Commercial radio listening dips despite rise of smart speakers February 6, 2020 Commercial radio stations suffered a decline in audience numbers in the fourth quarter, despite a surge in listening through smart speakers. A total of 35.1m people tuned in to UK commercial radio each week, down from 35.9m in the previous three months, according to the latest figures from industry body Rajar. The sector also lost [...]
Spotify boosts subscribers amid surge in podcast listening February 5, 2020 Spotify today reported a sharp growth in subscriber numbers as the music streaming giant cashed in on its recent investment in podcasts. The Swedish firm boosted its monthly active users to 271m in the four quarter, up 31 per cent year on year, with paid subscribers up 29 per cent to 124m. Total revenue for [...]
Facial recognition tech powered by AI poses a threat to society October 24, 2019 Facial recognition software feels like it has stepped out of the realms of science fiction and into reality. Thanks to massive developments in artificial intelligence (AI), cameras and surveillance systems can now check and analyse someone’s facial features in real time. This is a profound step forward in the realms of biometric security, and major [...]
Why Legal & General is trying to slay the chair and CEO role February 4, 2020 Blackrock’s Larry Fink is a big fan of using shareholder muscle to influence corporate culture. From climate change to “profit with purpose” he’s vowed to exercise his fund’s substantial clout in pursuit of “sound corporate governance” and “an unwavering focus on long-term sustainability”. Fink’s eyebrows may have risen a little, then, upon discovering that fellow [...]
For young Londoners, working from home is a cramped and dismal experience August 5, 2020 Ah the great British work from home experiment: levelling the playing field, redressing work-life balance, enabling millions of people to work when and where best suits them. After a brief period of chaos at the end of March when the nation struggled to get to grips with Zoom and Amazon sold out of laptop stands, [...]
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 [...]
London investor Tej Kohli on chasing the ‘second wave’ of CRISPR-Cas9 April 13, 2021 “The only thing worse than losing money on an investment is having to watch the value of something that you didn’t back grow beyond all expectations” says London-based technologist and investor Tej Kohli. Kohli is talking into a laptop with the team of experts that he has assembled to spearhead a new initiative for his [...]
Zoopla founder raises £25m for used car startup Cazoo September 1, 2019 A company planning Amazon-style home delivery for cars has won a further £25m in backing ahead of its launch later this year. Cazoo, the brainchild of Zoopla founder Alex Chesterman, got investments from DMG Ventures, Stride VC, Octopus Ventures and Entree Capital. Read more: Zoopla founder Alex Chesterman drives away with £30m funding for used [...]
Markets live: FTSE 100 tumbles as US GDP blow hits Wall Street July 30, 2020 The FTSE 100 slumped below the 6,000 mark after data showed the US economy suffered its biggest contraction on record amid the coronavirus pandemic and banks’ second-half results disappointed investors. The UK’s blue-chip index slid 2.9 per cent to 5,951 points in afternoon trading. The FTSE 250, comprised of slightly smaller firms, fell 1.8 per [...]
Tech giants are winning the war for talent, Glassdoor finds September 5, 2019 Tech giants dominate the rankings of the UK’s most popular employers as finance firms fall behind in the race to win top talent, according to a report published today. Read more: Tech founders warn UK at risk of losing global fintech crown Amazon topped the list of the 15 most sought-after companies over the last [...]