The service’s cost-cutting has led to a storm of protests – not least in south-east LondonIf you face a long wait in the queue at your local parcels office to pick up a missed Christmas delivery this weekend, spare a thought for those living in one part of south-east London who say they have endured months of postal woes after Royal Mail closed their depot.Lost bank cards, letters taking a month to arrive, several days between deliveries and, most frustrating of all, 60-minute waits in the rain to pick up parcels that could not be delivered: these have all been endured by East Dulwich resident[...]
Figures also show dramatic slowdown in business activity across Europe and the USFears are growing about the state of the global economy after a slump in Chinese manufacturing output growth and a dramatic slowdown in business activity across Europe and the US.Stock markets sagged on Friday as China‘s government said industrial production and retail sales slowed in November. Traders were also spooked by surveys that showed French business activity contracted this month and the US economy slipped to its lowest growth rate for 18 months in December. Continue reading...
After complaints about a project called Zen Blanket, we look at the pros and cons of crowdfundingIt is described as a hi-tech blanket that will give you “the best sleep ever” and reduce your stress levels, though at about £195 ($249) a pop it is certainly not cheap. The Zen Blanket was promoted on the crowdfunding websites Kickstarter and Indiegogo, prompting thousands of people to sink money into the venture – but some are now crying foul, demanding their money back and discussing class action lawsuits.One of those who is definitely not feeling zen is Don Dennis from Scotland. He pledged £118[...]
Centuries-old British toy shop chain put up for sale in October after £9.2m annual lossMike Ashley, the billionaire founder of Sports Direct, is reportedly considering a bid to take over Hamleys, the 258-year-old toy retailer best known for its flagship store on Regent Street in London.Sports Direct was on Friday said to be among a pack of retailers to have lodged their interest in taking over Hamleys, which has been put up for sale by its Chinese owner C.banner. Continue reading...
Bribes of more than $1.5m were allegedly paid to help secure more favourable oil tradingFederal prosecutors in Brazil have filed corruption charges against two former executives from commodities multinational Trafigura, a former executive at Petrobras and a middleman, over $1.5m allegedly paid in bribes for oil trading operations.In a 146-page indictment, prosecutors in Curitiba in the southern state of Paraná said that former Trafigura executives Mariano Ferraz and Marcio Magalhães, middleman Carlos Herz and former Petrobras executive Marcus Alcoforado were involved in a corruption and asset [...]
CMA says its priority is to ‘assess if shoppers would face higher prices’ due to mergerSainsbury’s and Asda have won extra time to respond to a competition authority investigation into their planned £7.3bn merger.A competition appeal tribunal hearing in London on Friday ruled that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) must give lawyers for Sainsbury and Asda more time. Continue reading...
British tourists in New York face eye-watering Christmas prices, with sterling at new lowTravellers at some UK airports are receiving less than $1 for every £1 they change after a week of Brexit turmoil pushed sterling to fresh lows.At Cardiff airport, the bureau de change was offering customers only $0.97 for every £1 on Friday. At Bristol airport, Moneycorp is giving customers only $1.03 for £1, while at Gatwick the rate is only $1.06. At Heathrow, Travelex is paying $1.05 for every £1. Continue reading...
Ex-chancellor’s tax credits started to erase problem – but universal credit reverses trendGordon Brown is on familiar territory. The former prime minister is parked on a sofa in a family centre in the heart of his old constituency and holding forth about poverty.The venue, a family centre called the Cottage, is in the Templehall part of Kirkcaldy and easy to miss. The poverty that it is helping to alleviate is not. When it launched its first Christmas appeal eight years ago – the year Brown’s Labour government was turfed out of office – the centre assisted 80 families. Last year it was 950: th[...]
Dominic Chappell tells court he wishes he had ‘never got involved’ with BHSThe former owner of BHS has hit out at Sir Philip Green, claiming to be a “victim” of the retailer’s earlier failures after being hit with a £120,000 court fine.Defending himself in Hove crown court on Friday, Dominic Chappell was found guilty of failing to provide vital documents to the pensions regulator following BHS’s collapse in 2016. The former racing driver’s re-sentencing follows a failed appeal earlier this year. Continue reading...
Allowances made public for first time and policy will come into force in March 2019The Bank of England is cutting meal and hotel allowances for staff after coming under fire over a £390,000 travel bill racked up by two of its economics advisers.The central bank has for the first time published its travel and expenses policy to the public, following criticism by MPs over the “staggering” costs run up by US-based members of its financial policy committee. Continue reading...
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Chinese group prepared to make wholesale changes, says western Europe chief
US fears that it will lose ‘commanding heights’ of new technology
Meng Wanzhou must surrender passports and pay for private security guards to accompany her
The telecoms group’s bet on digital media was mistaken but has not been harmful
Security concerns about Chinese telecoms group grow in wake of finance chief’s arrest
Fibre optic and cloud computing provider plans expansion as demand for data surges
World’s biggest telecoms equipment maker under sharp scrutiny after CFO’s arrest
Telecoms group eyes connection speed boost as demand for mobile data surges
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Bug let developers see private images belonging to up to 6.8m users
The Chinese telecoms magnate is at the centre of the US’s trade war with his country
Predicting the death of old technologies is seldom simple — as the vinyl LP renaissance shows
In desperate times investors will pounce on every bit of good news
Mid-20th century designers offered bold visions. What changed?
Founder sees promising business in putting communication satellites into low-earth orbit
Qualcomm accuses US tech group of disregarding Chinese court’s infringement ruling
Technology group faces prosecution if it breached a court suppression order
Wind, rain and snow in some markets threaten to damp rapid growth
© Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2018. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times. See http://www.ft.com/servicestools/help/terms#legal1 for the terms and conditions of reuse.