The Headliner

Jaguar Land Rover moved 2,000 staff at its Castle Bromwich plant to a three-day week, the manufacturer said they made the decision following difficult conditions in the industry, caused by Brexit and slumping sales of diesel-powered cars. Can this stall in UK car production be reversed? The UK capital was extra glamorous this week as fashionistas jetted into town for London Fashion Week. Victoria Beckham's first UK show was declared a "runway" success. Her family were in the front row to...

Boris enters the single market No stranger to controversy, Boris Johnson hit the headlines again this week after it was announced that he is to divorce his wife of 25 years, Marina Wheeler. With widespread rumours of an alleged affair with a former Conservative Communications Director, will these revelations damage his political future. Meanwhile, a cartoon depicting Serena Williams sparked outrage on Twitter with many branding it racist and sexist. The image appeared in The Herald Sun,...

Chris Evans announced live on air that he was leaving his regular post at BBC Radio 2, for a new role at Virgin Radio. But how will this effect Virgin Radio’s branding? And how will Radio 2 compete with the competition? Former presidents from across the political spectrum united in their eulogies of the late US Senator John McCain—denouncing the political tactics of “insult and bombast”. So will this actually have an impact on online political debates? After global criticism, Skype has...

The Headliner is back, as the bakers returned. Yes, GBBO is back on our screens and we couldn’t be happier—being a firm full of baking fanatics ourselves. An impressive advertising campaign has drummed up a cake tin full of excitement, but people are already mining contestant news feeds to find controversy. What does the treatment of Bake Off contestants tell us about our own digital habits? The sunny weather we’ve had this summer means things aren’t so golden for the agriculture...

Yet more turbulence for Ryanair. Customers were sent compensation cheques, without signatures, which bounced when they tried to cash them. Will this latest media storm further weather Ryanair’s already beleaguered reputation? Jamie Oliver cooked up a controversy with his punchy jerk rice, which Labour MP Dawn Butler called cultural appropriation. Was it the misuse of ‘jerk’ that was objectionable or, as Zoe Williams claimed in the Guardian, was it a rich man “making money from an...

Plenty of parents would agree that kids today spend way too much time inside on their screens. But how can they be tempted to play outside again? Well, as part of their ‘Dirt is Good’ campaign, Omo (Persil to us in the UK) has found the answer: a book that can only be read when smeared in dirt. Will this encourage more children to play outside? Or do tech companies need to work harder to prevent screen addiction from a young age? New research has found that a tenth of young women in the...

Gee Wizz, flight delays revealed Booking a holiday? New data from the Civil Aviation Authority has revealed the worst airlines for flight delays. It was bad news for Wizz Air; the budget airline was named least punctual with the average flight departing 23 minutes late. Scandinavian performed the best, closely followed by Aer Lingus. Anyone heading to Hollywood may soon notice a missing star on the Walk of Fame. Donald Trump's star has already been vandalised several times since he took...

Millions were left wondering how to fill their evenings as Love Island 2018 came to an end. Will winning couple Jack and Dani live happily ever after? Are the show sponsors reaping the rewards of their involvement? Robert Nesbit, regional director of Rail Delivery Group, made the bold claim that British trains are the envy of Europe. His brag was met with widespread derision and he was accused of "living on another planet". Does the rest of Europe wish they had our train service or was...

If there’s one thing Brits love talking about, it’s the weather—and this week it gave us plenty to discuss, as temperatures soared to over 30 degrees. The papers couldn’t resist the opportunity, with sunny scenes and heatwave warnings splashed across the frontpages throughout the week. And if, like us, the sun has brought with it an insatiable appetite for ice cream, why not head to The British Museum of Food’s latest exhibition? Scoop: A Wonderful Ice Cream World celebrates our favourite...

A real treat of a podcast this week, as Chloe was joined in the studio by Trint CEO and co-founder, Jeff Koffman. The former ABC foreign correspondent shared his thoughts on how AI and technology can revolutionise journalism, freeing up reporters’ time so they can concentrate on the most important part of their craft—the story. Meanwhile, Eulogy’s Mike Frier and Rachael Sanders joined in for a typically lively discussion on the week’s most fascinating stories. What a week for Trump. Even...

Boris has brExited! Boris Johnson has carried out his own personal leave campaign by stepping down as Foreign Secretary with Brexit discussions in full swing, highlighting divisions within the Conservative party. His stepping down came before Trump’s visit to the UK, who himself believes Boris is well suited to the Prime Minister’s role—watch out Theresa! Is the Conservative Party in trouble? Is it coming home? Well it isn’t for England but it is for the boys in Thailand. After almost...

It is 70 years since the NHS was founded and there have been celebrations across the country championing both the service and staff. But there have been tricky questions too, about its funding and staff shortages with supporters and detractors alike asking just how healthy is our health service? The government published its LGBT+ equality plan, to improve the lives of gay and transgender people, announcing that they will seek to ban gay “conversion” therapies. With more than two-thirds of...

The World Cup is in full swing, but anyone hoping to watch the game with a cold beer or even a refreshing glass of something softer may be disappointed. This week, brands such as Coca-Cola were forced to pause production at certain plants, as seasonal maintenance shutdowns caused a shortage of CO2. On the subject of drinks, Waitrose this week launched a range of wine in cans. Designed as an environmentally friendly alternative to bottles for the festival season, will wine-lovers be...

England’s World Cup team defied the doubters and won their first match against Tunisia earlier. After so many years of hurt, is football finally coming home? Thomas Markle has done an interview with Good Morning Britain, where he opened up about everything from Megan’s baby-making plans to Harry’s political views. Did his controversial conversation break father-daughter confidentiality? Google has launched YouTube Music and YouTube Premium to compete with Spotify and Apple Music. But...

A jam-packed Headliner podcast this week features very special guest Gemma Joyce, social data journalist at leading social intelligence company Brandwatch. How can insights gleaned from social media influence the news agenda at large? For our regular panel discussion, Chloe was joined by Bilal and Fran to take a deep dive into the week’s major news stories. This week marked the first year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Our panel looked at the ways in which individuals and...

Love Island is back! The launch show got ITV2 its biggest audience ever. But why are millions of viewers smitten? Is it the eye candy, bikini-clad babes and men with abs so chiselled you could chip a tooth on them? Or, is that in an uncertain and stressful world we all hunger for some escapism? Whatever the reason, for the next eight weeks the islander’s flirtatious antics will be unavoidable. Apple has launched new ‘digital wellbeing’ tools to help us all spend less time staring at our...

It’s been an eventful week for US comedian Roseanne Barr, whose TV show was cancelled following racist tweets about former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett. Barr had an unusual excuse for her behaviour, saying that she was ‘Ambien tweeting’—referring to the sedative drug. But her claims were quickly quashed by the drug’s manufacturer, Sanofi, which reminded us that ‘racism is not a known side effect’ of any of its medication. Ouch. While it seems we can’t go a day without hearing about the...

Tesco is removing the ‘best before’ dates from some of its pre-packaged fruit and veg, in a bid to reduce food waste. Will getting rid of ‘best before’ stop perfectly good food from ending up in the bin? Or is it a recipe for confusion? The Chelsea Flower show is underway and a slew of celebrities, including a gaggle of the Royal family, have already visited to admire the award-winning horticulture. But with corporate entertaining increasingly frowned upon – as companies strive to navigate...

Okay, okay. He’s not the immediate heir—but we love a bit of poetic license. This week, royal wedding fever has swept across the nation ahead of Prince Harry’s nuptials to American actress Meghan Markle. From the mounting speculation over who will walk Meghan down the aisle, to Prince George and Princess Charlotte’s roles in the bridal retinue, details of the big day have continued to emerge throughout the week. Many brands have also taken the opportunity to get involved, but are we feeling...

The theme of this year’s Met gala, ‘Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and Catholic Imagination’, was embraced with gusto as celebrities dressed up in truly eye-popping outfits. Were the outlandish costumes simply divine, or was the whole party in devilishly poor taste? The UK enjoyed the hottest May Bank holiday weekend on record, with temperatures warmer than Madrid, Athens and Miami. However, after fun in the sun, much miserable rain is forecast. Whatever the weather, you can be sure it will...