Wework aims to be free cash flow positive by 2022 February 11, 2020 Embattled office space provider Wework has said it will become free cash flow positive a year earlier than expected and will post its first ever $1bn revenue quarter this year. The coworking firm said it will be free cash flow positive by 2022, and hopes to achieve free cash flow of more than $1bn by [...]
Marks and Spencer appoints new chief financial officer February 11, 2020 Marks and Spencer has announced the appointment of a new chief financial officer, at a time when the group is trying to revive its fortunes. Eoin Tonge will join from Irish convenience food retailer Greencore in June after his predecessor Humphrey Singer stood down in September last year. Marks and Spencer boss Steve Rowe said: [...]
Amazon seeks to depose Trump in $10bn Pentagon contract battle February 10, 2020 Amazon is seeking to depose Donald Trump and US defence secretary Mark Esper in a legal battle over whether the president was trying to ‘“screw Amazon” in handing a Pentagon cloud computing contract to Microsoft. Amazon Web Services said Trump influenced the decision to give the $10bn (£7.74bn) Joint Enterprise Defence Infrastructure Cloud contract, which [...]
How e-scooters, self-driving cars, and flying taxis will shape the future of your commute February 10, 2020 An air of tranquility hangs about Stratford’s electric scooter riders. Their bodies are still, poised, as they glide by on this crisp February morning. I try to copy them and end up skidding along, struggling to figure out how to position my feet — but after a couple of wobbles I’m gliding too. As I [...]
Sir Charlie Bean: Forget Brexit – the UK productivity crisis is a threat to capitalism February 8, 2020 Brexit has dominated conversations about the UK economy in recent years, just as it has hung over almost everything else. But over the last week or so, the country’s festering productivity crisis has come to the fore, with the Bank of England downgrading its growth predictions and studies describing the worst decade for productivity expansion [...]
UK appoints first female US ambassador February 7, 2020 The government has appointed a new US ambassador after the last person to hold the post quit in the wake of leaked messages about President Donald Trump. Dame Karen Pierce will become the new UK ambassador to the US at a crucial time – with Trump reported to have been “livid” about Prime Minister Boris [...]
New York Times shares hit record high as it adds 1m digital subscribers February 6, 2020 Shares in the New York Times jumped to a 15-year high today after the company said it gained more than 1m digital subscribers in 2019. The newspaper group posted operating profit of $78m (£60m) in the fourth quarter, up from $74.7m in the same period last year. Revenue also ticked up 1.1 per cent over [...]
Brits became less happy amid Brexit deadlock, figures show February 6, 2020 Brits became significantly less satisfied with their lives in the third quarter of 2019 for the first time since official records began, figures showed today, as people became gloomy about their future job prospects. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has measured personal and economic well-being in the UK since 2011 in an effort not [...]
Republicans acquit Donald Trump in impeachment trial February 6, 2020 President Donald Trump was acquitted yesterday in his Senate impeachment trial, saved by fellow Republicans who rallied to protect him nine months before he asks voters in a deeply divided America to give him a second White House term. The businessman-turned-politician, 73, survived only the third presidential impeachment trial in U.S. history – just like [...]
Housebuilder Redrow’s profit falls 15 per cent February 5, 2020 Housebuilder Redrow hailed what it called a “robust” performance in the six months to December, despite posting a 15 per cent fall in profit amid “an uncertain political and economic background”. The figures Redrow revealed profit before tax sank 15 per cent year on year to £157m in the first half of its 2020 financial [...]