Google snaps up London start up in £400m deal January 28, 2014 GOOGLE has paid £400m to take control of a London-based tech company co-founded by former chess prodigy and neuroscientist Demis Hassabis. DeepMind Technologies, which was set up by Hassabis and colleagues Shane Legg and Mustafa Suleyman in 2011, will work on research and development projects in artificial intelligence, which could one day be used in [...]
Google snaps up London start up in £400m deal January 27, 2014 GOOGLE has paid £400m to take control of a London-based tech company co-founded by former chess prodigy and neuroscientist Demis Hassabis. DeepMind Technologies, which was set up by Hassabis and colleagues Shane Legg and Mustafa Suleyman in 2011, will work on research and development projects in artificial intelligence, which could one day be used in [...]
How telematics is changing the car insurance world forever January 21, 2014 I have two siblings, a younger sister and an even younger brother. My sister is a self-confessed terrible driver who once managed to write off a car in a 20mph collision outside the Post Office in our local market town. My brother, an engineer, works at Jaguar Landrover. So whose insurance quote is higher? You [...]
CNBC Comment: Davos cynics miss its true relevance January 20, 2014 IT’S EASY to be hysterical or snarky about the annual gathering of chief executives, politicians, economists and “thought leaders” at the World Economic Forum in Davos (which begins this week) – particularly if you’re not going. Plenty of conspiracy theorists suspect that the world’s elite is gathering in this small Swiss town to plan the [...]
Hays bullish after increase in UK hires January 19, 2014 Alistair Cox sees plenty of growth to come for British jobs, but skills shortages are a worry AFTER a torrid few years for the jobs market, the boss of the country’s biggest white-collar recruiter is feeling optimistic enough about the growing signs of recovery that he’s even planning to add some staff to his own [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 17 January 2014 January 16, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES EE float put on hold by owners The flotation of EE, Britain’s largest mobile operator, has been put on hold by Orange and Deutsche Telekom, after the joint owners concluded they would secure a higher valuation for the business when its 4G telephone services take off. Orange and Deutsche Telekom – which has [...]
Experian picks chief exec as its new chairman January 16, 2014 EXPERIAN’S chief executive is stepping into the chairman’s role from July, the firm announced yesterday, eight months after hiring headhunters to search for a new chair. The credit checking and data services group said Don Robert will leave the chief exec post to replace Sir John Peace, who said last May that he planned to [...]
Say goodbye to the Bank of England’s first governor as he disappears from the £50 note this April January 16, 2014 Sir John Houblon will be disappearing from the £50 note this April. From then on, you'll only be able to get £50 notes featuring Matthew Boulton and James Watt. The pair were responsible for accelerating the progress of manufacturing steam engines during the 18th and 19th centuries. Their famous Boulton & Watt engines were responsible [...]
Banking competition is already fierce – but technology will intensify it further January 15, 2014 FOR ALL the talk of competition in banking, ask yourself: have you ever felt that there is not a product for you on the market? Or that your choices are constrained? I have a current account with the same bank my family has used for years. But when it comes to my savings, I shamelessly [...]
Michael Page posts rising profits in wake of hiring boom January 14, 2014 Recruiter Michael Page has posted a rise in gross profit of 0.3 per cent for the fourth quarter. The improved results reflect strengthening performances from over half of 34 countries the firm operates in. Gross profit was £125m in the fourth quarter, which was down 1.2 per cent year-on-year in reported rates. Steve Ingham, Chief [...]