Amazon shares slide as markets take a dim view of second-quarter loss July 25, 2014 Amazon shares have folded faster than high-street bookstores today after the Nasdaq showed what it thought of the world's largest online retailer posting a loss for the second quarter and falling some way short of market expectations. Shares had slumped by 11.36 per cent at pixel time with earlier losses as high as twelve per cent. That [...]
Crazy markets, Night Tube called off and Jeremy Corbyn goes off the rails: Here’s what got us talking this week August 28, 2015 It was the week in which everything got a bit trippy: the markets went bananas. The South Bank went psychedelic. Someone discovered a Nazi train full of gold (allegedly). And after 60 years of rivalry, Burger King finally proposed a truce with McDonald's… What got us talking 1. Up, down, up, down… Who said August was [...]
Author Allan Ahlberg turns down award because it is sponsored by Amazon July 11, 2014 Revered children's author Allan Ahlberg has turned down an award for lifetime achievement because it is sponsored by Amazon, saying “the idea that my 'lifetime achievement' should have the Amazon tag attached to it is unacceptable". The award was offered to him by the Booktrust at its Best Book Awards earlier this month, and [...]
Amazon and Luxembourg hit by EU “sweetheart deal” tax crackdown. July 3, 2014 Amazon is the latest company to have been hit by an EU tax crackdown that has already caught out Apple, Starbucks and Fiat’s financial arm. According to a report in the FT, the EU's competition commission has sent a request to Luxembourg, where the company's headquarters are based, for information about whether decisions on [...]
E-books cannot have a lower rate of VAT, says European court March 5, 2015 E-BOOKS cannot have a lower rate of VAT applied to them, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled yesterday. The Luxembourg- based court was adjudicating on a case brought by France and Luxembourg, to try and have e-books subject to the same lower rate of VAT that hardcopy books are. However, ECJ judges said: “The [...]
Banks fear fast payments could worsen runs March 23, 2015 ONLINE accounts and instant payments could exacerbate future bank runs, the industry warned today, urging regulators to look into the possibility. Technological advances have improved life for customers and boosted competition in banking, but the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) said it could also create risks. “We all remember the queues outside Northern Rock as people [...]
Europe’s digital single market 16 point plan unveiled: What is it, what does it mean, why does it matter? May 6, 2015 Europe wants to build a digital single market – and now it has a 16-point plan of how it's going to make that happen. What is it? The European Commission intends to bring a whole number of markets that are digital, from ebooks to parcel delivery and video on demand to VAT, in line with [...]
US stocks rise with tech firms poised to rally – New York Report April 20, 2015 CHINA also boosted Wall Street yesterday as shares ended sharply higher, also buoyed by investors snapping up technology stocks on cautious optimism over upcoming earnings reports. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 208.63 points, or 1.17 per cent, to end at 18,034.93. The S&P 500 gained 19.22 points, or 0.92 per cent, to 2,100.4, and [...]
Amazon joining with Doddle to start railway station collections June 23, 2014 AMAZON customers will soon be able to pick up parcels from railway stations as part of a new deal between the online retail giant and Doddle, the click-and-collect joint venture between Network Rail and Travelex millionaire Lloyd Dorfman. Doddle is currently running a pilot operation at Milton Keynes station, with plans to expand the service [...]
The Rosebery founder Simon Davis on scrapheaps, sewing, MOTs and Angelina Jolie September 20, 2015 Did you know that Jeff Bezos used to photograph everyone he met so he wouldn't forget who they were? Neither did I, but when Simon Davis interviewed him, Amazon was still a startup – and it's just one of several gems Davis, founder of the London Restaurant Festival (LRF), The Rosebery and former journalist, wheels [...]