The future of UK supermarkets is big data and personalisation May 9, 2018 The proposed merger of two supermarket giants, Asda and Sainsbury’s, has been hailed as one of the new “forces of UK retail”. But in a rush to point out that the combined chain would have nearly a third of the UK supermarket sector, one key factor has been ignored: Amazon. Amazon recently launched its online [...]
Rosenblatt to take aim at litigation funders with £7m war chest and plans for a further fund following today’s London float May 8, 2018 City law firm Rosenblatt confirmed today that it could launch its own stand-alone fund to invest in litigation cases. Speaking to City A.M. the firm’s chief executive Nicola Foulston said: “We are interested in looking to open a separate regulated fund to fund third party litigation.” Rosenblatt floated today on the London Stock Exchange and [...]
Digital Innovators: three life changing companies leading the way in the technology sector May 8, 2018 The way society lives tomorrow is changing today, as companies find new and exciting ways to apply technology to the world’s problems. Consumers can now check their bank account, book a holiday, and buy new furniture using their smartphone during the morning commute. With voice-powered assistants at home, and AI-powered, data-driven tools at work, the [...]
You can find love with Facebook, if you’ll just trade data for dating May 4, 2018 “We have a responsibility to do more, not just to connect the world but to bring the world closer together.” So spoke Mark Zuckerberg in June 2017, announcing Facebook’s new mission statement. Almost a year later, in the midst of an ongoing scandal about privacy and data, you’d be forgiven for questioning whether the social [...]
Wasteful thinking: We meet the man on a mission to tackle the UK’s plastic addiction April 30, 2018 That image of the dead whale calf, possibly poisoned after digesting plastic waste, is now etched in our memories forever. Aired in November, the BBC documentary Blue Planet has opened people’s minds to the consequences of consumerism – the throw-away culture which is destroying the world as we know it. “The message is a tragic [...]
AI could cause a nuclear war by 2040, according to security think tank Rand April 25, 2018 A nuclear war that threatens to wipe out humanity could be brought about by artificial intelligence (AI) as early as 2040, according to security experts. The Rand corporation, a not for profit security think tank based in the US, warned that computers by “mistake or malice” could lead to mankind’s untimely end. It argues in [...]
Tech and Brexit: The challenges and opportunities facing the FTSE 100 April 25, 2018 The challenges that are facing the blue chip businesses forming the FTSE 100 index have been laid bare by a new survey from global legal services firm DWF. The 2018 “City of London: Blueprint for Growth” report contains polling results from 150 c-suite executives from FTSE 100 companies, across a range of business sectors and [...]
London law firms say Brexit will have no significant impact on profitability or employment levels April 24, 2018 More than 90 per cent of London’s 100 largest law firms think that Brexit will have no significant impact on their profitability or staffing levels. Research by real estate business CBRE showed that 98 per cent of firms thought that Brexit would have no significant effect on employment levels while 95 per cent of firms [...]
How is the PR industry adapting to the march of artificial intelligence? April 23, 2018 With the House of Lords having reported in the opportunities and threats posed by artificial intelligence (AI), I have asked what my sector – the PR industry – is doing in anticipation of AI’s rise. Are the machines really coming for our jobs or will AI free us up from our time-consuming tasks so we [...]
What Facebook’s downfall will mean for the future of fintech April 20, 2018 The year began with headlines predicting the entrance of Facebook and Google into the banking market, following the introduction of new Open Banking rules which forced banks and payment companies to share data with third parties if customers agreed. The changes were meant to boost account switching and improve price comparison, but some speculated that [...]