Latest news with #CityAM
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why John Lewis London homes are the death of design
I'm worried about what new John Lewis-built homes, soon to be built in Ealing, West London, mean for humanity. Hundreds of flats designed by and decked out like a John Lewis showroom is surely the logical extension of where globalised design is going. The world's interior decor aesthetic is becoming more and more homogenous, repeated across cafes, restaurants and showhomes from Sydenham to Sydney. This is partly because of the internet, which enables trends to spread across the world in no time at all. You could point to the ubiquitous IKEA as a worse offender but at least we design our own IKEA homes rather than letting the IKEA overlords in to design them for us. And IKEA has a bit of spunk. It is funky, disruptive, fresh-thinking in its designs. John Lewis on the other hand is reliable, traditional and high quality – but it's hardly known for fashions and furnishings with a particular sense of individuality. John Lewis homes are surely going to borrow from the playbook of the store. At least the stores aim to intrigue new customers to come in, buy and browse, whereas the homes must appeal to the archetypal everyman. There will be over 400 new homes that will bolster London's economy by providing decent housing stock for rent, say the firm, despite 96 per cent of local residents voting against the newbuilds because they are 'outrageously oversized' and 'will destroy West Ealing.' John Lewis was a real person. The founder of the store was called John Spedan Lewis and his father was John Lewis, whom the original Oxford Street store was named after when it opened in 1864. But in our mind's eye, John Lewis is that uncle who comes round on Christmas Day, who seems like he's from another generation but somehow is from today (ironically, he probably disagrees with the new housing popping up in his town). But in these new build-to-rent homes, he's there 365 days a year. He's taken off his woolen slippers and moved in for good and this makes me very depressed indeed City AM reached out to The John Lewis Partnership for comment. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
AI triggers biggest financial services skills crunch in 15 years
The UK financial services sector is facing its most significant technology skills shortage in over 15 years, driven by the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence. According to the latest Harvey Nash digital leadership report, AI has surged from the seventh to the most scarce technology skill in just 18 months – a 260 per cent increase in reported shortages. Rhodri Hughes, executive director for financial services at Harvey Nash, warned that if the UK fails to address this AI talent gap within the next 12 to 18 months, it risks losing its status as a leading global financial hub. 'The UK has always been seen as a leading global financial hub', Hughes told City AM. 'If we don't address this skills challenge, this could come under threat, and we could lose our status along with that of being the number one financial tech hub'. The report revealed that 89 per cent of technology leaders in the financial services sector are now investing in AI, up from 43 per cent in the previous year. Yet this surge in investment is not matched by efforts to up-skill the workforce. Over half of the companies surveyed are not providing training in generative AI, leaving a significant gap between technological advancement and employee capabilities. Despite the overall skill shortage, larger organisations with technology budgets exceeding $500m are faring better. Nearly half, or 44 per cent, of these firms report measurable returns on their AI investments, compared to just 27 per cent across the sector. This disparity highlights the advantage that well-resourced companies have in navigating the AI landscape. The competition for AI talent is intensifying at a rapid rate, with financial institutions increasingly recruiting from big tech companies that have already invested heavily in AI projects. But, Hughes noted that there is also a trend of internal development emerging, with software engineers within banks seeking to gain experience in AI to advance their careers. 'Generally, the talent we're placing is from other big tech organisations', Hughes said. 'There is also an element of talent emerging from banks themselves, with software engineers wanting to gain experience in the area of progress their career in this direction'. What's more, the report found that engaging with Gen Z is proving beneficial for firms aiming to turbocharge AI. Firms that attract and incorporate the viewpoints of younger employees are as much as twice as likely to be prepared for the demands of AI, and 56 per cent more likely to report a measurable return on investment. Looking ahead, Hughes predicted that by 2030, the tech teams within top UK banks will be leaner, but more adept in AI. 'We'll likely see the size of software engineering teams reduced, but the engineers being employed will be adept in working alongside AI tools and specific AI engineers, to provide the most value to the business', he told City AM. The rapid pace of AI adoption has outstripped the development of regulatory frameworks. Only nine per cent of UK financial services execs believe their firm is prepared for incoming AI regulation, and 14 per cent do not have an AI regulatory risk framework in place. This regulatory lag poses a risk to the sector's ability and effectively implement AI technologies. 'Yes, there are regulations coming through – the AI act and ISO42001 – but these aren't coming quick enough', Hughes said to City AM. 'Many organisations are having to put their own controls in place and govern AI themselves'. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Investor visa floated to reverse exodus of millionaires
Keir Starmer's government is reportedly looking to introduce a special visa for foreign investors in an attempt to reverse the tide of millionaires leaving the UK. Officials are at the early stages of drawing up a visa which would provide an olive branch to wealthy businessmen keen to fund in areas such as artificial intelligence and clean energy, according to a report in Bloomberg. The new visa would come as part of a string of immigration reforms aimed at boosting integration and turning the UK into a high-skill, high-wage economy. In its white paper unveiled on Monday, the government said overseas businesses would be able to send twice as many workers to the UK as previously. Under current rules, a company can send up to five senior employees to work in the UK for three years as part of the Expansion Worker route. The Labour government also revealed plans to increase the number of people arriving on 'very high talent routes' via specialised visas for entrepreneurs and research interns working in artificial intelligence, which could drive up the number of millionaires in the UK. The white paper said it wished to allow UK firms to compete to attract a 'highly prized cohort' of business leaders amid 'fierce' competition across the global economy. This came despite reforms aimed at radically cutting net migration levels from a peak of 900,000 in the year to June 2023. Several government departments involved in boosting the economy and curbing immigration agreed attracting talent and influential businessmen was key to UK growth, according to Bloomberg reports. But the government's tax regime has come under fire for repelling investors, with a report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) suggesting that the removal of tax exemptions for non-domiciled residents could cost the UK government up to £12.2bn in fewer tax receipts due to the departure of wealthy individuals. Chancellor Reeves has defended policies targeted at non-doms, claiming that the scheme was unfair and has been replaced with a more 'internationally competitive residence-based system' for millionaires. City AM revealed last month one of the most high profile business leaders living in London – Goldman Sachs banker Richard Gnodde – was leaving Britain, following the likes of Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris out the exit. Milan has emerged as an alternative to London as investors pay a flat tax rate to avoid duties on other earnings while Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides is set to make a visit to London to trumpet up the country's softer tax regime on the wealthy. Research by the Adam Smith Institute said last month that the UK is expected to lose the greatest proportion of millionaires of any country by 2028. It also said that scrapping the non-doms scheme could cost the UK economy more than £100bn in the next ten years. Writing for City AM, Labour voter and British billionaire John Caudwelsaid reforms to tax regimes represented bad policymaking. 'I've long called for a better tax system that encourages investment and rewards those who stay and build here. That's not about giving the wealthy a break, it's about giving Britain a boost,' Caudwell wrote. 'The current reforms to the non-dom regime may be politically popular, but they risk sending the wrong signal. We must be a country that welcomes wealth creators and holds them to high standards rather than driving them away.'
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Here We Are, National Theatre, review: Stephen Sondheim musical is more Severance than sing-a-long
Here We Are review and star rating: ★★★★ Stephen Sondheim's final musical is nothing like his most famous works – in fact, it's barely a musical at all, but perhaps we shouldn't be surprised. As Here We Are writer David Ives remarked, the legend relished in challenging his loyal followers with reinvention. 'Sondheim makes people crazy in all kinds of interesting and different ways.' An absurd comedy about a bunch of rich Americans who try to go for brunch but can't seem to get served, Here We Are is a barmy satire with the existential trappings of a Beckett play. Proferring a message about overconsumption, it is certainly no gentle nostalgia vehicle like Old Friends, the blast through Sondheim's most famous tunes that scored a five-star review from City AM in 2023. Inspired by Luis Buñuel's absurdist films The Exterminating Angel and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, after Sondheim died aged in 2021 aged 91, there was controversy over whether the piece should be staged at all. Would this super experimental show dent Sondheim's legacy as perhaps the 20th century's greatest composer and lyricist, the man behind Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd and Into The Woods? Unlikely: the reality is that even if Here We Are ruffles the feathers of Sondheim purists, it wouldn't be the first time. Many of his shows didn't do big box office numbers or become classics for years after release. We meet a highly-strung group of yuppies, including a plastic surgeon, an ambassador and an industrialist. Wealthy central couple Leo and Marianne Brink, played by Rory Kinnear and Jane Krakowski, struggle to land a brunch booking for their group, and things go awry when the six friends become entangled with the radical left-wing group Prada – 'not the shoes' – and are taken down an absurdist rabbit hole not dissimilar to the Apple TV show Severance, where dream sequences become indistinguishable from reality. As a satire on wealth, Here We Are has some hilarious and pertinent bits, including the lady cloning her dogs so her fluffy friends are with her no matter which country she's in, and the insufferable chef who goes from serving French Deconstructionist cuisine to Post-Deconstructive, where 'everything is actually what it is.' Ives finds his biting point in how desperately out of touch these people are with reality. 'I want things to be what they seem and not what they are,' groans one character in one of the show's many interesting meta parts. It also works as a fascinating physical piece. Choreographer Sam Pinkleton, alongside director Joe Mantello and set and costume designer David Zinn spent seven years in development to orchestrate this frankly incredibly weird show, in which characters speak and move in time with Sondheim's accompaniment, like characters in an old black and white movie. Much of the comedy is mined from Fawlty Towers-style farcical faffing – but on a grand, complex scale. It's the type of tomfoolery that might look silly but is pulled off vanishingly rarely. As for Sondheim, he must have loved Ives' script. As for his ditties, they serve as a function to enable the story rather than existing to entertain us in and of themselves. Songs including Here We Are (Overture), The Road and Waiter's Song are more a final reminder of the legend's skill at employing music to bolster the plot rather than songs that stand alone. One audience member who sat near me joked that the songs and accompaniments were stitched together from bits of music he'd left on his cutting room floor from other productions, but I don't think that's necessarily a criticism. They add to the production's bags of natural charm. In the main, it's just refreshing to see something this surrealist and bonkers getting a mainstream staging. Here We Are plays at the until 28 June Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Daily Mirror
06-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Papa Johns shares huge update after closing 40 high street restaurant branches
The UK boss of the pizza giant has shared that the company is set to return to profit for the first time since 2021, this year with Papa Johns managing director Chris Phylactou recently confirming that it was "no longer losing money'. The high street pizza chain Papa Johns has shared a major update after being forced to close over 40 sites over the last year. The UK boss of the pizza giant has shared that the company is set to return to profit for the first time since 2021, this year. Papa Johns managing director Chris Phylactou has recently confirmed that the firm was "no longer losing money'. Speaking on an upcoming episode of City AM's Boardroom Uncovered podcast, the pizza chain boss shared that two of Papa John's largest partners flagged the risk of insolvency during 2023. He said: "We took a strategic decision to acquire those and we kept those restaurants for nearly a year. We tried to look at which ones we could turn around and fortunately 60 of them were really good. 'We franchised them internally to incumbent franchisees, 13 of them we've kept under corporate ownership, but unfortunately 43 of them we've had to close. Closing restaurants is never an easy decision. It's the last thing we ever want to do. It's a lot of jobs, particularly when people's livelihoods are at stake. But if restaurants perform performing badly and losing a lot of money, sometimes the best decision is to close them.' Get the best deals and tips from Mirror Money WHATSAPP GROUP: Get money news and top deals straight to your phone by joining our Money WhatsApp group here. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Papa Johns is the UK's second largest pizza takeaway brand - sitting behind Domino's. The first UK Papa Johns stores opened in Essex in 1999 and in 2013 it opened it's 200 UK store. At the start of 2024, Papa Johns owned 118 branches and 406 franchise stores. However, in 2023, Papa Johns closed 22 branches but opened 15 new sites. The UK arm of Papa Johns lost almost £20million in the year to October 2024, with a pre-tax of £19.9million in 2023 and a £4.1million loss in 2022. Join Money Saving Club's specialist topics For all you savvy savers and bargain hunters out there, there's a golden opportunity to stretch your pounds further. The Money Saving Club newsletter, a favourite among thousands who thrive on catching the best deals, is stepping up its game. Simply follow the link and select one or more of the following topics to get all the latest deals and advice on: Travel; Property; Pets, family and home; Personal finance; Shopping and discounts; Utilities. This is when Papa Johns announced the plans to close stores which Chris Phylactou said was a "difficult decision". He said: "Having people lose their jobs is the last option for us. We tried everything to keep the restaurants open.' He added: 'It's never an easy decision and something that I wasn't happy doing, but it's something that we had to do as a brand. We held on to the restaurants probably longer than we should have to protect the people for as long as we could. 'And we put a lot of effort into trying those trying to turn those businesses around. But unfortunately, they were even the wrong location and the performance of the restaurants was really bad. So there was no business case to keep them open.'
