Consumer group calls on car manufacturers to recall faulty models September 10, 2019 Some of the UK’s most popular car models are among the least reliable and could leave motorists facing mechanical failures and potentially high repair bills, new research has found. Consumer rights group Which said it has uncovered “inherent flaws” in some vehicles made by carmakers including Nissan, Seat, and Tesla, and called on manufacturers to [...]
Duty-free shopping to be reintroduced on EU trips in event of no-deal Brexit September 10, 2019 Duty-free shopping is set to make a return if Britain leaves the EU without a deal, chancellor Sajid Javid will announce later today. Brits travelling to EU countries after a no-deal Brexit will be able to buy alcohol and tobacco without duty being applied in the UK, due to the lifting of EU regulations. “As [...]
Fintech advised by former Amazon and Visa executives to launch travel card September 9, 2019 Fintech firm Currensea has opened the wait list for its new travel money card, the first in the UK to be linked directly to users’ bank accounts. The card is designed to work as an extension of a current account, allowing customers to spend money abroad without having to open a new account. There will [...]
Blazing success: British cannabis company raises £7.8m in funding round September 9, 2019 A leading British cannabis company has raised £7.8m in a Series A funding round as it prepares to launch an “aggressive strategy” to dominate the budding industry across Europe. Cannaray, which manufactures medical cannabis and consumer cannabidiol (CBD) products, also announced that it had bought Therismos – a company with licences to import, handle and [...]
London VC 4BIO raises first tranche of new $150m advanced therapies fund September 9, 2019 London-based venture capital firm 4BIO has completed the first round of fundraising for a new fund focused on the advanced therapies sector, which uses stem cells, genes and tissues to treat chronic medical conditions. 4BIO said the first tranche had attracted over $50m (£40.4m) of capital. The firm is hoping to raise $150m of capital [...]
Dividends for AIM-listed firms soar to record heights September 9, 2019 The dividends paid by companies listed on the stock exchange’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) exchange reached record highs in the first half of the year, and are on track to beat 2018’s record full-year total of £1.1bn. First-half AIM dividends climbed 23.9 per cent year on year to £633m, according to new figures from Link [...]
Woodford crisis wipes £36m off Kent County Council’s stake in flagship fund September 8, 2019 Kent County Council has seen £36m wiped off the value of its investment in Neil Woodford’s Equity Income Fund (EIF) since its suspension, new figures have shown. The beleaguered stockpicker’s flagship fund suspended withdrawals on 3 June after becoming overwhelmed by investors demanding their money back. An official disclosure, first reported in the Sunday Telegraph, [...]
Not in the pink anymore: Jack Wills collapse leaves creditors out of pocket September 8, 2019 Jack Wills owed over £100m to creditors including HSBC and several councils when it collapsed into administration last month. The preppy clothing brand was bought by Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct for £12.8m in August, faces leaving a slew of companies out of pocket. Read more: Jack Wills stores at risk as Sports Direct kicks off [...]
Winging it: Conservatives criticised over meme depicting Jeremy Corbyn as a chicken September 6, 2019 The Conservative Party has published a meme depicting Jeremy Corbyn in a chicken costume and delivered chicken to journalists offices in an escalation in its campaign to brand the Labour leader a “chicken” for refusing to back the government’s calls for an early election. The chicken, which was hand delivered to various newspapers’ Parliamentary offices [...]
Apple rewrote Siri to ‘deflect’ feminism and #MeToo questions September 6, 2019 Apple tweaked the software behind Siri to change how its voice assistant responds to “sensitive topics” including feminism and the #MeToo movement. The project saw Siri’s responses rewritten so it would say it was in favour of “equality”, without ever saying the word feminism, according to leaked documents seen by The Guardian. Read more: Apple [...]