Sadiq Khan urges PM to make face masks compulsory in shops as well as public transport June 18, 2020 Sadiq Khan has urged the government to force people to wear face masks in shops and other confined public spaces. The mayor of London wrote to Prime Minister Boris Johnson this morning, calling for an extension to the rule which requires people to wear face masks on public transport. He said: “With lockdown easing, it’s [...]
Ride hailing app Grab cuts 300 jobs amid coronavirus hit June 16, 2020 Ride hailing company Grab has announced it will lay off more than 300 employees due to the effects of the coronavirus. The company, backed by Softbank, said it would cut about five per cent of its workforce after the ride hailing industry has taken a significant hit from the pandemic. Grab is Southeast Asia’s most [...]
Government faces lawsuit over £108m PPE contract with pest control firm June 15, 2020 The government is facing legal action after awarding an £108m contract for personal protective equipment (PPE) to a pest control company worth just over £19,000. The Good Law Project today filed legal proceedings against the government over its multimillion-pound deal with Pestfix — which has just 16 staff — to provide equipment such as gowns [...]
Softbank triples spending on share buybacks in June to £1.4bn June 15, 2020 Japanese investment giant Softbank has ramped up share buybacks this month, more than tripling its purchases month on month. Filings released today showed Softbank has spent ¥188.3bn (£1.4bn) on buying back shares between 1 June and 15 June, compared to ¥61bn for the entire month of May. The acceleration takes the total amount spent by [...]
Commuters can be fined for not wearing masks, Grant Shapps reveals June 12, 2020 Those using public transport without wearing a face covering can be fined and refused permission to board, transport secretary Grant Shapps said today. Speaking at the government’s daily coronavirus briefing, Shapps said he will be taking steps through the Public Health Act this weekend to ensure powers are in place before the ruling comes into [...]
Uber to make face masks mandatory for all from Monday June 12, 2020 Uber has announced that it will be mandatory for all of its passengers and drivers to wear face masks from 15 June. The measures, which are in line with new public health rules over public transport use, will initially apply to London before a wider rollout across the UK. As part of the initiative, which [...]
Uber must classify drivers as employees, California rules June 11, 2020 Drivers operating on ride-hailing platforms such as Uber and Lyft will now be considered employees, regulators in California said today. Under the state’s gig economy workers law, which was passed six months ago, such companies must pay employees for overtime, health benefits and workers’ compensation. Today the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the ride-hailing sector’s [...]
Just Eat shares pop on $7.3bn deal for Grubhub June 11, 2020 Shares in European fast food giant Just Eat Takeaway are rising as investors take stock of its latest move to buy US rival Grubhub for $7.3bn (£5.8bn). If completed, the all-stock deal would create the world’s largest food delivery provider outside of China. Just Eat’s share price rose 3.4 per cent before midday today, hitting [...]
Just Eat Takeaway confirms ‘advanced talks’ to buy Grubhub June 10, 2020 Delivery giant Just Eat Takeaway today confirmed it is in advanced talks to buy Grubhub, in a bid to establish itself as a major rival to Uber in the US. Netherlands-based Just Eat Takeaway said it is “advanced discussions with Grubhub” for an all stock-purchase of the company. Grubhub, a US food delivery startup with [...]
APIs: the invisible wiring pivotal to digital transformation June 10, 2020 Unless you work in a technology-focused business, or are particularly technology-minded, it’s unlikely that you will have heard of ‘Application Programming Interfaces’ – or APIs. But as companies, and daily life, become increasingly technology-based – a trend accelerated by coronavirus – and APIs themselves evolve, they are becoming more important to business success. For an [...]