Consumer confidence has bounced back, Facebook’s banning bitcoin ads, and more trending news

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UK consumer confidence is up, following a fairly bleak end to the year. GfK’s long-running measure of consumer confidence had a negative reading of 13 in December – its lowest point in four years – but this month it’s slightly less downbeat at minus nine. GfK suggested the pick-up may reflect the continued resilience of the UK economy. A separate Lloyds Bank survey of more than 1,200 British businesses found confidence is currently at a nine-month high. Some 31% of the businesses quizzed said they were positive about Brexit, up from 16% last month.

Facebook is banning all ads promoting cryptocurrencies – including bitcoin, ethereum, and initial coin offerings – in an effort to crack down on scams and fraud on the platform. Many companies advertising the coins are “not currently operating in good faith,” the social network said in a statement; the crypto boom has brought with it an influx of scammers, notes Recode. Any advertisements violating Facebook’s new policy will also be banned from its other offerings, such as its Audience Network (which puts ads on third-party apps) and Instagram. ? Share your thoughts: #FacebookCryptoAds

Government contractor Capita has issued a shock profits warning. The news comes just weeks after the collapse of another major government contractor: Carillion, which reportedly went out of business with debts of ￡1.5bn. Following Capita’s announcement, its share price fell by 41%, hitting a 15-year low. The firm’s new boss, Jonathan Lewis, said the company needs to raise up to ￡700m from investors and will be scrapping dividend payouts and selling non-core parts of the business.

Marks & Spencer is closing up to 14 stores, putting almost 500 jobs at risk. The British retailer is closing six stores by the end of April, but it said all staff will be offered positions at nearby stores. The future of a further eight stores, which employ 468 staff, hangs in the balance, including shops in Hampshire, Yorkshire and Cornwall. M&S had a tough Christmas, with like-for-like revenues falling 1.4% in the 13 weeks to 30th December.

Meanwhile … it’s bad news for some Byron Burger employees, too, with the burger chain announcing as many as 20 outlets will close as part of a rescue plan.

Britain's best LGBT-inclusive employers for 2018 have been revealed. The list of 100 companies, compiled by charity Stonewall, includes a raft of legal firms and numerous universities, but a distinct lack of London-listed firms. The top spot went to The National Assembly for Wales, which was noted for having introduced a host of measures to improve the workplace for LGBT staff members, such as giving the option to choose the title ‘Mx’, as opposed to Mr, Ms or Mrs. The top 10 also includes law firm Pinsent Masons, Lloyds Banking Group and Newcastle City Council.

Idea of the Day: Getting people (and companies) to change is hard. And the “carrot-and-stick ways of ‘motivating’ people are so ‘last century,’” says Keith Ferrazzi of Ferrazzi Greenlight – even a financial incentive won’t necessarily get people to embrace a new way of working. So what does motivate workers to embrace change? It’s all about the personal connection.

“No matter how loyal your employees are, or how much pride they have in the company, they won’t be motivated to change just for the company's sake. For your employees to be engaged, they need to see how they can realise their own goals through the collective change the company wants to make.”

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