The viral publisher Unilad will be placed in administration. This is as a result of the financial challenges its current owners are facing. Bentley Harrigan is the current owner of Unilad and took over back in 2014. This is following its purchase of a majority stake from founder Alex Partridge.

Currently, Bentley Harrington has debt totalling £6.5 million, with £1.5 million of this owed in UK taxes.

Administrators Leonard Curtis Business Rescue and Recovery has said that Andrew Poxon and Andrew Duncan have been appointed joint administrators. Leonard Curtis Business Rescue and Recovery commented: “The joint administrators are seeking offers for the business in order to preserve jobs and maximise the return to creditors. It is understood that the company employs in excess of 200 people.” Unilad has a huge social media presence. It has 60 million followers, a 1 billion weekly reach and 4 billion monthly video views across nine different channels. Its Facebook account alone has 39 million followers and is known for posting viral videos and stories. Equally, last year, it was named one of Facebook’s most popular pages. With its headquarters in Manchester, Unilad also has secondary offices in London and New York. The decision to place Unilad in administration follows a hearing at a specialist Insolvency and Companies Court in London. Judge Clive Jones was told that directors of the British companies had agreed administration was the best option. Moreover, HM Revenue and Customs were also in favour of administration. In addition, Judge Clive Jones was also informed by founder Alex Partridge’s lawyer that his client was owed £5 million. This is following a separate legal case against the British firm. Unilad’s current financial backer, Linton Capital, has proposed administrators £10 million. This is in order to “acquire the substantial part of the business”. Linton Capital has offered this as part of a joint bid with RocketSports, an internet investment company. However, the £10 million sum is well below valuations previously given to the online publisher.

Bloomberg has revealed that Apple and Amazon are just a few of the US companies and agencies who have been hacked. Indeed, Chinese spies have stolen data through the use of tiny chips. Tiny chips, made by a company named Super Micro Computer, were inserted on server circuit boards. As a result, the chips extracted important data. Bloomberg has claimed that the chips were “not much bigger than a grain of rice”.

But, Apple, Amazon and Super Micro Computer have all rejected the claims made by Bloomberg.

Bloomberg has said that the information first emerged back in 2015. This was following Amazon’s acquisition of Elemental Technologies which helped with expanding its video streaming service. However, it is said that Elemental Technologies’ servers were assembled by Super Micro Computer’s Chinese plants. When servers were sent to Ontario, Canada, for third-party security testing, a tiny microchip was found on the circuit boards. As a result, Amazon reported this to US authorities which is said to have began a “top-secret probe” by the US. The discovery caused anxiety amongst the intelligence community because Elemental’s servers were used for various highly important projects. Servers can be found in Department of Defence data centres, the CIA’s drone operations and even the on board networks of Navy warships. Bloomberg added that China is specifically advantaged when executing an attack like this. This is because China “makes 75% of the world’s mobile phones and 90% of its PCs”, it said. In addition, one official has claimed that investigators believe that Apple has also been affected.

Apple was once an important customer of Super Micro Computers.

Amazon, Apple and Super Micro Computers have all denied Bloomberg’s report. Amazon said: “It’s untrue that Amazon Web Services knew about a supply chain compromise,” Apple also commented: “Apple has never found malicious chips, ‘hardware manipulations’ or vulnerabilities purposely planted in any server.” Likewise, Super Micro Computer said it was “unaware of any such investigation”. However, according to Bloomberg: “The companies’ denials are countered by six current and former senior national security officials”. Just last month, Amazon came under fire amid allegations of staff selling customer data. At 10:58 GMT -4 today, shares in Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) were trading at -1.78%. At 10:59 GMT -4 today, shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) were trading at -1.18%.

A Virgin Atlantic plane powered by jet fuel partly made from recycled industrial waste has landed at Gatwick. This is the first commercial flight of its kind to travel using the fuel.

The airline partnered with LanzaTech to create the more sustainable fuel, moving the aviation industry closer to environmental sustainability.

Recycled waste carbon gasses are used to make LanzaTech’s jet fuel. The original batch of fuel was produced in the US. A Boeing 747 aircraft travelled from Orlando to London, powered by a new kind of fuel. Indeed, the fuel is a mixture of normal jet fuel and ethanol produced from waste gasses. Virgin Atlantic believe, as a result of the fuel, that aviation’s carbon footprint could be significantly lowered. Though the fuel composition was only 5% recycled, it has the potential to equate to 50% of the fuel blend. This makes it highly sustainable compared to regular fuel used. Moreover, Virgin Atlantic is encouraging the UK government to make this more sustainable fuel a reality in the UK. In fact, the airline has called on UK ministers to provide the financial backing for LanzaTech’s fuel. Consequently, LanzaTech would open three UK plants by 2025 which has the potential to produce 125m gallons of the fuel. Founder of Virgin Group, Sir Richard Branson, said: “Working with LanzaTech will enable us to greatly reduce our carbon emissions and at the same time, help support UK industry.” Indeed, he hopes to provide customers with long haul travel in “the most sustainable way possible”. “This fuel takes waste, carbon-rich gases from industrial factories and gives them a second life,” As a result, he added that the fuel means “new fossil fuels don’t have to be taken out of the ground”. Earlier this year, it was reported that Virgin Atlantic had increased its flight times by 75% since 2009. The new LanzaTech fuel has the potential to reduce the environmental impact of air travel across the globe. Could Virgin Atlantic have just set a new method to assist the UK in achieving its binding climate change targets?

UberEats drivers will join workers from JD Wetherspoon, McDonald’s and TGI Fridays to strike. Workers across the four companies will strike over pay on 04 October. Walkouts will take place in several UK cities, with a major rally taking place in London. The decision to join the food outlets was taken after a series of walkout by UberEats workers last month. These walkouts were as a result of the company’s reduction of its minimum payment per delivery from £4.26 to £3.50. Workers from the food delivery mobile-app are demanding they are paid £5 per delivery. Additionally, they are requesting a further £1 per mile for each delivery. Some drivers have said they will not log-on to the app in protest over the reduced delivery rates. Whilst defending its pay scheme, the firm said: “Last week couriers using our app in cities across the UK took home an average of £9-10 per hour during mealtimes, with many also using other delivery apps,” Moreover, the company has insisted that a large number of its couriers use this work to supplement existing incomes. The strike will take place on the same day as staff in JD Wetherspoon, McDonald’s and TGI Fridays. As a result, staff across the hospitality sector will unite to address the wider issues surrounding low wages.

The industrial action has been nicknamed “McStrike” and aims to underscore the insecurity of working in the UK’s hospitality industry.

Staff from JD Wetherspoon, McDonald’s and TGI Fridays are striking for increased wages to £10 per hour and union recognition. A spokesperson from the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) said: “The fact that UberEats drivers have decided to strike on the same day as us shows that low pay is an issue that affects people across the industry,” UberEats, JD Wetherspoon and McDonald’s have each defended their payment records. However, TGI Fridays has not released any immediate comment. At 14:01 BST today, shares in JD Wetherspoon (LON:JDW) were trading at -0.85%.

In the latest Interbrand report, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has taken the top spot for the sixth year running. The report, which assigns a dollar value to each brand based on various factors, has named Apple, Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) as the top three brands. “Today we live in a world where consumers have more power than ever, curating their own personal brands in ways we’ve never seen. Brands like Amazon, Spotify (NYSE: SPOT) and Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) lead the way in this era by improving our lives in very personal ways,” said Charles Trevail, the chief executive of Interbrand. Apple and Amazon have held the top two spots for six consecutive years whilst brands including Tesla and Smirnoff have been bumped off the latest annual report. Netflix did not feature in the top ten but has been crowned the fasted growing brand this year. “[Netflix’s] brave decision to invest in original programming in 2012 has now netted it a staggering 112 Emmy nominations, more than any network or streaming service, and its stock market value is greater than Disney,” Interbrand said. On Amazon, Interbrand said: “It has reinvented almost every sector … It revamped its Fire Phone to become the Amazon Echo smart speaker, Amazon MP3 to become streaming music service Amazon Music Unlimited, and its 2010 crowdsourcing platform for screenwriters into Amazon Studios’ Emmy Award–winning original TV shows. What’s more, according to Morgan Stanley, Amazon’s fashion business has become the second largest seller of apparel in the US.” At number 42 on the list was HSBC, the most valuable UK brand.

UK car sales plummeted by over a fifth last month. New data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders revealed the number of new vehicles registered was down by 20.5 percent. “September’s large decline follows an unusually high August and a turbulent first eight months of the year as the market responded to a raft of upheavals, from confusion over diesel policy to VED changes and, latterly, transition to the new WLTP emissions standards,” said the SMMT. Mike Hawes, the group’s chief executive has said that car sales across Europe have been hit by the new emissions tests. “With the industry given barely a year to reapprove the entire European model line-up, it’s no surprise that we’ve seen bottlenecks and a squeeze on supply. These are exceptional circumstances with similar declines seen in other major European markets,” he said. “The good news is that, as backlogs ease, consumers and businesses can look forward to a raft of exciting high-tech cars and a market keen to recover lost momentum.” The figures have also revealed Volkswagen (ETR: VOW) sales to have plunged by 55 percent. VW sold 16,283 cars last month, which is down from 36,332 a year earlier. As the results have been released, carmaker Nissan (TYO: 7201) has also warned of the “serious implications” that would follow a no-deal Brexit. “Today we are among those companies with major investments in the UK who are still waiting for clarity on what the future trading relationship between the UK and the EU will look like,” said Nissan. “As a sudden change from those rules to the rules of the WTO will have serious implications for British industry, we urge UK and EU negotiators to work collaboratively towards an orderly balanced Brexit that will continue to encourage mutually beneficial trade.” Many car manufacturers have warned about the consequences of a no-deal Brexit including BMW (ETR: BMW) and Jaguar Land Rover.  

Honda (TYO: 7267) has announced plans to invest $2.8 billion into General Motors Co’s self-driving vehicles. The Japanese carmaker will invest over the next twelve years, whilst taking a 5.7 percent stake in the fleet. “This is the logical next step in General Motors and Honda’s relationship, given our joint work on electric vehicles, and our close integration with Cruise,” said General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary Barra in a joint statement. “Together, we can provide Cruise with the world’s best design, engineering and manufacturing expertise, and global reach to establish them as the leader in autonomous vehicle technology – while they move to deploy self-driving vehicles at scale.” Honda Executive Vice President and Representative Director COO Seiji Kuraishi said: “Honda chose to collaborate with Cruise and General Motors based on their leadership in autonomous and electric vehicle technology and our shared vision of a zero-emissions and zero-collision world.” “We will complement their strengths through our expertise in space efficiency and design to develop the most desirable and effective shared autonomous vehicle,” the added. Earlier this year, Japan’s Softbank (TYO: 9984) invested $2.25 billion in GM Cruise. Honda and Softbank’s investment values GM Cruise at $14.6 billion. Softbank has also invested in Toyota (TYO: 7203), creating a new joint venture partner called MONET. “Possibilities include demand-focused just-in-time mobility services, such as meal delivery vehicles where food is prepared on the move, hospital shuttles where onboard medical examinations can be performed, mobile offices,” the companies said. The race for the first self-driving cars comes with concerns over safety. Uber’s self-driving cars testing led to a fatal accident in the US and a self-driving car owned by Apple was involved in an accident earlier this month. Shares in GM (NYSE: GM) are trading up two percent at 34,00 (0936GMT).  

Chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland (LON: RBS) has warned that a no-deal Brexit could result in a recession. Ross McEwan told the BBC that a “bad Brexit” could lead to negative growth, which would affect RBS share price. “We are assuming 1-1.5 percent growth for next year but if we get a bad Brexit then that could be zero or negative and that would affect our profitability and our share price,” he said. UK taxpayers own 64 percent of RBS since the financial crisis in 2008. Following a collapse in its share price, the government part-nationalised the bank in 2008. McEwan said the bank was becoming more cautious about lending to certain sectors including construction and retail. “There are some retailers we are having to be a bit more cautious about because they haven’t made the necessary transition from bricks and mortar to digital,” he said. The retail sector has faced troubling conditions this year, leading to the collapse of Toys R Us, Maplin and Poundworld. In addition, House of Fraser, Debenhams and Carpetright are closing stores. “The big construction companies are getting very cautious about where they are putting their capital – particularly around London,” he added. The RBS boss said that lending to large businesses has fallen by about two percent this year as they delayed investment decisions. “Big businesses are pausing, they are saying that in six months time I’ll have another look at the UK and I might come back, but if it’s really bad I’ll invest elsewhere – that’s the reality of where we are today,” he said. Smaller and medium-sized businesses are continuing to borrow and invest, he added.