London ad campaign could be a sign of things to come July 8, 2020 How do we begin again when we’ve lost so much? Ronel Lehmann has a pertinent example ‘It’ll be just like starting over,’ John Lennon once sang. I’ve been humming that song this week, as beginning again is precisely what we’re all doing now. Nothing in the song – or in the news over the past [...]
Farewill raises £20m from Matches Fashion backer Highland Europe July 8, 2020 Will-writing tech startup Farewill has today closed a £20m investment led by Highland Europe, tripling its funding to date. New backers Keen Venture Partners, Headspace chief executive Rich Pierson, Broadhaven Ventures, and Venture Founders also participated. They joined previous investors, including London-listed fund Augmentum Fintech, Transferwise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus and Kindred Capital. Farewill, which is [...]
WFH: Is it the death knell for offices? July 7, 2020 Some real estate investors believe the successful working from home experiment during this crisis will lead to a long-term decline in demand for offices. We think this is premature. One of the more mundane aspects of the coronavirus has been the sudden evacuation of offices and mass adoption of home working. In the US it [...]
Transferwise to hit $5bn valuation in secondary share sale July 6, 2020 British fintech stalwart Transferwise is to secure a $5bn valuation on the close of a secondary share sale this week, cementing its place in the sector’s upper echelon of tech companies. Transferwise is close to finalising the $300m sale, which will allow staff and early investors to offload part of their stakes, people close to [...]
US sanctions could impact Huawei reliability, says tech minister July 6, 2020 Ongoing US sanctions against Huawei could significantly affect the Chinese tech firm’s reliability as a supplier to other countries, culture secretary Oliver Dowden has said. Measures announced by Washington last month prevent Huawei from working with US companies to source parts for its telecoms equipment, which is installed in the UK’s 5G networks. The UK [...]
UK coronavirus death toll rises by 22 July 5, 2020 A further 22 people have died in the UK after contracting coronavirus, taking the total number of deaths to 44,220. The increase, announced today by the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), includes the number of people who have died after testing positive for Covid-19 in hospitals, care homes and the wider community as [...]
Johnson prepares to scrap Huawei from UK 5G network July 5, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to draw up plans this month to start phasing out Huawei from the UK’s 5G infrastructure in a major U-turn following pressure from security agencies. A security review from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a branch of GCHQ, is understood to have revised assurances that risks posed by [...]
Former MI6 chief amps up fears coronavirus came from Wuhan lab July 5, 2020 The former head of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) has fanned fears that the coronavirus pandemic is the result of a Chinese lab leak, after scientists raised fresh questions over the outbreak of Covid-19. Sir Richard Dearlove, who served as chief of MI6 from 1999 to 2004, departed from the prevailing theory that the [...]
Matt Hancock praises behaviour of ‘vast majority’ on ‘super Saturday’ July 5, 2020 Health secretary Matt Hancock has lauded the behaviour of the “vast majority” of people in England who went out to celebrate the reopening of pubs and restaurants yesterday. Scenes of city centres busy with revellers were captured across England yesterday in what was widely dubbed as “super Saturday”. Concerns were raised by some that social [...]
Intu boss quits after landlord falls into administration July 3, 2020 The boss of Intu has stepped down a week after the UK’s biggest shopping centre owner went into administration having failed to agree a last minute deal with lenders. Administrator KPMG told staff that Matthew Roberts, who took over the top job last year after nine years as the firm’s finance chief, had quit, Sky [...]