Technology and Business

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 […]

Despite the damage caused by Brexit, businesses still need convinving on reasons to hold another vote, says Angela Jameson. Peter Stringfellow is one of only a few business people who have openly called for a second referendum. Not many from the City or the business community are rushing to follow the well-known, but somewhat unconventional, […]

The stock markets are booming but how long can the party last? ANGELA JAMESON investigates mounting worries over how long the bull will run for Global stock markets have had their best start to a year since 2006, but concerns are mounting that they will blow up, sooner rather than later. The FTSE 100 hit […]

For some companies, says ANGELA JAMESON, Jeremy Corbyn is the biggest bogeyman on the horizon. Train operators, energy suppliers and water companies are urgently trying to restore their battered reputations with the public in the final throes of 2017. For if they fail, the punishment could be far worse than a precipitous slide in their […]

ANGELA JAMESON on the mercurial currency that adds a whole new level to high-risk investment As Brexit stumbles on, another ‘B’ word was occupying business minds this week. Like Northern Rock, Railtrack and Royal Bank of Scotland, Bitcoin is one of those rare business stories breaking through to the mainstream. It is an investment created […]

Post Brexit, Unilever and Shell could take advantage of lower corporate taxes in the Netherlands. ANGELA JAMESON reports. While we have all been braced to hear which American and Asian banks will hotfoot it out of London when Brexit comes, we should perhaps be more worried by signs that two huge British companies are thinking […]

There aren’t many greater symbols of the UK’s ties to Europe than the Channel Tunnel – a transport operator many are desperately trying to keep on track after Brexit Thirty years ago this month, the first spade broke ground on the Channel Tunnel, for so long a metaphor used by Europhiles and Eurosceptics alike for […]

Britain’s tech sector is flying. But, asks ANGELA JAMESON, will new Government cash be enough to stop Brexit bursting the bubble? Bill Gates is to create a smart city called Belmont in Arizona in an attempt to build the desert state into a tech hub to rival Silicon Valley. Of course there is a long […]

Tim Martin, boss of the Wetherspoon pub chain, is pestering drinkers with his pro-Brexit beer mats. ANTHONY CLAVANE wonders whether his customers might find it too much to swallow

The internet does not distinguish between good and bad. If we want to survive it, we might have to, says NATHANIEL TAPLEY The world is broken. Every news bulletin honks a clattering avalanche of unbelievable bellendery into our homes. Society just sits there, panting like a red setter enthralled by its own farts, in the […]

What do the Hard Brexiteers think of ‘taking back control’ only to have the US wade into the UK’s trading standards? ANGELA JAMESON investigates whether chlorinated chicken is back on the menu This summer Liam Fox turned many people’s stomachs when he suggested the UK should be open to accepting poultry that is washed in […]

The Governor may not have wanted Brexit but it has dominated his years at the Bank of England, says ANGELA JAMESON. And a quick fix is beyond his powers March 2019 and the Brexit deadline looms ever nearer. In the City, another 2019 countdown is also underway. For June 2019 is when the current Bank […]

The ‘missing billions’ are a red herring, says ANGELA JAMESON. There are bigger things to worry about My friend is miserable. We are trying to arrange dinner at a venue that can be accessed from all parts of the city. Our favourite gastro pub, it turns out, has shut down because of difficulties trading and […]

Making money is no longer enough for firms, say ANGELA JAMESON Is it possible for businesses to do well and do good? Over the years I’ve discussed ethical sourcing and child labour over a five-star dinner in Mayfair, with a chief executive who has racked up 5,000 air miles to impart his wisdom to British […]

The government’s latest intervention in the housing market is a yet another symptom of a distracted administration failing to grasp the right solutions, says ANGELA JAMESON. Our housing market is broken, even the Government admitted as much earlier this year. So why then, is Theresa May pumping more tax payers’ money into the Help to […]

Brexit was bad enough, now John McDonnell has given businesses even more to think about. ANGELA JAMESON reports Which is the bigger economic crisis facing the UK – the prospect of leaving the EU without any trade deal or a Labour government with Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister and war-gaming John McDonnell as his renationalising […]

Boris Johnson’s Brexit intervention has put the focus back on statistics, says ANGELA JAMESON. And the actual numbers do not look good Boris Johnson has done more to stimulate interest in how statistics are used and abused in the last few days than the UK Statistics Authority has managed in its 10 year lifetime. BoJo’s […]

Anxiety is battering the pound – and everyone is feeling the pinch. But it is not just consumers that will suffer as ANGELA JAMESON explains As the world waited for a glimpse of the first $1,000 iPhone, closer to home the problem of soaring prices for everyday goods, rather than for the hottest gadget, is […]

Theresa May’s insistence that she is sticking around as PM may have been met with scepticism and incredulity, but PR agent MARK BORKOWSKI argues her reboot may yet work Theresa May stunned many in Westminster when she expressed her desire to lead her party into the next general election. After the almighty stumble of June’s […]

It’s not just back to school for the nation’s children, this week, but also for politicians and British business. It’s heads down and concentrate for the crucial 15 weeks between now and Christmas. These are critical for most sectors. Retailers face their busiest trading period; media companies expect an uptick in seasonal advertising; construction companies […]

Attempts to look on the bright side, economically, are – as ever – undermined by the same doubts and uncertainty surrounding Brexit, says Angela Jameson. A press release lands from a private equity company that wants to talk up the economy. ECI Partners, which invests in small-to-medium-sized growing firms, says that the 350 businesses it […]

The Government’s transitional customs proposals are a start – but it will be far from plain sailing for business So Philip Hammond has won the argument with Brexiteers and hard has been replaced by soft – at least as far as customs arrangements go. Transition is the order of the day as the cabinet scrambles […]

There is anger in the UK’s aerospace industry at the government’s dereliction of duty over such a thriving sector Some people go to Paris to buy beautiful clothes, others go to stock up on jets. There was some good news out of this month’s Paris Air Show for the British aerospace sector, with UK manufacturers […]

Inflation and prices are rising, real wages falling. We’re all going to feel the squeeze. Brussels unveiled plans this week to grab large parts of the City of London’s €850 billion a day clearing market. But to the surprise of many observers, the European Commission chose not to take as provocative step as expected when […]