What Apple’s co-founder Steve Wozniak really thinks about the Apple Watch, driverless cars and Tim Cook March 17, 2016 Apple's co-founder is not such a fan of the Apple Watch, it turns out. While he loves it as a customer, Steve Wozniak has revealed he's not such a huge fan of the wearable from a business point of view. In a Reddit AMA (that's ask me anything), he said he was worried about the market Apple [...]
Homebase to be rebranded Bunnings after Wesfarmers completes £340m acquisition from Home Retail Group – now what’s happening with Argos? February 29, 2016 Home Retail Group has sold off its DIY chain Homebase to Australian group Wesfarmers, after shareholders voted 99.3 per cent in favour of the move. The deal, which was first submitted in December, valued the 265-store home improvement business at £340m. It was approved at an AGM last week and the deal was completed on Saturday [...]
The UK is about to become a world leader in artificial intelligence June 20, 2016 With the news that Magic Pony has been acquired by Twitter, we are witnessing a crucial turning point – five of the world’s biggest technology companies have now purchased UK-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) companies. See Magic Pony Technology and Twitter, SwiftKey and Microsoft, VocalIQ and Apple, DeepMind and Google, and Evi and Amazon. Over the coming days [...]
Toilet brushes, tables and mysterious purchases: should MPs treat expenses the same as the rest of us? May 19, 2016 Is a toilet brush a legitimate expense claim? MPs must reconsider what they claim for In this, the era of austerity, the UK public have been accustomed to hearing that we are only ever a few steps away from falling off a metaphoric economic cliff. “We are all in this’ together,” is the message from our politicians. [...]
FTSE 100 demotions and promotions: Paddy Power Betfair and Morrisons eligible to be on the up while Aberdeen Asset Management and Sports Direct eligible for demotion March 1, 2016 Morrisons could be returning to the FTSE 100 after just quarter of languishing in the FTSE 250 – but it may edge out Mike Ashley's Sports Direct in doing so. Morrisons, which yesterday unveiled a major new tie up with Amazon, has seen its share price soar in recent weeks. Shares are up 34 per [...]
Matthew Syed: What doctors, pilots and F1 drivers can teach us about failure May 24, 2016 When it comes to analysing the reasons why a particular business or entrepreneur has succeeded or failed, hindsight is a wonderful thing. It leads us to ignore the role of luck, put talent on a pedestal, and treat every event in the story as one in a causal chain which led inevitably to a particular conclusion. [...]
Chatbots and more: What to make of Facebook’s F8 reveals? April 14, 2016 Facebook’s announcements from its F8 developer conference push two of its key products into becoming full ecosystems in their own right. With large numbers of companies and users using them, as well as a number of different business models running on them, both Messenger and video have reached a scale where they are ready for this next step. [...]
Top business books of 2015: From Walter Isaacson’s Innovators to The Untold Story of Bitcoin, here’s your Christmas reading list December 19, 2015 It’s been another roller-coaster year for businesses in 2015. From plummeting oil prices to an impending interest rate hike, authors have done their best to educate their readership on… well, pretty much anything. Here are our favourite reads of 2015. You’ll find a little bit of everything for everyone – from advice on time-management to inspiration on becoming the next big entrepreneur. Innovators: [...]
Another Cadbury’s recipe change, Brexit blues, the Queen’s 90th birthday and the shareholder spring that never was: Here’s what got us talking this week April 22, 2016 Cadbury's left us open-mouthed with yet another recipe shake-up. A new job working for the Queen came with added perks. And London's iconic statues were given some help with their breathing. Forget the economy – won't someone think of our cheese? (Source: Getty) 1) Brexit boxing The Treasury published its 200-page report on the impact [...]
Sky’s share price falls as churn rate picks up despite adding 177,000 new customers as it reports revenue growth April 21, 2016 Sky has reported strong growth for the third quarter as it experiences "good trading" across all its markets but its churn rate picked up, pushing its share price down over 4.4 per cent. The figures Sky reported revenues to have risen five per cent to £8.72bn over the nine months to the end of March. Operating [...]