Technology and Business

The tech firm’s sale was supposed to demonstrate confidence in a post-Brexit UK. But it hasn’t worked out like that.

The country has a reputation for being tech- and risk-averse. But a new generation of entrepreneurs are proving that is no longer the case.

A 22-year-old from Frankfurt has become one of TikTok’s biggest stars. SOPHIA DEBOICK explains the simple charm behind his success.. and what it says about his country.

Brexit, like Covid, has undoubtedly contributed to a jobs crisis. But another major problem has been the government's failure to create a properly functioning apprenticeship system.

How has the US – ridden with culture wars and deeply divided on so many issues – managed to largely legalise weed with so little fuss and furore, while supposedly liberal Europe lags behind?

The Sun's days could be numbered, writes LIZ GERARD.

The German giant caught in one of industry's biggest-ever scandals, 'Dieselgate', is now making its play to dominate the world of electric cars

Technology may be closing in on making instant, in-ear translation services a reality. But it's still a galaxy away from truly replicating human communication.

The trading drama over GameStop has exposed a powerful new line of attack on financial institutions, say James Bowden and Edward Thomas Jones 

Videoconferencing has come of age during the pandemic. Could it catalyse activism as well as business, asks NIMO OMER?

Dominic Cummings’ data protection shake-up threatens billions of pounds in trade with the EU, Brussels has warned. Cummings’ radical “pro-tech” plan to rewrite Britain’s data protection laws could jeopardise the flow of data between the UK and the EU, the Guardian has revealed. The government released its new data strategy report which promises a “transformation” of the UK’s […]

A government-backed satellite project to rival the EU’s has been scrapped and labelled nothing more than a “vanity project” by a former Tory defence minister. Theresa May’s plan for Britain to have its own GPS satellite navigation system has been ditched, leaving many in Whitehall pressuring the government to rejoin the EU’s Galileo programme. May […]

The virus crisis has accelerated the tech revolution to breakneck speed, says JAMES BALL. We need to be careful we are not hurtling towards dystopia.

The Conservatives used to pride themselves on being the party of business. But that relationship has unequivocally broken down, as ANGELA JAMESON reports. How do you know when a relationship has hit rock bottom? Roland Rudd, a prominent Remain campaigner and adviser to many of the UK’s leading businesses, tweeted this week: ‘Can’t remember a […]

With blatant lies being told about the financial cost of leaving the EU, Angela Jameson singles out someone not afraid to tell it like it is I can’t think that many people would name an economist as a hero but after two years in a post-Brexit referendum wilderness, Paul Johnson, director of the Institute of […]

ANGELA JAMESON explores Italy’s new government and what it might mean for the EU Electing a populist government is a risky thing to do financially. In Italy this week bond markets have sold off heavily as investors brace themselves for being governed by a bizarre and unexpected alliance of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and […]

Last year was a record one for the UK’s tech firms. But there may be trouble ahead. By ANGELA JAMESON ​ Two years ago there was no sector more vocal in its opposition to Brexit than the UK’s tech community. In the run-up to the referendum the industry’s leading lights argued that leaving the EU […]

B​rexit could wreak havoc on our science industry. ANGELA JAMESON fears for the future of Britain’s brightest Dr Graeme Malcolm, the chief executive of Glasgow’s M Squared Lasers, was talking to a group of young entrepreneurs and investors from the tech sector. What he said was top class bragging for geeks: ‘We can now talk […]

Recent economic results are not good for the UK. When, will​ we blame you-know-what? The economy is at a virtual standstill. Growth of just 0.1% in the first quarter is the slowest rate seen for almost six years. At what point do we finally blame Brexit for the sharp contraction that is being seen across […]

Business leaders might be claiming they feel positive, but some fears still remain. Breathe easy. Nigel Farage has found a new home for all the rubbish in his garage. Plans for the creation of a Brexit museum that celebrates Britain’s 45-year ‘struggle for independence’ were revealed this week. The museum will apparently celebrate Eurosceptic heroes […]

As inflation news lifts some businesses ANGELA JAMESON warns of more troubles ahead With Easter upon us, there is some good news at last. The Federation of Small Business tells us that confidence among small UK firms is rebounding against a backdrop of lower inflation. Small firms are also encouraged by what they believe to […]

The takeover tussle involving GKN and Melrose is a tale for our times, says ANGELA JAMESON You think football managers are entertaining when they start taking pot shots at each other? Try following a corporate takeover battle. Next week will see the culmination of an unexpected and precocious assault on one of Britain’s biggest and […]

The chancellor’s financial briefing delivered a few Brexit home truths, says ANGELA JAMESON It was renamed the Spring Statement, but there was little to put a bounce in your step. The Chancellor of the Exchequer’s update on the economy and the public finances was certainly shorter than the usual March statement but Philip Hammond seemed […]

Labour’s Brexit shift has won praise from some in business. But, ANGELA JAMESON says, this is not a defining moment for Jeremy Corbyn Job done. Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell have taken tea with the devils in the business community and found a way to bring them swooning to Labour’s side. Only Corbyn’s supposed landmark […]

David Davis sought to calm business jitters with Brexit looming this week but, as ANGELA JAMESON explains, fears persist. So leaving the EU is not going to plunge the UK into some sort of Mad Max-style dystopia. Leaving aside the questionable film reference, the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union was not particularly […]

The return of volatility to the markets is a reminder of the uncertainties out there in the ‘real world’, says ANGELA JAMESON. Just two weeks ago Donald Trump was bragging to the movers and shakers at Davos that the stock market was up 50% on his watch. The US president has tweeted more than 60 […]

An increasingly ruffled David Davis finally had his department draw up a Brexit impact analysis. And it is nightmarish. Now we all know the reason why Brexit Secretary David Davis looked such a shambles when he appeared before the House of Lords European Union committee at the start of this week. He had seen his […]

ANGELA JAMESON on the danger that real lessons from the collapse of Carillion are being missed. ‘Whoever forms the next Government can’t afford to ignore private finance. But PFI has to evolve, it has to become more responsive and flexible.’ That was what a businessman called John McDonough told me in 2010, when I wrote […]