Uber pushes back against Khan criticisms December 5, 2019 Sadiq Khan has lashed out at Uber by criticising the firm’s response to its London ban, while also shaming the app for allowing a driver to operate after it was found he possessed “obscene photos of a child”. Transport for London (TfL) refused to renew Uber’s licence last month due to a “pattern of failures” [...]
TfL bans hundreds of minicab drivers in crackdown December 5, 2019 Transport for London (TfL) has banned hundreds of minicab drivers on the back of an investigation into schools fraudulently offering licences. It was revealed in November that the transport regulator was investigating Vista Training Solutions in Newham and all other centres offering Business and Technology Education Council (Btec) diplomas that can be used to gain [...]
Society doesn’t need any more unicorns December 5, 2019 In 2016, an American healthtech startup named Theranos completed what would be its final funding round, raising a jaw dropping $700m in investment. Just two years later, the company collapsed after a sensational scandal. The story of Theranos is bizarre. At one point, its paper valuation exceeded $9bn, and when the scandal broke, its founder [...]
Takeaway.com lashes out at Prosus ‘scaremongering’ in battle to buy Just Eat December 3, 2019 Takeaway.com has accused Prosus, the company it is competing against to buy Just Eat, of “scaremongering” to try to persuade shareholders to accept its rival offer. The Dutch food delivery firm has had a £5bn bid accepted for Just Eat but tech group Prosus has come in with a rival 710p per share offer. Read [...]
The woes of the IPO market show the problems with the stock exchange model December 3, 2019 A lot has changed since the early 1600s. For a start, we’ve stopped burning people at the stake for suggesting that the world is round. But some things have remained surprisingly similar over the past 400 years — like the stock exchange. Today, most exchanges remain similar in format to the very first stock market, [...]
General Election 2019: Businesses hit back as Labour ‘names and shames’ UK’s five worst bosses December 2, 2019 Businesses have hit back against Labour’s renewed attack, after the party “named and shamed” some of the biggest firms in the country. Retailers Amazon, Asda and Sports Direct, taxi app Uber and outsourcer ISS have all come under attack from Jeremy Corbyn, as part of Labour’s campaign promise to deliver “the biggest extension of workers’ [...]
Food delivery apps serve up extra £400m in restaurant revenue December 2, 2019 Food delivery apps such as Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats are serving up an extra £400m in revenue for European restaurants, according to a new report. Third-party platforms, that customers can use to order food from a variety of restaurants, have also increased profit across the Europe’s restaurant sector, with venues in London seeing [...]
Bolt is best placed app to take Uber’s London crown, says report December 2, 2019 Bolt is the best-placed ride-hailing app to capitalise from Uber’s failure to secure a new London licence, according to a new study. Figures from market intelligence company SimilarWeb show that the Estonian app has had the largest amount of Android downloads out of Uber’s competitors in the months leading up to the app’s ban last [...]
Tech giants set to spend £25bn on advertising this year December 2, 2019 Eight tech titans including Google, Facebook and Amazon dominate the global advertising industry and will spend £25bn on advertising this year, according to new research. Google parent company Alphabet, Facebook, Amazon, Ebay, Netflix, IAC, Uber and Booking.com spent over £20bn on advertising in 2018, and are set to account for five per cent of global [...]
Private equity firm Cerberus mulls Addison Lee bid December 2, 2019 US private equity firm Cerberus is reportedly among those considering a bid for Addison Lee as the minicab company’s owner tries to secure a quick sale. Read more: Addison Lee lenders ‘circle’ taxi giant as sale effort continues Cerberus Capital Management submitted a bid for the minicab firm ahead of a recent deadline for offers, [...]