Not just for unicorns – Fintech services all June 29, 2020 | Sponsored Fintech is commonly associated with unicorn companies. But it is there to service a far wider part of the economic community as the recovery begins. As the country emerges from lockdown and turns its attention to rebuilding the economy, one resource that is of crucial importance is Fintech. A complex and diverse industry that is [...]
Uber Eats orders skyrocket 160 per cent in lockdown June 29, 2020 Orders on Uber Eats have jumped significantly since lockdown began, rising by over 160 per cent as the UK turned to food delivery apps to replace the high street. The number of new restaurants on Uber Eats’ UK platform has almost doubled in the last four months to a total of 17,000, as smaller independent [...]
Deliveroo debuts dine-in feature for reopening restaurants June 29, 2020 Deliveroo has today announced a new so-called table service feature, which will help restaurants cater to customers choosing to dine in without breaching social distancing measures. Available from 15 July, the tool will let customers browse the menu, order and pay at a restaurant via the Deliveroo app. Deliveroo has said it will not charge [...]
Draper Esprit’s bet on tech pays off as portfolio value jumps 18 per cent June 29, 2020 UK venture capital firm Draper Esprit has invested £90m in the year ended 31 March, increasing its gross portfolio value to £703m. The firm has continued to make investments in key tech sectors already benefiting from historic trends, and which have been accelerated by the coronavirus crisis. The figures Draper Esprit’s gross portfolio value increased [...]
The failure of the track and trace app is the least-worst thing about it June 27, 2020 Last week, the UK government announced a radical change in direction in its track and trace programme. Its contact-tracing app, first announced in early May and once promised as a “world beating” solution, was pulled from development. The NHSX app was abandoned because Apple and Google refused to yield on personal privacy restrictions that are [...]
Amazon buys self-driving startup Zoox for $1bn June 26, 2020 Amazon has acquired US self-driving startup Zoox, marking its first major step into the driverless cars market. The deal is valued at more than $1bn, the Information first reported. Amazon declined to confirm the size of the acquisition. Zoox chief executive Aicha Evans and chief technology officer Jesse Levinson will continue to lead Zoox as [...]
Microsoft to permanently close all retail stores June 26, 2020 Microsoft has said it intends to keep all of its retail locations closed permanently, as it reorganises its sales offering towards online shopping. It said its retail team members will “continue to serve customers from Microsoft corporate facilities”, remotely providing sales, training, and support. No job losses were mentioned. It added that it will reimagine some of its [...]
France and UK offer concessions on digital tax after US tariff threat June 26, 2020 The Treasury is offering to reduce the scope of its digital services tax if the US promises to come back to the negotiating table on a global proposal, it has emerged. Alongside the finance ministers of France, Italy and Spain, the UK said in a letter to US Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin it would “considerably [...]
Google reveals coronavirus support package for UK businesses June 26, 2020 Google has today launched a number of pledges to support British small businesses during the pandemic, as part of a bid to help companies stay open through boosting online performance. The tech firm said it has set a goal of helping 1m businesses by the end of 2021, particularly focusing on those which rely on [...]
Huawei wins fight to build £1bn UK chip facility June 25, 2020 Huawei was today given the green light by planning authorities to build a £1bn research and development facility in Cambridgeshire. The 500-acre facility will hold around 400 staff, and be focused on the production of technology for use in fibre-optic communication systems. Once up and running, it will become Huawei’s international headquarters for its optical [...]
