Microsoft will unbundle Teams, the chat and video messaging app, from its Office software package in an effort to stave off a potential antitrust fine in the European Union. The concession comes a month after the European Commission opened an inquiry into the inclusion of Teams in the core Microsoft offering, saying it could unfairly […]
The Canadian tycoon behind HMV was last night finalising a deal to buy the majority of Wilko, the collapsed British homewares retailer. Administrators confirmed that Doug Putman, 39, whose family also owns Toys ‘R’ Us in Canada, had made an offer for 300 of Wilko’s 400 stores, which would secure between 8,000 and 9,000 jobs […]
High interest rates are continuing to hit demand in the property market as potential buyers pull back from purchases because of increased mortgage costs. The number of mortgage approvals fell last month to a five-month low of 49,400, below City expectations and down from 54,600 in June, according to figures from the Bank of England. […]
Car production increased by almost a third last month compared with a year ago taking factory output in the first seven months of the year to 526,000, up 14 per cent year-on-year. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, the industry body, said that should put the sector on course to producing 860,000 vehicles in […]
The UK’s 4.3m self-employed workers have been advised to prioritise their tax compliance after official HMRC data shows that the tax authority opened 299,000 tax enquiries last year – a 52,000 jump equivalent to 21% compared to two years before. The statistics, gathered from HMRC’s quarterly performance updates, show that the number of tax enquiries […]
British officials are warning organisations about integrating artificial intelligence-driven chatbots into their businesses, saying that research has increasingly shown that they can be tricked into performing harmful tasks. In a pair of blog posts due to be published Wednesday, Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said that experts had not yet got to grips with […]
The number of homes being bought and sold this year is expected to drop by a fifth to the lowest in over a decade, the latest evidence that dearer mortgages and a cost of living crunch have paralysed Britain’s housing market. Zoopla, the property website, expects there will be 1 million transactions this year, 21 […]
Wilko’s administrators have halted immediate redundancies for the chain’s 12,000-strong workforce amid claims from the staff union that bidders for the business have faced “difficulties” in negotiations. PwC has put store closures on hold to further assess bids for the business after previously warning that job cuts could start this week. The GMB union has […]
Foreign secretary James Cleverly will make a landmark visit to China on Wednesday in a bid to reaffirm the UK’s protection of national security. Cleverly, who is currently in the Philippines, will fly to Beijing on August 30 for high-level talks with top officials including vice president Han Zheng and foreign affairs minister Wang Yi. […]
Calls are increasing for the UK’s £4 billion-a-year share trading tax to be reduced or scrapped in an effort to reinvigorate our capital markets. When buying shares Brits are charged a stamp duty of 0.5 per cent on the purchase price. Over the weekend Chinese authorities slashed their own stamp duty on shares to give […]