Month: January 2023

Everything that matters this morning

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Twitter to introduce higher priced subscription with no ads

Elon Musk has tweeted that Twitter will be introducing a “higher priced” subscription that will have “zero ads”.

“Ads are too frequent on Twitter and too big. Taking steps to address both in coming weeks,” he tweeted on Saturday.

It comes after the company was reportedly hit by a 35% revenue drop in Q4 2022, amid a cutback in spending from advertisers, according to the Information.

Meanwhile reports suggest a 40% drop in revenue year over year, after a Twitter manager told staff revenue was 40% down on Tuesday (17 Jan) compared with a year ago.

Advertising is Twitter’s main source of income, accounting for 90% of 2021’s $5.1bn (£4.1bn) revenue.

READ MORE: Twitter hit by 40% revenue drop amid ad squeeze, say reports

Morrisons introduces fresh price cuts

Following news in early January that Morrisons was investing £16m to cut prices across a range of products, the supermarket has confirmed a second wave of price cuts.

Fresh price cuts will impact 820 products across a range of categories, such as meat, fruits and vegetables and confectionary, alongside household items, as rising costs and food inflation continue to have an impact on consumers.

The cuts in total average around 20%, and Morrisons says the reductions will be locked in for at least two months, according to the Grocer.

Morrisons CEO David Potts says the cuts demonstrate the supermarket chain’s “continued commitment” to doing all it can to help consumers with their grocery shopping costs.

“In addition to the cuts we made to the Savers range at the start of the month and then our fuel promotion, we’re now cutting the price on even more popular products to help make a positive difference to the pockets of our customers,” he

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Tech layoffs 2023: Companies that have made cuts

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Companies across the tech industry have announced layoffs, affecting thousands of workers in the first few weeks of 2023.

Sales at top tech firms have retreated from the blistering pace attained during the pandemic, when billions across the world were forced into isolation. Customers stuck at home came to rely on delivery services like e-commerce and virtual connections formed through social media and videoconferencing.

Company officials have often cited economic uncertainty and fears of a recession in their job-cutting, cost-cutting decisions. It follows a volatile 2022, which was also marred with layoffs by the thousands across major tech brands.

Spotify

Spotify, the Sweden-based music streaming platform, announced on Monday plans to slash 6% of its workforce, which amounts to about 600 employees.

After strong pandemic-era performance, the company encountered a challenging business environment, CEO Daniel Ek told employees in a memo on Monday.

“Like many other leaders, I hoped to sustain the strong tailwinds from the pandemic and believed that our broad global business and lower risk to the impact of a slowdown in ads would insulate us,” he said. “In hindsight, I was too ambitious in investing ahead of our revenue growth.”

Wayfair

Online home goods retailer Wayfair will lay off about 1,750 workers or roughly 10% of its staff, the company announced Friday, Jan. 20.

Wayfair saw business surge during the pandemic, as people stuck at home eschewed brick-and-mortar shopping and increased spending on furniture, home renovations and other domestic improvements.

But the economic environment has turned against the company, as inflation has strained household budgets and limited nonessential purchases.

The move last week follows a previous round of layoffs in August that cut 5% of the company’s workforce.

“We thrive when we are scrappy and dedicated to customer outcomes,” Wayfair CEO and Co-founder Niraj Shah said Friday

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Google Chrome Will Stop Working On Some Windows PCs…And Other Small Business Tech News This Week

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Here are five things in technology that happened this past week and how they affect your business. Did you miss them?

1 – Google Chrome will stop working properly on millions of Windows PCs this week.

According to recent reports, Google will stop providing security and technical support for Google Chrome on Windows 7 this week. While older versions of Chrome will continue working, employees and business owners currently using the browser on older versions of Windows have to upgrade to Windows 10 or later as soon as possible in order to receive Chrome releases in the future. (Source: Metro)

Why this is important for your business:

Still clinging to Windows 7? Ah, the few…the proud. But c’mon, it’s time to upgrade. If not just to ensure that your people can use Chrome but also for security reasons. You gave it a good ride and I’m impressed. But it’s time to move on.

2 – The AI industry is booming among the “tech recession.”

With recession fears mounting, companies are concerned about hiring talent, with many successful tech companies anticipating more layoffs and job cuts in the coming months. However, the artificial intelligence space continues to experience success and is expected to see an annual growth rate of over 21 percent and climb by $76.44 billion in the next two years. (Source: Venture Beat)

Why this is important for your business:

One of the

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Email Layoff Was ‘Slap in the Face’ After 20 Years

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  • Jeremy Joslin, a 20-year Google engineer, said being laid off via email was a “slap in the face.”
  • “It’s as if I dropped off the grid and they have to piece together any knowledge I took,” he added.
  • Other ex-Googlers have criticized the abrupt and impersonal nature of their terminations.

A software engineer described the way he found out Google was laying him off as a “slap in the face.”

Jeremy Joslin, whose LinkedIn profile says he had worked at the tech giant since 2003, said Friday the company gave him the news over email.

“It’s hard for me to believe that after 20 years at Google I unexpectedly find out about my last day via an email,” he tweeted. “What a slap in the face. I wish I could have said goodbye to everyone face to face.”

In a post on LinkedIn, Joslin added: “I never thought it would happen like this.”

Google announced Friday it was laying off about 12,000 employees, or 6% of its global workforce, “across Alphabet, product areas, functions, levels and regions.” CEO Sundar Pichai said the company had hired too quickly and couldn’t keep all its staff on in the current “economic reality.”

‘It’s as if I dropped off the grid’

Ex-Googlers have vented on LinkedIn and Twitter about the abrupt and impersonal nature of their layoffs.

“Being let go via a transactional email without any acknowledgement of your personal time or impact on the company is a difficult way to go out,” Joslin said on LinkedIn. “A little bit of compassion and personal touch can go a long way.”

Joslin said Friday in another LinkedIn comment that

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Google to lay off 12,000 people, memo from CEO Sundar Pichai says

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Google-parent Alphabet slashes headcount by 12,000

Google said Friday it will lay off 12,000 people from its workforce, adding to the slew of major U.S. tech companies cutting jobs amid fears of an oncoming recession.

Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and parent company Alphabet, said in an email sent to the company’s staff Friday that the firm will begin making layoffs in the U.S. immediately. In other countries, the process “will take longer due to local laws and practices,” he said. CNBC reported in November that Google employees had been fearing layoffs as its counterparts made cuts and as employees saw changes to the company’s performance ratings system.

The web search and video sharing giant will offer U.S.-based employees 16 weeks of severance pay plus two weeks for each additional year they’ve worked at Google, Pichai added.

Google shares closed up more than 5% after the news.

Tech companies are facing a variety of challenges at the moment, not least rising interest rates and inflation over the past year that have clobbered technology shares and forced advertisers to cut back on online ad spending.

Hikes to interest rates from the U.S. Federal Reserve in particular have led to souring appetite for American tech shares. The gloomy macroeconomic climate has in turn piled pressure on those companies to make deep cuts to their workforces.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 09: Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks at a panel at the CEO Summit of the Americas hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on June 09, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. The CEO Summit entered its second day of events with a formal signing for the “International Coalition to Connect Marine Protected Areas” and a speech from U.S. President Joe Biden. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images News | Getty Images

On Wednesday,

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Alphabet — Google’s corporate parent — to cut 12,000 jobs

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Google’s parent Alphabet Inc. is eliminating about 12,000 jobs, or six per cent of its workforce, it said in a staff memo Friday, as the technology sector reels from layoffs and companies stake their futures on artificial intelligence (AI).

The cuts come at a delicate moment for the U.S. company, which has long been the leader in key areas of AI research.

Alphabet now faces a challenge from Microsoft Corp. in a branch of tech that can, for instance, create virtually any content a user can think up and type in a text box.

Microsoft this week said recession worries were forcing it to shed 10,000 jobs, less than five per cent of its workforce, and it would focus on imbuing its products with more AI going forward — a point Alphabet’s CEO Sundar Pichai echoed in the memo.

Alphabet faced “a different economic reality” from the past two years when it rapidly expanded its workforce, decisions for which Pichai said he took “full responsibility.”

Pichai became Alphabet CEO in 2019.

Still, he said, Google was gearing up “to share some entirely new experiences for users, developers and businesses,” and the company has “a substantial opportunity in front of us with AI across our products.”

Major launch

The company has been working on a major AI launch, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. One of the sources said it would take place in the spring of this year.

Susannah Streeter, an analyst with Hargreaves Lansdown, said Alphabet’s advertising business, which underpins Google’s search engine and YouTube, was not immune to economic turbulence.

“Ad growth has come off the boil, a sharp contrast from the busy days of the post-pandemic reopening, which saw a surge in consumer spending,” she said. The company faces competitive and regulatory threats as well,

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Investcorp Private Credit Appoints New Co-Head as Expansion of Its Credit Business Continues

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NEW YORK, Jan. 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Investcorp, a leading global alternative investment firm, today announced the appointment of Suhail Shaikh as Co-Head of Investcorp’s Private Credit business. Based in New York, Shaikh will co-lead the private credit business alongside current Co-Head, Mike Mauer. Shaikh brings with him approximately $200 million of assets under management and three team members from his previous firm Alcentra, expanding the private credit team to 14 professionals and team-managed assets to approximately $500 million. Current Co-Head, Chris Jansen, will take on an advisory role and retire later this year after ensuring a smooth transition.

Shaikh’s appointment marks the latest in a transformational period for Investcorp’s credit business, which in December announced the acquisition of Marble Point Credit Management LLC, a leading US-based CLO manager. Over its 20-year history, Investcorp Credit Management has emerged as a leading player in the private credit space with its public BDC as well as private debt funds.

“We are pleased with the strong momentum in Investcorp’s private credit business and I want to personally thank Chris for his partnership and all his contributions,” said Mike Mauer. “Over the past months, we have expanded our product base and the addition of Suhail and his team’s expertise will only elevate our underwriting and sourcing capabilities, which will be additive to our platform.”

Shaikh has over a decade of private credit investment experience. He joins from Alcentra, where he led their U.S. Private Credit business. Prior to that, he was a Partner and Senior Investment Professional at SLR Capital Partners (formerly Solar Capital Partners). His credit investing experience was preceded by a career in leveraged finance and advisory investment banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, CIBC World Markets and JP Morgan.

“I am thrilled to join

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Town of Stony Plain aims to attract outside investment through new commerce-oriented website

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The Town of Stony Plain has launched a new website called Invest Stony Plain showcasing local investment opportunities and promoting the evolution of the community's position in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region. Photo by Rudy Howell/Postmedia.
The Town of Stony Plain has launched a new website called Invest Stony Plain showcasing local investment opportunities and promoting the evolution of the community’s position in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region. Photo by Rudy Howell/Postmedia. jpg, SP

The Town’s Economic Development team is reimagining Stony Plain through a brand-new commerce-oriented website.

Using updated branding, Invest Stony Plain showcases local investment opportunities and promotes the evolution of the community’s position in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region.

As a part of Stony Plain’s 2022 – 2025 Strategic Plan, Town Council has committed to growing the municipality’s population from nearly 20,000 to 30,000 in an effort to reap the benefits growth will provide current and future residents, including increased quality of life and economic and employment opportunities.

“Growing a population by one-third requires a considerable shift in how people think and relate to Stony Plain. Invest Stony Plain is our way of initializing that shift. It sparks the creative energy required to clean the slate and look at the future through a new lens. The new website ensures critical information is readily available for prospective businesses making investment decisions,” said Michelle Levasseur, Economic Development Officer, Town of Stony Plain.

To reach this population goal, the Town is currently working on a Highway Development Strategy to accelerate development along Highways 16A and 628. Work also continues on a Broadband Strategy to fill existing service gaps and improve Stony Plain’s business opportunities. Further, funds have been committed in 2023 to complete a new Economic Development Strategy supporting the upward growth of Stony Plain’s business ecosystem.

The new website

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STEER Announces a Proposed Transaction for an $18 Million Direct Investment Involving its Digital Restaurant Supply Business (B2B Marketplace)

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TORONTO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–STEER Technologies Inc. (“STEER” or the “Company”) (TSXV: STER) (OTCQX: STEEF), an integrated ESG technology platform, is pleased to announce that on January 16, 2023 it entered into a non-binding term sheet (the “Term Sheet”) contemplating the sale (the “Proposed Transaction”) of approximately 37.5% of its digital restaurant supply business (the “Restaurant Supply Business”), which is currently indirectly held through STEER’s wholly-owned subsidiary Food Hwy Canada Inc. (“Food Hwy”), to a syndicate of strategic investors (the “Investor Group”) at a post-money valuation of approximately $48 million.

The Proposed Transaction will be structured by rolling out the Restaurant Supply Business, currently a division of Food Hwy, into a separate newly-formed company (“Newco”) valued at approximately $48 million post-transaction. The Term Sheet contemplates that STEER, Food Hwy and the Investor Group will negotiate and enter into definitive agreements in respect of the Proposed Transaction, pursuant to which it is anticipated that the Investor Group will invest a total of $18 million in cash as part of the Proposed Transaction, with $6 million expected to be received by Food Hwy and $12 million expected to be injected directly into Newco to assist with scaling up operations and growth in regards to the Restaurant Supply Business. Following the completion of the Proposed Transaction, STEER is expected to indirectly retain approximately 62.5% ownership of Newco. It is intended that the $6 million in proceeds that is expected to be received by Food Hwy in connection with the Proposed Transaction will be applied by STEER and Food Hwy to further grow and develop their Subscription-Based and On-Demand service offerings.

It is anticipated that a portion of the financing will come from certain members of the Restaurant Supply

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Business minister boasted Britishvolt was Brexit success story months before collapse | Electric, hybrid and low-emission cars

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Ministers were using the electric car battery maker Britishvolt as a prime example of the government’s record for “securing business investment in the UK” just months before the scheme collapsed without any public investment.

The company, once heralded as Britain’s potential champion for battery making, fell into administration last week after the failure of last-ditch talks to find emergency funding to keep it afloat. Its demise has been criticised as showing the government’s lack of industrial strategy, the shortcomings of “levelling up” and Britain’s failure to grasp new manufacturing opportunities in the wake of Brexit.

However, it has emerged that just last summer, ministers were still using Britishvolt as an example of the government’s ability to attract investment to the UK. In response to a request from a Tory MP for details of the government’s progress in securing investment, the then-business minister, Jane Hunt, claimed the government “has provided further support to attract significant investment in manufacturing, including delivering Britishvolt’s £1.7bn gigafactory in Blyth Valley, which will support 3,000 direct jobs and a further 5,000 across the supply chain.”

Senior Britishvolt executives are now to be quizzed as part of a parliamentary inquiry into the electric car battery industry. It had been trying to build a large facility near Blyth in Northumberland and had been promised government funds worth £100m, but the grant was dependent on finding private investors for the project.

Government officials met with the company on several occasions, but both the business department and the Treasury concluded its financial and managerial performance meant providing emergency support would not be a good use of public money. There have since been claims of mismanagement and profligate spending by the company, which senior figures have denied.

It is an embarrassment for the government, in a week in which it was

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