Money blog: Italy wants Britons to come 'work from home' there for a year (2024)

Euan Blair's apprenticeship company Multiverse will use AI to pick prospective job applicants.

The son of the former prime minister Sir Tony Blair has bought talent intelligence platform Searchlight, whose artificial intelligence technology claims to identify candidates for job vacancies four times more effectively than traditional methods, for his firm.

It does this by removing the biases and assumptions that may affect decisions by managers and then shortlisting candidates.

According to Searchlight's website it reduces "unconscious bias" with "impartial AI algorithms designed to catch what the human eye may miss".

It also provides "rigorous analysis" of work experience and hard and soft skills.

Mr Blair said what often held companies back was "the gap between the transformation they want to see, and the skills that will unlock it".

"Searchlight's AI, platform, and exceptional talent will allow us to better diagnose the skills needed within companies and deliver impactful solutions," he said.

Multiverse was founded by Mr Blair in 2016 and has since grown across the UK and US.

It works with more than 1,500companies, including Microsoft, Citi and Just Eat, and has trained more than 16,000apprentices.

Premier League club Crystal Palace has come under fire after a bereaved fan was told he would need to pay extra to transfer his late father's season ticket to another member of his family.

Haris Armstrong said his sister, to whom the season ticket would be transferred, would've had to pay extra for the ticket - something the club later put down to poor communication.

"I was told that I actually would not be able to renew my dad's seat on the early bird offer and that as it was my sister's first ST, she would be charged at a higher rate," Mr Armstrong said in a post on X.

He was also told that loyalty points accrued by his father over many years were non-transferrable when he asked that they be given to his sister.

The Palace fan said there was "essentially no mechanism to transfer an ST upon someone's death. The surviving family get penalised and have to pay more money."

Mr Armstrong's post went viral and has been widely discussed by fellow fans online.

He accused the club of looking to "financially capitalise on someone's death".

Mr Armstrong labelled the handling of his request "careless, greedy and insensitive" and an "absolute disgrace".

After we reached out to the club, Crystal Palace spoke to Mr Armstrong, who issued a subsequent clarification.

He said he was told the "price issue was an admin/staffing error and apparently early bird tickets should always be offered when fans pass away".

Mr Armstrong also said he and the club discussed bereavement policy "so things like this don't happen again".

Crystal Palace told Sky News: "We are very sorry for the loss of Mr Armstrong's father and we send our condolences to his family.

"The club's policy in these circ*mstances is to allow the friend or family member who is part of a group to retain the seat for another friend or family member on the same terms if they want to keep it.

"Mr Armstrong's father did not take advantage of the early bird discount but paid in monthly instalments; however, if the family member taking the seat prefers to use the early bird discount, then we are happy for them to do so.

"We apologise if this was not communicated clearly.

"Regarding loyalty points, the policy has been [that] these do not transfer as they are linked to a named individual; however, in the light of these circ*mstances we will review this. In any event, supporters can buy an away season ticket to guarantee every game."

US inflation increased more than expected in March - in a blow for hopes of an imminent interest rate cut.

Americans paid more forgasoline and rental housing in the month, helping push consumer price rises to 3.5% - up from 3.2%.

It is a stark warning to other economies that the path back to the internationally recognised 2% target is not always smooth.

Financial markets now anticipate the Federal Reserve will delay cutting interestrates until September.

Profits at Tesco have reached £2.83bn - up more than £300m from a year earlier - as the UK's largest supermarket group said it had brought down prices.

More people are shopping atTesco, due to improved product value and quality, the company said.

Profits topped £2.83bn last year, up from £2.5bn a year earlier, while the amount of money Tesco took in was also up.

Read the full story here...

For the last four months, one of the biggest talking points in the betting and gaming industry has been who will become the next chief executive of Entain, the FTSE-100 combine whose businesses include Ladbrokes, Coral, Gala Bingo, Bwin and BetMGM.

The post was vacated when, 11 days before Christmas, theformer incumbent Jette Nygaard-Andersen unexpectedly resignedwith immediate effect.

Since then, the job has been done on an interim basis by Stella David, former chief executive of William Grant & Sons, the Scotch whisky group behind brands such as The Balvenie and Glenfiddich - but the hunt remains ongoing for a permanent CEO.

One of the favourites for the role has now ruled himself out.

Richard Flint, who is well regarded in the industry after his successful stint as chief executive of Sky Betting and Gaming, set tongues wagging when he recently announced he was stepping down as a non-executive director of Flutter Entertainment, the new owner of SkyBet and parent of Paddy Power and Betfair.

However, Mr Flint has told Sky News he is not seeking another executive position.

Read business presenter Ian King's full story here...

A British diamond manufacturer has had its adverts banned for not making clear its gems are synthetic.

The ads for Skydiamond had the headline: "Say hello to the world's first and onlydiamondmade entirely from the sky."

In small text below, the company said it made diamonds using the four natural ingredients of the "sun, wind, rain" and "atmospheric carbon".

"Now that we can mine the sky, we never need to mine the earth again," it read.

Skydiamond also responded to a question on its FAQ page about whether they were real diamonds with: "Skydiamond is a perfectly formed realdiamond."

The adverts sparked a complaint from the Natural Diamond Council, which believes the gems are lab-created, but the Sky Mining Company, which trades as Skydiamond, said they made clear they were not naturally occurring or mined from the earth.

The Advertising Standards Authority sided with the Natural Diamond Council.

"We considered that while some consumers may have been aware that syntheticdiamondscould be manufactured or created in a laboratory, many would not," it said.

Application fees for new passports are rising tomorrow by about 7% - so get in quick if you need to renew yours.

It's the second year in a row that passport application prices have increased, following a 9% rise in February 2023.

Here is a breakdown of the price increases...

Online

Adult - £88.50, up from £82.50

Child - £57.50, up from £53.50

Paper form

Adult - £100, up from £93

Child - £69, up from £64

Fast track (one-week service)

Adult - £166.50, up from £155

Child - £135.50, up from £126

Premium (same-day service)

Adult - £207.50, up from £193.50.

It could be worth renewing now if you have less than 10 months left on your current passport.

Some countries - such as Turkey, Thailand, Egypt and Singapore - require you to have at least six months' validity on your passport.

If you're travelling within the EU, your passport...

• Must have been issued less than 10 years before the day you enter the EU/Schengen Zone
• Must be valid for at least three months after the day you plan to leave.

The cheapest way to renew is through the gov.uk website, and you can expect to get your passport within three weeks for standard applications.

Italy is allowing Britons who can work remotely to apply for a year-long "digital nomad" visa.

The scheme opened for applications for non-EU citizens at the end of last week - having been talked about for years.

Anyone wanting to take advantage needs to meet a few criteria, according to Italian law firm Studio Legale Metta - including:

1. A university or college degree (minimum three years) from an accredited institution, an accredited professional licence, or accredited superior professional experience.
   
2. At least six months in the industry in which they intend to work remotely.
3. A work contract and a salary of at least €28,000 (£24,000).
4. No specific immigration crimes within the past five years.
5. Evidence of aplace to stay in Italy.
6. Health insurance.A private medical insurance usually costs between €350-700 a year.

The firm advises applying four to five months in advance.

Italy is trying to encourage growth amid an aging population.

A charity boss providing free haircuts for the homeless says it is helping people on the streets feel less "invisible".

Haircuts4Homeless, founded by Stewart Roberts, has 80 centres across the UK and has delivered 60,000 haircuts over the past decade.

Mr Roberts told Sky News' Breakfast with Kay Burley that some people have had "no communication with anyone" before getting their hair cut.

"Sometimes it's a quiet one, sometimes they just open up and... they tell you their stories," he said.

He said the situations charity staff hear of can be "really sad", but they also manage to have "amazing laughs" during the sessions.

Mr Roberts said he celebrated 18 years of sobriety yesterday and has struggled with drug problems in the past.

"I really relate to people and the struggles that they have," he said, though he noted it was a "misconception" that everyone on the streets was an alcoholic or a drug addict.

"But often it's the case that they will turn to that and you can't really blame them when they're in such bad positions," he said.

Asked how people can help, Mr Roberts said the charity is always looking for volunteers and sponsors as it "doesn't run itself".

"The main thing is, we're trying to humanise the face of homelessness. It's making sure that you spread our message out," he added.

The popular comedian has lamented increasing prices for performers wanting to take part in Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Manford said prices, especially for accommodation, were an "absolute joke" and were fuelled by "pure greed".

"I've just priced up a week up there and even if every show sells out, I'm still operating at a loss," he wrote on social media site X.

The comedian said this was less of a problem for him "as it's part of a much bigger tour" and because of the "stage of my career" but he feared it would shut out new performers.

"No idea how anyone starting out is managing to get up there and showcase their talents!" he said.

Manford said if prices stay high then "the only people who can do it are people with money or backing".

A quick search on Booking.com puts the price of the hotel for the duration of the festival at about £4,000 upwards (looking at places with three stars or above) - although many are charging much more.

One of five Bulgarian nationals who falsely claimed £50m in Universal Credit filmed themselves throwing a stack of £20 notes in the air.

The criminal threw the notes one by one and waited for an unknown woman to pick them up.

Stacks of cash tied with rubber bands were also shown in a separate video.

The benefit fraud gang made thousands of false claims for Universal Credit using either real people or hijacked identities and backed them up with an array of forged documents, including counterfeit payslips and fake GP letters in the largest prosecution of its type in English legal history.

Read the full story here...

By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business reporter

Oil prices are sticking around $90 a barrel, slightly below the $91 cost of Monday but still higher than the six months since October. The latest high comes as a Ukrainian drone strike targeted Russia's third-largest refinery.

After nearly four months of falls, grocery business Ocado is the best performer of the morning.

Its share price is up 4.83%, the biggest increase among the 100 most valuable companies on the London Stock Exchange that make up the FTSE (Financial Times Stock Exchange) 100 index.

War in Ukraine and instability in the Middle East had been great news for arms makers. But there's a sense that the valuation of those companies may not be able to continue to rise as aerospace and defence company Rolls-Royce was the biggest loser of the FTSE 100 on Wednesday morning. Its share price fell 1.09%.

One pound buys €1.1675 and $1.2683.