DEBATE: Should business be concerned about the planned immigration curbs on low-skilled workers? February 20, 2020 Should business be concerned about the planned immigration curbs on low-skilled workers? Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, says YES. The proposals announced yesterday are overly restrictive and will halt business growth in huge swathes of the economy. They also give very little time for business to adjust and adapt, as the government has said [...]
England have entered a new era and have a good chance of challenging Australia in the Women’s T20 World Cup February 19, 2020 England begin their Women’s Twenty20 World Cup campaign against South Africa on Sunday and it is an exciting time for the side. Many of the faces remain the same but they have a new head coach in charge after Lisa Keightley replaced Mark Robinson in January. Although Keightley is familiar to many, having previously been [...]
Ryanair doubles passenger carbon offset scheme in green push February 19, 2020 Ryanair today announced that passengers would be able to double their voluntary carbon offset contribution from €1 to €2 from April onwards. The increase, which the airline admitted was “modest”, is part of the low-budget carrier’s ongoing sustainability campaign. Three per cent of Ryanair’s passengers currently participate in the voluntary scheme, the funds from which [...]
Football focus helps bring in young customers for Gillette February 19, 2020 Following Gillette’s exploration of toxic masculinity in its successful — if controversial — advert that aired in January last year titled The Best a Man Can Be, the shaving brand has launched a new campaign entitled Made of What Matters. This time around, the brand’s advert, featuring Manchester City and England footballer Raheem Sterling, looks [...]
How RB Leipzig’s business model and recruitment strategy drove the club to the Champions League last-16 and bred hatred February 18, 2020 RB Leipzig’s methods may be controversial, but they are certainly effective. Leipzig are widely considered the most hated club in Germany. Founded in 2009 by Austrian energy drink manufacturer Red Bull as a marketing ploy, the club have been allowed to circumvent the country’s 50+1 ownership rule which stipulates that 50 per cent of the [...]
Klarna and Stripe investor Atomico launches fifth tech fund at $820m February 18, 2020 London venture capital giant Atomico has today revealed the close of its fifth fund, aimed at young European tech startups, at $820m (£630.2m). The investor has previously backed global companies such as Klarna, Stripe and Supercell, as well as British success stories such as Farmdrop, Habito and Graphcore. The closure of Atomico V brings the [...]
The privacy paradox: How we got trapped in a data dystopia February 18, 2020 One of the less encouraging reports to come out of the tech world this month was that Facebook, everyone’s favourite villainous corporation, knew very well about the colossal security flaw that let hackers rob personal data from millions of users long before the breach itself. Facebook employees have said that they felt “guilt” and “hurt” [...]
Think carefully before shaking up the BBC licence fee February 18, 2020 The future of the BBC is in the spotlight once again. The government is running a consultation on the decriminalisation of the licence fee, and there has been plenty of speculation in the press as to whether there could be further changes to the way the BBC is funded or what its remit should be. [...]
City grandee Michael Spencer among losers after collapse of startup Laundrapp February 17, 2020 City grandee Michael Spencer has lost millions after a laundry startup he was a key backer for went into administration on Friday. Laundrapp was sold in a pre-pack administration on Friday after running out of cash. Spencer’s private investment group IPGL was a cornerstone investor in a £4m 2015 funding round in Laundrapp in which [...]
Fighting dirty: The most outrageous US election advertising hit jobs February 17, 2020 Earlier this month, millions of Americans were treated to six identical seconds of election advertising from two opposing political parties. “America demanded change,” booms a Don LaFontaine-esque Hollywood trailer-style voice over. “And change is what we got.” The clip featured first in Donald Trump’s Super Bowl re-election TV ad on 2 February, which touted the President’s [...]