WHO SIGNED THIS OFF: MID-OCTOBER EDITION
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MID-OCTOBER EDITION:
WHO SIGNED THIS OFF?!
With only one week to go, we’re plugging our event one last time. Join us on Thursday 29th October at 9am for How PR Can Support Your Business Growth, Series A And Beyond, our breakfast panel event. We’re bringing together Jess Jones, Senior Reporter for the Entrepreneurs Network at The Times, Matthew Blain, partner at Voyager Ventures VC, and Anatolii Papulov, founder of satellite scaleup NewOrbit. It’s at Fora Folgate near Liverpool Street – secure your ticket here.
Our own Noor Aly attended Octopus Energy’s “No Boilers Room” party at Stormzy’s House Party in Soho where heat pumps took centre stage. With DJ Jodie Harsh on the decks, Octopus turned a 90s house party into a celebration of cleaner home heating. Good to see some heat-related puns too, with ‘Forrest Pump’ and ‘10 Things I Heat About You’ spotted.
Ballard CEO Marty Neese told BNN Bloomberg’s Taking Stock how his firm’s acquisition of UK-based hydrogen startup GeoPura has created a hydrogen-as-a-service powerhouse. He said the new business will replace diesel generators with clean hydrogen power units in Canada and help where energy is needed for back-up or primary power for data centres. Harpswood supported on the interview.
Harpswood appeared in the top 10 of TechRound’s PR54. Agencies with ideas and personality - plus a commitment to pro bono work - were rewarded. Many thanks to TechRound for the nod.
💷 SHADE NEVER MADE ANYBODY LESS PAY… DID IT?
“We need to stop throwing shade at ourselves as a nation - and being a bit surprised if it’s a bit dark, a bit chilly and bit damp. It’s a national habit.” Dame Julia Hoggett, the boss of the London Stock Exchange, channelled her inner RuPaul/Taylor Swift to explain the UK’s poor growth on Radio 4’s Big Boss. Her Millennial language didn’t detract from an excellent interview explaining why UK growth has stuttered, going right back to Robert Maxwell’s pilfering of the Mirror pension fund and legislation that forced the pensions industry to become more risk averse.
🏡 ATTACK OF THE KILLER LAWNMOWERS
Ovens, TVs, smart fridges or even lawnmowers could be the everyday gadgets that finally come for you in the AI apocalypse, Anthropic has warned (and the FT reported). AI “worms” could soon be able to spread across household devices to create a hostile AI agent. ‘Internet of things’ devices are considered a particular security risk as some were made cheaply by hardware businesses. In more immediate financial matters, Anthropic continues to build momentum to its IPO. The BBC reported its revenue rose by nearly half to $16.8 billion in the three months to September.
🚀 AND CARS MIGHT FLY…
Tesla held a product launch for the ages with its astonishing flying car demo at the Space X rocket test development centre in Texas. The new Roadster sportscar accelerated up a curved vertical ramp that turned it upside down. As the car came off the ramp, it righted itself in mid-air and flew for a second before landing safely. As well as flying (a bit) the Roadster does 0-to-60mph in less than a second. Musk says it “takes the fun-meter to 11 out of 10”.
🤐 SILENCE IS GOLDEN
Speculation on the details of Chancellor John Healey’s Budget have been thin on the ground - other than the ruling out of a capital gains tax increase. It’s a marked improvement on the leaks of recent years, in which policy kites were flown and reported in various media to sometimes damaging effect. Tax lawyer Dan Neidle told The Rest Is Money podcast that he knew of two wealthy entrepreneurs who had left the UK on rumours of an exit tax coming down the road.
HOT TAKE
☀️ DRIPPY DESANTIS
A melting statue of climate-sceptic Florida governor Ron DeSantis was erected in Tallahassee by climate group 350Action. The silver-looking cast was made from gallium, a metal that melts at just under 30°C — below summer temperatures in the city, The Guardian reported. DeSantis has consistently thwarted action to tackle climate change in his state.
⚡️ NSCALED BACK
The UK’s data centre ambitions were dealt a blow when Microsoft scrapped an AI deal with NScale, as reported in The Sunday Telegraph. The agreement reportedly collapsed because the site in Loughton, Essex, couldn’t get a grid connection until 2030. This is a familiar issue to those working in power and one that the Great British Grid has been created to tackle. This latest setback underlines the urgency of the issue.
NEWS-O-METER
🤩 NAILED IT
Anthony Scaramucci - aka The Mooch - showed a moment of class after White House press secretary Katie Zacharia was sacked by Donald Trump after less than a week in the job. Scaramucci - who himself had lasted just 10 days - wrote: “Speaking as the world’s leading expert on short White House tenures: turn off the news and go and enjoy your family. In time you’ll realize that the Universe did you a major favor.”
🥶 FAILED IT
Mark Zuckerberg based Meta’s European HQ in Dublin and splashed out on a £20 million castle in Waterford. But the tech boss jeoparised his relationship with the Irish by appearing to grimace after he tentatively sipped a pint of Guinness while appearing on John Collison’s Cheeky Pint podcast. It prompted unflattering headlines including “Who knew you could chew a beer?” Perhaps Zuckerberg’s a Murphy’s man…
MIND YOUR LANGUAGE
🌭 THAT IS SAUSAGE TO ME
Oxford University has advised staff not to use idioms like “learn the ropes” and “find your feet” in case they leave international students confused. Plain English has been suggested instead. We’re all in favour of plain language, but isn’t the fun of learning a foreign learning the quirks? (See the brilliant “Das ist mir Wurst” – aka “That is sausage to me” – meaning “I don’t care”)
HARPSWOOD IRL
MEET OUR LONDON TEAM THIS OCTOBER AT:
📆 Climate Tech Time, The Conduit, 21st October
📆 Northern Tech Summit, 21st - 22nd October, Crucible, Sheffield
📆 ScaleUp Summit, Birmingham Tech Week, 22nd October, The Studio
📆 How PR can support your business growth: Series A and beyond, 29th October, Fora - Folgate Street
📆 Climate Coffee, 29th October, St James Park Cafe