Investors should ready themselves for a great wave of innovation February 15, 2021 When I first invested in Facebook more than a decade ago, the business’s extraordinary potential was clear to me even though the full impact of social media had only begun to be realised. I was fortunate to be among the first to invest in some of the world’s most prominent start-ups, including Uber, Spotify, Airbnb, [...]
Treasury Committee calls for economic modelling alongside Covid lockdown roadmap February 15, 2021 Westminster’s Treasury Select Committee has called for the government to release economic and epidemiological modelling on Covid restrictions when Boris Johnson unveils his roadmap out of the lockdown. Committee chair and Tory MP Mel Stride wants chancellor Rishi Sunak to produce the combined modelling, known as epi-macro modelling, to provide businesses the economic and social [...]
UK hits 15m vaccine target by 15 February deadline February 14, 2021 The UK has reached its target of immunising 15m people by 15 February, with Boris Johnson saying the four groups most vulnerable to Covid have all been offered the vaccine in England. The Prime Minister labelled it an “extraordinary feat”. “In England, I can tell you we have now offered jabs to everyone in the [...]
New immune drug may be Covid-19 cure as 90 per cent of treated patients fully recover February 13, 2021 Medics in Israel have been given the go-ahead for a third trial of a relatively new drug after successfully testing the treatment on a number of severely ill Covid-19 patients, of which 90 per cent fully recovered within a week, according to multiple media reports. The drug, Allocetra, aims to slow or halt an extreme [...]
Britain’s billboards are lighting up despite lockdown restrictions February 13, 2021 The billboard industry – also known as out-of-home (OOH) advertising – earlier this month received a welcome shot in the arm comparable to the good news surrounding the UK’s vaccination efforts. The latest expenditure report from the Advertising Association and WARC forecast OOH media channels will recover and expand significantly this year, with digital OOH [...]
The TV shows that kept us sane through lockdown February 12, 2021 As we approach the anniversary of the first lockdown, it’s becoming hard to remember a time when we did anything besides working all day in our pyjamas and settling down for yet another evening of TV. More than ever, the things that we have watched have helped to define and reflect the public mood, either [...]
Screenshot: Should online harms laws take on the hackers and pirates? February 12, 2021 This week **Media Moment of the Week: Ya boi in Hanoi **Who’s taking on the online hackers and pirates? **Will Big Tech finally cough up for news? Media Moment of the Week: Ya boi in Hanoi Tempted as I was to feature *that* cat lawyer this week, I think perhaps, to borrow Michael Gove’s words, [...]
Dame Carolyn Fairbairn joins BAE Systems in non-exec role February 11, 2021 City grandee Dame Carolyn Fairbairn has joined BAE Systems as a non-executive director, the defence giant announced today. Fairbairn, one of the Square Mile’s most high-profile figures, was until last year the director-general of the CBI. She has previously held non-exec roles at the CMA, Lloyds Bank, the FSA, and outsourcer Capita. Prior to that, [...]
Vue chief executive Tim Richards named as new BFI chair February 11, 2021 The founder and chief executive of cinema chain Vue has been named as the new chair of the British Film Institute (BFI). Culture secretary Oliver Dowden today confirmed that Tim Richards will take up the position from next week and serve a term of up to three years. Richards founded Vue in 1999 and has [...]
Publisher Future given bloody nose over executive pay as profit surges February 11, 2021 Publishing group Future has suffered an investor revolt over executive pay, even as the magazine giant shrugged off the pandemic to post a sharp rise in profit. The board of Future, which owns titles such as Four Four Two and Country Life, has pushed through a controversial new pay scheme that could see chief executive [...]