Car prices have surged five per cent since the Brexit vote – with large SUVs up 12.3 per cent February 14, 2017 Average new car prices have risen 5.2 per cent since the Brexit vote on 23 June last year, according to industry research. What Car? magazine said the price changes have cost the consumer nearly £2bn in just seven months, after a "perfect storm of rising inflation and the car industry's efforts to increase dealer profitability". [...]
Golf GTI 2017 review: The grand daddy of hot hatches is back, baby February 13, 2017 Manual gearbox. Tartan seats. Bright red paint. It could be the summer of ’76, with me at the wheel of Volkswagen’s brand new Golf GTI. Instead, it’s 2017 and I’m driving a revised version of the seventh-generation Golf GTI. While the GTI was once the hot hatch of choice for yuppies, fashionable mums and even [...]
Ford gears up for a major AI investment to boost its self-driving car offerings February 11, 2017 Ford is spending big to up its game in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector. The US carmaker said it will invest $1bn (£800m) over the next five years in Argo AI, an AI software and robotics technology startup, to support its autonomous vehicle development. Pittsburgh-based Argo AI, which was founded by former Google and Uber leaders, will work to develop a [...]
Focus On Victoria: A £4bn investment in housing, retail and infrastructure is making it a destination in its own right February 10, 2017 If the Queen’s getting a £369m refurbishment of Buckingham Palace, it seems only fair that the neighbourhood surrounding it should get a polish, too. £4bn should just about cover it, and that’s how much has been invested in the area by developer Land Securities over the last five years. Around £700bn of that has gone [...]
Tom Wood injury presents question of inexperienced England back-row for Six Nations clash with Wales February 7, 2017 England could be forced into fielding a rookie back-row during their Six Nations showdown with Wales after flanker Tom Wood missed training on Tuesday due to the shoulder injury he suffered against France. Wood was last night retained in a 24-man squad for the clash at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Saturday despite having his arm in a [...]
Investing in automation: If robots are coming for your job, how can you make money out of it? February 7, 2017 "Robots are coming to take our jobs,” scream the headlines. The debate around automation has become alarmingly dichotomous – either your job requires skills which are resistant to computers and machines, or you’re destined for the scrap heap. The reality is probably more nuanced. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, it is unlikely that specific jobs [...]
Why England players will have shuddered at Eddie Jones’s assessment of the France win February 6, 2017 As bruised England players pored over the Sunday papers while tackling a breakfast of serving bowls of cereal and kilos of back bacon, they would have been unnerved digesting Eddie Jones’s post-match remarks. The head coach blamed himself for the dull performance in England’s narrow 19-16 win over France on Saturday, saying that he didn't [...]
Winning streak is giving England the confidence to be calm under extreme pressure, insists fly-half George Ford February 6, 2017 Fly-half George Ford insists that England’s record-breaking winning streak has infused the players with a sense of clarity during the most challenging moments of matches. England set a national record of 15 successive victories on Saturday when they began the defence of their Six Nations crown with a 19-16 triumph over rivals France at Twickenham. [...]
Estee Lauder’s share price climbs as it grows sales February 2, 2017 Beauty group Estee Lauder Companies' share price climbed four per cent as it reported strong sales in its second quarter results. The figures The company – which owns brands such as MAC, Clinique and Bobbi Brown – reported net sales of $3.21bn (£2.56bn) for the quarter ending 31 December, up three per cent as compared to the [...]
Bosses should speak out on political events February 1, 2017 Business and their top executives are understandably nervous about jumping into political storms. Speaking out during times of unrest holds many risks. People disagreeing with your view are quick to encourage boycotts on social media, while an army of risk-averse corporate PR men and women will warn their bosses of potential harm to a company’s [...]