Business News

[rosiebaxter990]

Nissan Performs Uk's Longest And Most Complex Driverless Car Trip


A Nissan car has completed a 230-mile journey autonomously in Britain, the longest and most complex such trip in the country as carmakers race to develop driverless technologies which are revolutionising travel. The Nissan LEAF vehicle undertook the 370 km journey from the Japanese carmaker’s European technical centre in Cranfield, southern England, to its Sunderland factory in the north east, alongside conventional road users.

Nissan has previously said Britain’s flexible approach to testing autonomous vehicles helped it pick London for its first European tests in 2017 when a driverless vehicle travelled up to 50 miles per hour. “Safely completing the longest autonomous drive in Britain is an incredible achievement for Nissan and the HumanDrive consortium, and a huge step towards the rollout of driverless cars on UK streets,” said junior business minister Nadhim Zahawi.

[owenmarsden]

Experts Sound Alarm Over Pm's Pledge To 'level Up' UK Economy


It would take Boris Johnson two full terms as prime minister to fulfil his pledge to “level up” the British economy, according to one of the UK’s leading economic thinktanks. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said Johnson’s plans would probably take more than a decade to raise the level of economic output across the country, due to capacity constraints. In a warning before next month’s budget, Britain’s oldest economic thinktank said the government’s plan to raise investment in infrastructure projects by about £20bn per year would have only a modest impact on the UK’s dismal productivity levels. Sajid Javid, the chancellor, is expected to outline plans for a rise in government spending in order to meet Johnson’s promise made before the election.

[owenmarsden]

Amazon Choice Label Is Being 'gamed To Promote Poor Products'


Amazon is promoting poor-quality products with an “Amazon’s Choice” badge as cunning sellers manipulate the algorithmic recommendation system behind the label, according to research from the consumer rights group Which?. Many of the most popular items sold on Amazon.co.uk are labelled Amazon’s Choice, a thin blue badge that renders a product more visible on the search results page. Despite the name, Amazon does not actively select the products it declares its choice: the company instead automatically bestows the commendation on products that match an undisclosed set of criteria including good reviews, low price and fast shipping. That means that if unscrupulous sellers are able to generate good reviews for mediocre, unsuitable or dangerous products, they can succeed in getting their items the coveted label, Which? said.

[Charliegrover]

The Advantage Of Switching To The Cloud For Business


Has your business made the leap to the cloud yet? If not, it is about time that you took a look at some of the benefits this decision could have for you and your business. The cloud is one of the biggest technological innovations we have seen in the past few years and you should try to take advantage of it as soon as possible. Here are some of the reasons why you should move your company’s computing to the cloud.

Accessibility
The single biggest advantage of a cloud system is that you can access it from anywhere around the world at any time. If you have employees in different time zones, they can all be brought together to work on exactly the same platform.

Flexibility
The cloud is also extremely flexible. It is very easy to scale a cloud system up or down to meet the needs of your business. Unlike hardware which needs to be bought and sold during company reshuffles, a cloud just needs to be installed on the new machines.

Security
One of the biggest problems businesses can face is lost hardware. If your employee leaves their laptop on a train, it can mean a massive security compromise for the team. However, you can quickly fix this with the cloud as no sensitive data is stored on hardware anymore. You can even remotely wipe the compromised laptop if you need to.

Go Green
The cloud can also help you to move towards a more eco-friendly stance within your office. Going paperless is extremely beneficial as it allows you to organise your office and keep it clutter-free.

Increased Collaboration
Everyone in the company can see the work which needs to be done at all times. It is easier to share the workload and collaborate on projects if it is done through the cloud. Since everything is also updated in real-time, everyone is kept up to date with the goings-on of the company.


For more update stay connected with Megri Business Blog, that provides the latest business update.
Mobile: 07466 440 362
Email: info@megrisoft.com

[rosiebaxter990]

UK Markets Watchdog Tells Investment Platforms To Be 'impartial'

Investment platforms must document how they select, monitor and deselect funds from the “Best Buy” lists they market to customers, Britain’s markets watchdog said on Thursday. Investment platforms came under scrutiny in June when the flagship equities fund of then star stockpicker Neil Woodford was suspended after failing to meet redemption requests from investors. “Firms operating Best Buy lists must construct them impartially and manage conflicts, for example preference for funds offering discounts over formal and objective criteria, lack of independence of research teams and associated governance,” the FCA said in a letter to investment platforms.

[Amelie Barrett]

China to halve tariffs on some U.S. imports

China said on Thursday it will halve additional tariffs levied against 1,717 products imported from the United States last year, following the signing of a Phase 1 trade deal that brought a truce to a bruising trade war.

China's finance ministry said in a statement that tariff reductions for the relevant goods, which were implemented on Sept. 1, will take effect from 0501 GMT on Feb. 14.

[rosiebaxter990]

House Prices Rising At Fastest Rate In Two Years, Index Says

House prices rose in January at the fastest annual rate in two years, according to Halifax, although the mortgage lender said it was too early to tell if the property market had turned the corner after weakness seen in 2019. Annual growth in prices reached 4.1 per cent last month, the strongest year-on-year increase since February 2018. But the pace of rises slowed month-on-month, according to Halifax’s index. Prices increased on the month by 0.4 per cent in January compared with stronger gains of 1.8 per cent in December and 1.2 per cent in November.

The index is the latest to point to a possible upturn in the housing market following the general election. The number of sales rose by 6.2 per cent in December, according to HMRC, while surveyors’ organisation RICS saw an increase in both the number of property sales and new enquiries from potential buyers last month. The number of new homes starting to be built fell 7 per cent to 157,550 in the year to September, government figures showed last month, although the number of completions rose by 9 per cent compared to a decade high of 177,980. “However, instead of offering a route to building additional low cost homes, this policy simply puts at risk the social homes currently being built.”

[owenmarsden]

A Trade Deal With Trump’s America Would Shred Britain’s Climate Ambitions


Few things have loomed larger in Brexit imaginary than the stupendous trade deals the UK will get as soon as it frees itself from the thicket of European Union regulation. The government hopes to hash out deals with both the EU and the United States by the end of the year, when the transition period ends and Britain is no longer bound to Europe’s rules. An ambitious goal, but not impossible. President Trump is “bullish” on a UK deal, the American ambassador Woody Johnson recently said, adding that Trump, like the prime minister, wants to “get it done”. They make it sound so easy. And it’s true that Donald Trump has so far favoured quick and dirty deals with individual countries over complex, multinational agreements. But trade negotiations will also mean facing the world’s largest economy at the bargaining table alone, with little leverage and a ticking clock. The US will push aggressively against anything that blocks American companies from doing business here, and there are few things on which the two countries are more divided than climate policy.

[rosiebaxter990]

Warehouse Fire Pushes Ocado To £214m Loss

Ocado sunk to a £214.5m pre-tax loss last year, blaming costs from a fire that destroyed an automated warehouse in Andover, Hampshire last February. The loss for the 12 months to Dec 1 was nearly five times higher than the £44m for the previous 12 months. The FTSE 100 company blamed exceptional charges of £94.1m, most of which was due to the Andover fire, for falling further into the red. However, chief executive Tim Steiner said the results demonstrated strong momentum. Although statutory results reflected a combination of factors, including the impact of the Andover fire, the underlying performance of Ocado Retail and the successful growth of Ocado Solutions were very encouraging.

[rosiebaxter990]

Energy Customers To Receive Automatic Compensation For Delays In Switching Accounts

Energy companies will be forced to automatically compensate customers who experience delays or mistakes when switching supplier. Regulator Ofgem said its new compensation requirements would protect consumers and further boost confidence in the switching process. Customers will receive an automatic £30 payment from gas and electricity suppliers if their swap takes longer than 15 working days, if their final bill does not arrive within six weeks, or they are switched by mistake. Customers will receive an automatic £30 payment from gas and electricity suppliers if their swap takes longer than 15 working days, if their final bill does not arrive within six weeks, or they are switched by mistake. The requirements coming into force from 1 May will give customers further peace of mind that they will be compensated if something goes wrong when they change providers, Ofgem said. It added the move should serve as a wake-up call for suppliers to cut out problems for customers and get switching right first time.