief exec Mark Fields defended the u-turn, saying far from pandering to President-elect Donald Trump's protectionist desires the decision was a "vote of confidence" in the pro-business environment the entrepreneur is creating. "We didn't cut a deal with [...]