Marketing Newscast

(Edited 13 January 2025)

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is to unveil a plan to “drive incredible change" in the country through the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) today. He says the tech "has the potential to transform the lives of working people" and he plans to “make Britain the world leader" in the field. The AI Opportunities Action Plan being announced today is backed by leading tech firms, which the Government says have committed £14bn towards various projects, creating 13,250 jobs. It follows 50 recommendations tabled by AI adviser Matt Clifford in a report commissioned by the Government to support the growth of AI and its use in public services. These include investment in a new supercomputer to boost computing power; plans for growth zones where development will be focused; and technology that can be used to help tackle issues such as potholes. "I want to make sure that it benefits everyone from every background, that it benefits every community, from every part of the UK," Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle told the BBC.

British Gas owner Centrica said on Friday that the UK has less than a week of gas reserves, as storage fell to "concerningly low levels" amid the current cold snap. As of Thursday, inventories at gas storage sites were down 26% on the same time last year, Centrica said, blaming the colder-than-usual conditions and the end of Russian gas pipeline supplies through Ukraine on 31^st December. "We are an outlier from the rest of Europe when it comes to the role of storage in our energy system and we are now seeing the implications of that," CEO Chris O'Shea said, adding that "stubbornly high" gas prices had made it more difficult to top up storage over Christmas. However, National Gas, which owns the UK gas network, said the UK gets its gas from "a diverse range of sources" and that storage "remains healthy". Centrica’s announcement follows reports Britain came “within a whisker of blackouts” on Wednesday last week after surplus electricity capacity on the National Grid plummeted. Wind farms failed to generate enough power, and gas power stations has to be called on to provide 3 hours’ worth of electricity at a cost of £12m.

Sainsbury's is increasing wages by 5% after bumper Christmas quarter sales which saw bottles of fizz fly off the shelves at a rate of 200 a minute, and a 40% increase in party food sales Staff across both Sainsbury's and Argos will see wages rise to £12.45 per hour in March, and with those in London getting £13.70 an hour. Then there will be another increase to £12.60 ad £13.85 per hour respectively in August. Asda, meanwhile, is making cuts to staff, announcing the departure of 13 regional managers after suffering its worst Christmas sales since 2015. Sales slumped by 5.8% in the 12 weeks to 29^th December, hence Asda is restructuring to cut the supermarket’s ‘sub-regions’ from 30 to 22.

JCB is putting on hold plans to create 500 new jobs because of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s tax-raising Budget. A spokesman for the manufacturing giant said: “JCB fully intends to offer a number of agency employees full-time JCB contracts when market conditions allow. Originally this was planned for January but with challenging market conditions set to remain for at least the next six months, the offering of JCB contracts has been deferred until the trading environment improves.”

Recruitment company Pagegroup cut staff numbers by 130 in the final months of 2024, it has been revealed. The cuts, mainly in the UK and Europe followed a drop in gross profit in the final quarter of the year of £196.7m, down from £237.5m in the same period the year before. Pagegroup also axed 250 jobs in the first half of the year. The firm said “subdued levels of clients and candidate confidence” were impacting decision-making. “The conversion of interviews to accepted offers remains the most significant area of challenge as the ongoing macro-economic uncertainty continues to impact candidate and client confidence, also extending the time-to-hire,” Nicholas Kirk, the firm’s CEO said.

Heathrow Airport saw a record number of passengers in 2024, with 83.9m people passing through during the year, a 5.9% increase on 2023 and over 3m more than the previous record set in 2019.

Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group is preparing a £500m order for a dozen high-speed trains as part of its bid to run services through the Channel Tunnel from 2029, when Eurostar’s monopoly comes to an end. Project lead Phil Whittingham said Virgin will choose between two suppliers it has shortlisted and is evaluating models from Alstom, Siemens, Hitachi and Talgo. The project will require close to £1bn in launch funding, Whittingham also said, adding that Branson will take as big an equity stake as possible, potentially supported by a partner or partners. Startup Evolyn, which is backed by the Spanish Cosmen family, the leading investor in Mobico, formerly National Express, is also planning to run trains along the route.

Kingswood, the AIM-listed wealth and investment management group, has made Peter Coleman its permanent CEO after six months serving in an interim capacity since David Lawrence resigned in July after four years at the firm.

Meta and Amazon are axing their diversity programmes, the two have announced, just days after Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp owner Meta said it was ending a fact-checking programme criticised by President-elect Donald Trump, among others. In a memo to staff about its decision, which affects, hiring, supplier and training efforts, Meta cited a "shifting legal and policy landscape" and cited a 2023 US Supreme Court ruling that struck down the right for private universities to consider race in admissions’ decisions, and saying the term "DEI" (diversity, equity and inclusion) had become "charged". Meanwhile, in a memo to employees, Amazon said it was "winding down outdated programs and materials" related to representation and inclusion, aiming to complete the process by the end of 2024."Rather than have individual groups build programs, we are focusing on programs with proven outcomes — and we also aim to foster a more truly inclusive culture," Candi Castleberry, Amazon's VP of inclusive experiences and technology, wrote in the note which was first reported by Bloomberg on Friday. Walmart and McDonalds have made similar decisions since Trump won the Presidential election, and financial firms JPMorgan Chase and BlackRock pulled out of groups focused on risks from climate change last week.