Business chiefs call for dramatic overhaul of rates to help high street – Growing pressure to reform ‘unfair’ tax, as latest figures show rise in insolvencies Ministers are facing renewed pressure to reform business rates to bolster the UK’s high streets, with calls for a “complete review” from the Conservative mayor of the West Midlands. […]

Amazon puts delivery robots on streets – with a human in tow – Six-wheeled robots launching in US can autonomously follow route and dodge pedestrians Amazon’s drone delivery service may be missing in action but the company has not given up on its dream of robots delivering parcels. It is launching Amazon Scout, a service […]

Amazon knocked off top of UK consumer poll once ethics considered – Firm falls to fifth place in customer satisfaction poll with First Direct ranked best Amazon has slipped down a list of companies ranked by customer satisfaction after consumers were asked to consider ethics when rating brands. The online retailer, which became the world’s […]

One thing to be grateful to Brexit for: Britons are buying less on credit – Consumer borrowing is falling, which is no bad thing. But it’s uncertainty, not regulation, that’s acting as the brake A sharp decline in household spending on the never-never, and especially spending on credit cards, is a trend that must surely […]

Another thing you may not know about Bitcoin: it’s killing the planet | Ethan Lou – As a Bitcoin maker who covered the oil industry as a journalist, I see parallels between the two that may haunt cryptocurrency I make Bitcoin, and in a previous life, I covered the oil industry as a journalist. Increasingly, […]

Boohoo raises sales forecast after a very nice Christmas – Young shoppers flock to online fashion group’s Nasty Gal and PrettyLittleThing websites The online fashion group Boohoo has emerged as a Christmas winner after young shoppers made a beeline for its PrettyLittleThing and Nasty Gal websites. Its arch-rival, Asos, issued a shock profit warning before […]

Experience: I made $1m on bitcoin – and lost it again – I got caught up in the hype. Then the bubble burst Until 2016, I ran an advertising agency in London. At our peak, we were highly successful; I had a team of 35 people, a £3m turnover and a Covent Garden office. When […]

Amazon and the homeless: a tale of two Long Island cities – The tech giant’s new hub in New York will be close to a growing shelter zone – but can the city fight homelessness while cultivating the market forces that are pricing people out? Juan Rivera has lived in Long Island City, in Queens, […]

‘We didn’t respond fast enough’: Seattle lawmakers warn New York over Amazon – Council members urge New Yorkers to demand concessions like labor standards before company gains foothold in city Two lawmakers from Amazon’s hometown in Seattle traveled to New York on Monday to warn the city of potential unintended consequences of the tech company’s […]

Seven ways technology will change in 2019 – App stores, Facebook, smartphone photography, even USB cables – they are all facing disruption this year At the beginning of 2019, as at the start of 2018, Margrethe Vestager remains the most powerful woman in tech. The EU competition commissioner has the world’s biggest companies walking on […]