Artificial intelligence could lead to huge rewards, but we must break down the barriers to AI adoption February 22, 2019 Data, both the business and personal kind, is fast becoming an essential utility like transport, energy, and water. It is critical to the efficient functioning of modern life, and I honestly do not believe that we could do without it. How we live, administer, manufacture, invest, plan, research, sell, buy, deliver, and even connect with [...]
UK household sentiment falls to 11-month low on slowing economy and Brexit fears February 18, 2019 UK household sentiment has hit an 11-month low as job fears grow on mounting Brexit uncertainty. IHS Markit’s household finance index (HFI) – based on consumer’s financial wellbeing – has dropped to its lowest level since March 2018. Read more: Bank of England slashes UK growth forecast The survey also revealed that job security perceptions [...]
DEBATE: Should the government be intervening to help struggling high streets? February 18, 2019 Should the government be intervening to help struggling high streets? Rupert Pick, co-founder of Hot Pickle, says YES. There’s more to the high street than just shopping. It’s about belonging, human interaction, community. And in a muddled, pre-Brexit, polarised, insular environment, we need vibrant public places more than ever for people to congregate. Yet, in the [...]
Saving into a Junior Isa is a great way for new parents to invest in their children’s future February 14, 2019 Think back to when you turned 18 years old. What would you have done if, on that birthday, you were handed £40,000? Would you have splurged it all on travelling the world during a gap year, or would you have been prudent and put it towards a housing deposit? You could have used it to [...]
Quit nostalgic navel-gazing and get excited for the future February 11, 2019 The thing about the 1970s – if you lived through them – is that they were for the most part dull and dour years, devoid of political and economic energy. And as for the fashion, don’t even go there. Yet there seems to be no shortage of fresh-faced tweets proclaiming those years to be something [...]
Out of the frying pan, Inter-the fire: Will Interserve’s rescue deal go up in flames? February 10, 2019 Despite taking two months to thrash out a rescue deal, debt-stricken outsourcer Interserve’s future remains precarious. Where does it go from here? For the last eight weeks, suppliers and investors alike have held their breath, as chiefs at troubled outsourcer Interserve thrashed out a rescue deal with the firm’s lenders. The negotiations were a last-ditch [...]
The Beatles’ last message from Savile Row is being echoed by today’s bespoke tailors January 30, 2019 Exactly 50 years ago today the Beatles sang together for the final time. On the rooftop of the Apple offices at 3 Savile Row, they set up a surprise live concert that lasted 42 minutes before the police intervened. After one last rendition of “Get Back”, the band called it a day, bowing out of [...]
Brexit shows it’s time for an economic shake-up from the Tories January 28, 2019 The Brexit weather forecast remains distinctly foggy in all areas as we enter yet another crucial week in Westminster. Will we ever see daylight and opportunity out of this sickening political morass? As I said to the BBC Question Time audience last week, I think this parliament ranks as the most dismal in living memory. [...]
Brexit deal live: UK would vote to remain in EU in a second referendum January 17, 2019 Hello and welcome to our Brexit vote live blog. Stay tuned for reaction to Labour's no confidence vote yesterday, after Theresa May's Brexit deal slumped to a historic defeat in parliament on Tuesday night. Please manually refresh this page for the latest updates What you need to know: The Prime Minister’s deal was defeated by [...]
Yet more sugar-taxes will leave consumers with a bitter taste January 7, 2019 It's been claimed that Brexit has taken up so much political energy that the government has lost its focus on other areas of policy. But fear not – the slack is being taken up by an army of bureaucrats and campaigners who seek to exert ever more control over our lives. With relentless energy the [...]