Harry Potter keeps flying off shelves as Bloomsbury breaks records October 24, 2024 Sarah J. Maas and the still-popular JK Rowling Harry Potter books are set to help publisher Bloomsbury beat expectations, it was announced this morning. In its results for the six months to 31 August, the publishing house told markets consumer revenue was up 47 per cent to £131.3m for the half year, up from £89.4m, [...]
Frasers wants to make Mike Ashley chief of Boohoo after ‘mismanagement and value destruction’ October 24, 2024 Frasers Group wants to appoint its boss Mike Ashley as the chief executive of fast fashion brand Boohoo, citing “long-term mismanagement” which has led to “value destruction“. The Mike Ashley-owned company wrote to the board of Boohoo this morning, saying the group was suffering from a “leadership crisis”. In a message to markets this morning, [...]
London Underground workers in Aslef and RMT vote to strike next month October 16, 2024 London Underground drivers will walk out next month, bringing chaos to the capital in a protest over pay and working conditions. Members of the Aslef union voted overwhelmingly to walk out on a number of dates in November, before RMT members backed strikes shortly after. Train operators and management grades will not work on 7 [...]
Brewdog founder James Watt on Britain’s ‘existential’ debt crisis October 11, 2024 Founder of beer chain Brewdog has warned Britain’s political system faces an “existential crisis”, and has offered a solution to get on top of it. James Watt took to LinkedIn to vent his frustration at the levels of debt being serviced in the UK economy at the moment, which makes it “impossible for us to [...]
Starmer appoints former Darktrace boss as new investment minister in ‘scaled up’ department October 11, 2024 Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced the government’s new investment minister after more than 100 days in office, amid criticism from City groups it took too long. Former Darktrace chief executive Poppy Gustafsson has been appointed to the role, taking charge of the ‘scaled up’ Office for Investment. The appointment is part of what the government [...]
TSB Bank handed huge fine for failing customers in arrears October 10, 2024 The financial watchdog has fined bank TSB almost £11m over its treatment of customers, but the penalty could have been even worse. TSB Bank will have to pay £10,910,500 after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found it had failed to ensure customers in arrears were treated fairly. The FCA said it also didn’t have sufficient [...]
British ‘godfather of AI’ awarded Nobel prize but warns tech could ‘get out of control’ October 8, 2024 A British scientist dubbed the ‘godfather of AI’ has been honoured with a Nobel Prize in Physics, but warned of the “existential risk” it posed if technology gets “out of control”. Professor Geoffrey Hinton, born in the UK and a professor at the University of Toronto in Canada, said he was extremely surprised to be [...]
A year on from 7 October, British Jews are being targeted for Israel’s actions October 7, 2024 For thousands of British Jews, 7 October wasn’t just a massacre that started a war, it was the moment the politics of the Middle East were imported to the UK – and petrol poured all over them, writes Jack Mendel There will be any number of think pieces written today to mark the anniversary of [...]
Transport secretary turns off London Euston’s giant ad board October 4, 2024 The government and Network Rail have launched a major review of London’s Euston station, as its giant ad board is turned off with immediate effect. It acknowledged that longer-term change is needed but put forward a five-point plan in the interim. In a statement today, the government and Network Rail said Euston is an “outdated [...]
Barratt Redrow merger given greenlight by competition watchdog October 4, 2024 The competition watchdog has given its final clearance for the merger of housebuilders Barratt and Redrow. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation into the proposed £2.5bn deal in June after it was first announced in February. The deal was completed in August without regulatory approval after the CMA suggested there were reasonable grounds to believe [...]
