Electric vehicle sales set to experience slowest growth since the pandemic January 3, 2026 Electric vehicle sales are set for their slowest annual growth since the pandemic damaged sales in 2020, as demand for the vehicles weaken. First reported by the Financial Times, electric vehicle (EV) sales are expected to reach just 13 per cent to 24m in 2026, down from an estimated 22 per cent increase last year, [...]
The Magnificent 7 in 2025 – and the survival of the richest December 31, 2025 In the spirit of end-of-year round-ups, it is worth scrutinising the fortunes of the so-called Magnificent Seven: Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Nvidia, and Tesla and their dominance of global equity markets, which shows no signs of abating. Yet 2025 was a year that highlighted both the extraordinary influence and the vulnerabilities of these mega-cap [...]
Waymo’s Black Mirror moment raises questions for London launch December 30, 2025 Waymo’s robotaxi fleet hit a high-profile snag last weekend, turning a San Francisco blackout into something out of a tech dystopia. A substation fire left a third of the city without power, traffic lights went dark, and Waymo’s autonomous cars, normally lauded for their ability to handle tricky intersections, stalled in droves. Videos across social [...]
How AI took the wheel in 2025 December 27, 2025 2025 was the year artificial intelligence (AI) took the driver’s seat, literally. Not just in boardrooms or on trading floors, but increasingly on the tarmac, in showrooms, and behind the wheel itself. From record-breaking EV sales in the UK and Europe to autonomous taxis navigating San Francisco streets and preparing to arrive in London next [...]
StretchSense Raises $2.3M to Drive Global Expansion of XR Training Gloves December 19, 2025 Wearables technology firm StretchSense, which specialises in high-tech data capture gloves, has secured its latest external investment, a $2.3 million (£1.75m) round led by PXN Ventures and supported by Scottish Enterprise, as the company aims to drive the global expansion of its extended reality (XR) training glove that enables organisations to immerse staff in simulated [...]
The real meaning of Christmas? Capitalism! December 18, 2025 The message of Christmas – as Dickens and the Muppets knew – is that sharing wealth, rather than hording it brings both prosperity and joy to the world, writes James Price As we approach Christmas, capitalism is wont to come in for some criticism. Several classic Christmas movies, like Miracle on 34th Street and It’s [...]
Why your next marketing crisis is going to be self-inflicted December 16, 2025 Most 2026 plans ignore marketing’s geopolitical exposure, the aggressive monetization of platforms, and the erosion of trust, requiring leaders to shift from chasing reach and automation to strategic discipline, internal alignment, and building direct customer relationships, says Paul Armstrong Most 2026 marketing plans are already built on assumptions that no longer hold, not because the [...]
How Formula 1 is reengineering car branding December 14, 2025 It’s an old adage, but one particularly true for automotive brands, that where you show up as a brand really matters. Staples for car marketing are high-quality environments such as cinema, peak TV, eye-catching billboards and the like. Especially for cars – a category in which long-range priming is key – these quality touchpoints shape [...]
Time to get relaxed about high executive pay December 10, 2025 This week Anglo American walked back on a plan that would have seen its chief executive handed a tasty bonus for the completion of its merger with Teck after investor backlash. Shareholders may have had well-reasoned objections to a scheme that would have dealt boss Duncan Wanblad an award amounting to almost two-thirds of his [...]
How Natwest, Lloyds, Barclays and HSBC fired up the FTSE 100 in 2025 December 9, 2025 If 2025 was supposed to be the year of the AI bubble, nobody told Britain’s banking giants. Amidst the noise of the US tech boom, the UK’s FTSE 100 banking heavyweights, Natwest, Lloyds, Barclays, and HSBC, have staged a formidable, if understated, rally. Lloyds delivered an astonishing 75.8 per cent gain, while Barclays surged 65 [...]