Lloyds job cuts: 9,000 to go in next three years as bank moves towards digital October 22, 2014 Lloyds Banking Group is set to cut 9,000 jobs over the next three years, amounting to a loss of over ten per cent of its workforce. An announcement next week will provide more detail on the cuts, which reflect the British bank's move away from consumer-facing services and towards digital banking. This will [...]
The Silk Road black market in drugs prevented violence and was a “transformative” criminal innovation October 22, 2014 The deep web black marketplace Silk Road, which was shut down last year, prevented violence associated with the illegal drug trade and represented a breakthrough in criminal innovation. So concludes a new study by researchers at the University of Manchester and the University of Montreal. Dubbed the "eBay" of drugs, the site was not, as [...]
British Airways pairs music and menus to make airplane food taste better with Lily Allen, Paolo Nutini and Coldplay playlist October 22, 2014 Foodies and music fans will enjoy British Airways' latest efforts to make the experience of flying a little less painful. After its seven-hour train film to settle sleepless passengers, as well as its “happiness blanket”, comes the “Sound Bite”. That’s the pairing of music with food menus in a way that is designed to improve the [...]
BAE takes flight in cyber security sector with $233m bid for SilverSky October 21, 2014 Defence firm BAE Systems is looking to expand into the cyber security sector with a $232.5m (£144.2m) bid for SilverSky. SilverSky, owned by US company Perimeter Internetworking, is a cloud-based security services provider with 5,500 customers in the financial services, retail, healthcare, energy, critical infrastructure and manufacturing sectors. It is focused mainly on the US [...]
BSkyB snaps up bigger stake in Sky Deutschland October 20, 2014 PAY TV group BSkyB said yesterday it would own at least 69 per cent of Sky Deutschland once the takeover period closes, after more minority investors than expected signed up for the offer. The UK’s dominant pay TV provider agreed in June to pay $9bn for Rupert Murdoch’s 57 per cent stake in Sky Deutschland [...]
FTSE 100 falls again as price slump hits oil sector – London Report October 20, 2014 Britain’s top equity index resumed its fall yesterday, giving back half the gains made in the previous session, as investors reckoned with reduced earnings expectations for oil companies after a slump in oil prices. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed down 43.22 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 6,267.07 points, after rising 114 points on [...]
NFL chiefs open to establishing a London team October 20, 2014 NFL executives have confirmed they plan to consider establishing a London franchise, though they insist that they are in no hurry to make the long-mooted proposal a reality. American football has never had greater presence in Britain, with Wembley set to host the second of three sold out regular-season games this year on Sunday when [...]
In pictures: Firefighters investigate fire at Didcot B power station October 20, 2014 Firefighters say they're investigating a massive blaze at the gas-fired Didcot B power station in Oxfordshire, which broke out last night. The fire started in one of the station's cooling towers at about 8pm, with 25 fire engines and 100 firefighters tackling it at its height. One of the station's two "modules", which between them [...]
Tesco’s profits overstatement might be less than it thought October 18, 2014 Did Tesco overestimate its overestimate? The supermarket last month claimed to have discovered a profits black hole of £250m, but now it looks like that figure could be less than originally thought. Sources have told Sky News that the grocer is likely to tell the City it had a shortfall of between £200m and £250m [...]
Digital services send BSkyB’s profits soaring October 16, 2014 PAY TV broadcaster BSkyB reported a solid start to its financial year yesterday as revenues, profits and subscribers rose in the first quarter, prompted by sales of add-ons such as Sky Go. Sky increased its revenue by six per cent to £1.9bn for the three months to 30 September, with adjusted profit up nearly 13 [...]