New car hire app Virtuo sidesteps all the usual pains of London car rentals August 30, 2018 By far the least entertaining part of renting a car is having to stand around inside a hermetically sealed fartbox of a portacabin on the edge of some rainy industrial estate, before a 17-year-old in an oversized suit throws you the keys to an old banger that you suspect was built in East Germany. Recently [...]
London mayor Sadiq Khan should park the cap on taxis – it’s actually TfL licensing that is clogging up our roads August 24, 2018 Congestion is snarling up London, and Sadiq Khan is right to be worried. Traffic speeds are now well into horse and cart territory. In the morning peak, passengers on the route 15 bus between Tower Hill and Charing Cross are now down to crawling along at an average of 4.2mph. The number of private hire [...]
Tesla short-sellers have the last laugh August 19, 2018 Tesla short-sellers have made a bumper $1.2bn (£940m) paper profit since the car company’s colourful chief executive Elon Musk said he is considering taking the business private. Despite making some initial gains in the immediate aftermath of Musk’s tweet on 7 August, in which he declared that funding for the move had been secured, the [...]
Countrywide of the mark as pay rebellion looms August 16, 2018 Beleaguered estate agent Countrywide could be the victim of its second shareholder rebellion in two months amid a bitter row over executive pay. Under-fire chairman Peter Long is facing the wrath of City institutions who are understood to be planning a revolt over a new incentive scheme, according to reports in Sky News. In a [...]
Last Week in the City: Trade fears re-emerge August 3, 2018 Garry White, chief investment commentator, looks at the market-moving events that have shaped the UK equity markets this week (30 July to 3 August 2018). Interest rates were raised in the UK for the second time since the financial crisis, but the move was widely expected. The earnings season continued. Growth in all regions was [...]
Mission Impossible: Fallout review: The stupidly fun sequel takes the franchise to brilliant new heights July 26, 2018 Whatever Scientology-grade embalming fluid they’re submerging Tom Cruise in every evening, it’s doing the trick. In the sixth and best entry in the Mission Impossible franchise, Hollywood’s most successful stuntman once again defies his advancing years, charging headlong into some of the series’ most beautifully constructed and brilliant set pieces yet. Cruise hurls himself [...]
Firms cough up as much as £100,000 and perks to keep EU workers after Brexit | City A.M. July 25, 2018 British firms are coughing up as much as £100,000 in pay rises, bonuses and even school fees to keep hold of top EU workers, a new study suggests. According to a survey of 1,000 HR directors conducted by law firm Migrate UK, six in 10 companies have paid additional incentives since the Brexit vote to [...]
Motor insurers vote to share risk for terrorism following 2017 London car and van attacks in Westminster, London Bridge and Finsbury Park | City A.M. July 23, 2018 Motor insurers have today confirmed plans to pool risk for terrorist attacks involving vehicles after London was hit with three fatal incidents in 2017. Members of the Motor Insurance Bureau (MIB), which is an industry body that acts to compensate the victims of uninsured drivers, have voted to place responsibility for compensating victims of vehicle-related [...]
New Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) chair Charles Randell warns of danger of big data ‘algogracy’ July 11, 2018 The new chair of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Charles Randell today warned of the danger of a new “algocracy” as new technology threatens to harm consumers of financial services. Randell suggested that the concurrent rise of “big data”, artificial intelligence and machine learning, along with behavioural science insights, could require a new regulatory framework. [...]
Google’s Waze teams up with Allianz to bring in-app roadside assistance to Londoners July 3, 2018 Google-owned and developed traffic maps app Waze has partnered up with insurance firm Allianz to offer emergency roadside assistance to its European users at the touch of a button. Available 24/7, Waze users will be able to click on the SOS button for roadside help inside the app in the event of a breakdown, flat [...]