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Author: WTX Business Team
Bitcoin Today $37,402.22 – Falls by 13.21%
Microsoft confirm Bill Gates 2000 affair probe Microsoft has confirmed that its board began an investigation with an outside law firm over an affair Bill Gates had with an employee in 2000. The report comes not long after it was announced Bill Gates and wife Melinda are set to divorce. The recent reports suggested a streak of questionable behaviour from the Microsoft co-founder, who is one of the most famous members of the US business…
Sterling holds ground as Britain eases lockdown The pound has gained against the dollar for two weeks straight and consolidated near the $1.41 mark this morning. It comes as Britain lifted several restrictions and made a huge leap towards reopening the economy. The easing of restrictions includes international travel and the reopening of bars, cafes and restaurants for indoor service. “It has been a well-telegraphed move, but major re-opening in the UK today should continue…
India Covid-19 catastrophe forces bank call centre operations back to the UK Barclays bank has announced some of its India call centre operations will be brought back to the UK as staff in India are struggling to cope with the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. Other UK and US banks and companies are now deciding on whether to do the same, according to media reports in India over the weekend. More than 20,000 people in India are…
Amazon profits skyrocket in first three months of 2021 Amazon’s profit skyrocketed in the first three months of 2021 – coming in at $8.1bn – more than triple what it was in the same period in 2020. Amazon is among the businesses that have massively benefited from global lockdowns and restrictions. Since the start of the pandemic, Amazon has posted four consecutive record quarterly profits, gained more than 200 million Prime loyalty subscribers and employed…
Nestlé cuts 600 jobs, closes UK factory, moves production to Europe Nestlé is set to close its UK factory, leaving almost 600 people redundant, as it moves some of its production to Europe. The company said products currently being made in the Fawdon plant would move to other plants in Britain and on the continent. Fawdon opened in 1958 and makes candy including Fruit Pastilles. It is due to close “towards the end of 2023.” …
Google owner sees record profits as pandemic boom continues Alphabet – owners of Google – saw its profits climb high in the first quarter as the lockdown boom continues. With people stuck at home in the pandemic, people have used more of its services. Net profit jumped by 162% to a record $17.9bn in three months to March as advertising revenue grew by a third. The firm credited “elevated consumer activity online” for its results.…
JP Morgan ‘sorry’ for £2.8bn funding for ESL JP Morgan has apologised for funding the failed European Super League, and vows to “learn from” the experience. Although no money had changed hands, JP Morgan had committed £2.8bn to funding the league. In a statement, the investment bank said: “We clearly misjudged how this deal would be viewed by the wider football community and how it might impact them in the future. “We will learn from…
97% workers prefer working at home Ninety-seven per cent of office workers who are currently working from home prefer doing just that, even when offices reopen. A recent survey shows 97 per cent want to maintain working from home. Nine per cent prefer to work from home full time, whilst 88 per cent would want a 50-50 split between office and home. The survey found that missing real-life contacts is still largely present but has…
Anna Wintour on the demand for luxury after Covid-19 lockdowns Fashion guru and Vogue editor Anna Wintour told the Financial Times that “lines around the block” at reopened London Gucci and Dior stores show the demand for the luxury lifestyle Condé Nast titles have long chronicled. “People have been locked up for a long time and they are going to go out and want to spend. They are going to want to travel . . . to get dressed…
London super prime luxury property market was world leader in 2020 2020 proved to be a hit for London’s super-luxury home purchases of any city in the world. London outperformed city rivals such as New York and Hong Kong. According to Knight Frank, 201 super prime homes – worth more than £2.7bn collectively – were bought in London in 2020, whilst second-place city Hong Kong has 169 sales. Knight Frank found that overall, global sales…
UK Big Tech crackdown Facebook and Google are amongst the tech giants facing tougher regulatory regimes in the UK after a new watchdog aimed at curbing their power launched today. The Digital Markets Unit (DMU) will set up new rules to give consumers more control over their data, promote online competition and crackdown on unfair practices. The new body – based within the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)- has launched in non-statutory form ahead of…
Godzilla vs Kong smashes pandemic box office record Godzilla vs Kong has smashed pandemic box office records which raked in £35m just this weekend. It’s the United States biggest opening in the last 12 months, with the blockbuster passing the highly anticipated ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ which took home around £12 million in its opening. Globally, the movie starring British actor Millie Bobby Brown made £171 million. Due to the pandemic, the film suffered a scheduling setback…
London boroughs where houses sell the fastest The outer London boroughs have been revealed to be the areas of the capital where property sells the fastest. In Waltham Forest, sellers can hope to sell their properties the quickest – a two-bed terrace house can be off the market in just 35 days. Barking and Dagenham, Bexley and Redbridge were the next fastest-moving London borough for house sales, with properties taking 39, 41 and 48 days…
Capgemini to make 1,500 UK hires in 2021 Capgemini is set to hire 1,500 new team members across the UK this year adding to its existing 8,800-strong workforce. A third of the new recruits is set to be sourced through the firm’s long-running graduate and apprentice programmes. The programmes currently employ 600 people, but a further 470 will be added in 2021. Capgemini also plans to grab talent from across the UK. The firm will…
Cineworld, AMC Cinemas – Exclusive deal sees reopening of cinemas Cineworld will reopen in its US cinemas next month, and the UK in May, after signing a deal with Warner Bros to show films in movie theatres before they are streamed. Godzilla vs. Kong will be the first film to make its debut in the theatres. Cineworld says the deal meals films will have a period of exclusivity in cinemas before being made more widely…
Wetherspoons in the red, £20.7m operating loss JD Wetherspoon reported a half-year pre-tax loss of £46.2 million as pandemic restrictions forced hundreds of its pubs to close through important holiday seasons. The pub giant operating loss hit £20.7m, while revenue sunk by more than 53% to £431.1 million. Like-for-like sales were also down by almost 54 per cent for the six months ended 24 January 2021 as national lockdowns heavily hit pubs across the UK.…
Sterling rises as speedy vaccine rollout creates optimism Sterling is higher against both the euro and the dollar on Monday as the fast vaccine rollout has fuelled hopes of economic recovery. The rise soared as high as $1.3999 in Asian trading, after retreating from a three-year high on Friday amid inflation concerns. In early London trading, it was 0.1 per cent higher at $1.3938 as investors took a chance on vaccination programmes lifting Britain’s economy. …
Amsterdam crowned Europe’s top trading hub, ousting London Amsterdam has ousted London as Europe’s largest share trading centre, as Brexit led London to lose business. Some €9.2bn shares a day were traded on Euronext Amsterdam and the Dutch arms of CBOE and Turquoise, the London Stock Exchange’s platform, last month – a more than fourfold increase from December, the Financial Times reported. By comparison, volumes fell sharply in London to €8.6bn, knocking London from its…
Boohoo buys Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton for £25.2 million, stores to close, jobs lost Online retail giant Boohoo has bought Arcadia brands Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton out of administration in a £25.2m deal. The company has bought the brands’ e-commerce and digital assets and associated intellectual property rights. The deal does not include the retailers’ physical stores and the brands will become online-only. All 214 Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton stores will now…
Bank of England: Economy to rebound strongly due to vaccine The UK’s rapid vaccination programme will help the economy rebound strongly this year, according to the Bank of England. The economy is expected to shrink 4.2% in the first three months of 2021, amid tighter lockdown restrictions to slow the spread of the virus. But, it’s expected a rebound in the spring as people become confident in spending again. ‘Rapid’ recovery The Bank said economic…
London economy hit hardest as tourists spending slumps £7.4bn Central London’s economy has been hit hardest by Covid-19 mainly due to working from home and a sharp drop in tourism. Major Sidiq Khan commissioned a report today looking into the future of the capital, which shows a profound effect on the Central Activities Zones (CAZ). The impact is likely to create even bigger challenges for the city than those faced in other major cities like…
Stamp duty scrapped: Rishi Sunak could extend tax holiday permanently for house buyers Chancellor Rishi Sunak is reportedly considering extending the current holiday and is facing calls to drop the property tax completely. He is being urged by homeowners, campaigners and more than 50 conservative MPs to extend the tax or get rid of it in favour of another tax. The property tax usually adds 3% to the price of homes worth under £500,000. The…
Lockdown boosts October loungewear sales Retail sales in October were boosted by a pre-lockdown splurge in England, but the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG have warned that the industry is “teetering on a cliff edge”. In the four weeks to 31 October, total sales were up 4.9% year on year, the BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor shows. It is in-line with the three-month average growth of 4.9% and above the 12-month decline of 0.7%. Helen…