London Calling! Over two million tourists will visit this year in £674m boost to the capital August 1, 2023 London will welcome more than two million international tourists this year compared to last, bringing an additional £674m to the capital. As travel fully recovers post-pandemic, data from the London mayor’s office, shows that London was the top city in Europe for bed nights in 2022 with an increase of 131.5 per cent in 2021. [...]
Meta to launch AI-powered chatbots in a bid to cling on to users August 1, 2023 Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is reportedly gearing up to deploy a squadron of artificial intelligence-powered chatbots, each with their own distinctive personalities, in an effort to cling on to its users who have been dwindling lately. Meta has been crafting prototypes for these chatbots, aptly named “personas”, the Financial Times reported today, citing [...]
Debanking: Number of account closures since 2016 skyrockets as banks take tough line on financial crime July 30, 2023 The number of bank accounts being closed climbed to nearly 350,000 last year as banks adopted an increasingly vigilant stance towards their customers. According to data from a freedom of information request submitted by the Daily Mail to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the number of accounts being closed has increased from under 50,000 in [...]
ULEZ: High Court backs London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s controversial emissions charge July 28, 2023 Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ plan got a major boost today after a court threw out a judicial review claiming the scheme to charge drivers who fail to meet emissions standards was unlawful. Plans to widen the ultra low emission zone (ULEZ), already in place across inner London, slated to expand throughout Greater London’s 32 boroughs from [...]
Natwest chair Howard Davies WILL stay on after Nigel Farage Coutts scandal July 28, 2023 Natwest chair Howard Davies said he would stay on as boss of the bank’s board while the lender tries to recover from the scandal involving Nigel Farage’s Coutts bank account. Speaking to reporters after the bank published its results, Davies said “my intention is to continue to lead the board and ensure that the bank [...]
Rishi Sunak and Sadiq Khan at loggerheads over London housebuilding July 27, 2023 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has threatened to wade into mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s efforts on housebuilding in the capital. The politicians traded verbal blows today as the PM accused the mayor of failing to build enough homes for Londoners, while Khan branded his claims “desperate nonsense”. Speaking during a visit to a development in [...]
Coutts boss Peter Flavel resigns over Farage account closure July 27, 2023 The boss of private bank Coutts has resigned for his part in the closure of Nigel Farage’s bank account. Peter Flavel’s resignation follows the departure of Natwest boss Dame Alison Rose in the early hours of Wednesday morning and comes as pressure grows on other members of the Natwest board to step down over the [...]
Met Police fail to solve 82 per cent of burglaries July 27, 2023 The Met Police failed to solve 82 per cent of burglaries in London last year, data has revealed. Figures from the Home Office for the 2022-2023 financial year show an average of 129 burglaries a day – or a total of 47,050 – were closed without a suspect being identified. While just six per cent [...]
Don’t ‘clobber’ Londoners with ULEZ, Rachel Reeves says July 27, 2023 Now is not the right time to “clobber” Londoners with the ULEZ charge, Labour shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has said. The shadow chancellor has weighed in on the ultra low emission zone (ULEZ) expansion row engulfing City Hall and Labour politics in the wake of the Uxbridge by-election defeat. She told the Sun she was [...]
Frasers: The boy done good! Ashley son-in-law guides firm to £5bn revenue July 27, 2023 Frasers Group revenues surged 15.8 per cent in the last financial year, totalling £5.56bn, as the retail powerhouse shows signs of performing well under the reign of new chief Michael Murray. Murray, who is the son in law of founder and business tycoon Mike Ashley, took over the business in 2022 after Ashley announced plans [...]
