The Notebook: Royal Mail, Succession and a fabulous rugby charity JOTTINGS FROM THE SQUARE MILE The Notebook is a home for musings and jottings on the Square Mile and beyond. Today, it’s Andy Silvester’s turn. ANOTHER day, another indication that Royal Mail’s future has got lost in the post. Only a fortnight after being referred to the regulator for “systemic letter delivery failures” – a task you’d probably describe as [...]
Airports and power stations to be hit hardest by business rates changes rates Airports, power stations and business headquarters are set to be hit hardest by property tax changes when new valuations come into force next week, according to research. Revenues from business rates – the property tax on commercial buildings – are expected to rise by £1.4 billion, or 4.9 per cent , to £29.9 billion when [...]
Skills shortage doubled since pre-Brexit and pandemic as four in five firms struggle to fill roles Manpower Four in five businesses are struggling to fill vacancies because of a lack of skilled workers – the highest number in 17 years, new research suggests. Employment group Manpower said the number of employers reporting skills shortages has increased six-fold over the last decade – and more than doubled since pre-Brexit and the pandemic. A [...]
Exclusive: Home REIT’s biggest tenant dished out £1.2m to bosses before bankruptcy March 27, 2023 The three bosses of Home REIT’s now-bankrupt biggest tenant pocketed over £1.2m last year even as the firm struggled to pay rent and slumped to a multi-million pound loss, City A.M. can reveal. Gurpaal Judge, the chief of Wolverhampton-based social housing provider Lotus Housing, hiked his own and two directors’ pay to £1.2m in 2022 [...]
Firms face £300m paperwork bill in proposal to help save cash through business rates March 27, 2023 Businesses across England could be saddled with bills for around £150 a year under new Government proposals intended to help them with their tax. A requirement for businesses to update the Government annually could cost a total of around £300 million a year, analysis by Gerald Eve, a real-estate advisory company, has found. The estimate [...]
5 Key Warning Signs That You Need To Update Your CV Now March 27, 2023 | Sponsored The outlook for top tech companies across the UK is, at the moment, very uncertain. Not a day goes by when we don’t hear reports of projects being stalled, hiring freezes being put into place, or worse still another employee posting on LinkedIn that they have been laid off and are #opentowork. While talk of [...]
Four day week? Sure – but you better be in on a Monday, say bosses March 27, 2023 EMPLOYERS are more open to the idea of a shorter working week than many think – but you can forget about working from home if you want Friday off. That’s the conclusion of a survey of more than 10,000 employees and bosses released today by Hays, the recruitment firm. A third of employers are more [...]
HSBC bows to Hong Kong shareholder pressure and tables Asia breakup vote March 26, 2023 Britain’s largest bank HSBC has bowed to pressure from a group of shareholders in Hong Kong and will table a vote on a proposal to revamp the business, including carving out its Asia arm. First reported by The Sunday Times, the lender revealed the vote on Friday in an update to investors. The poll was [...]
Retail guru Mary Portas warns John Lewis it has ‘let go of the soul’ March 25, 2023 Mary Portas has sent an open letter to department store John Lewis warning that it has “let go of the soul”.
ULEZ row: Khan reassures 90 per cent are unaffected by expansion, as 700K face new charge and ‘massive financial impact’ March 24, 2023 Nearly 700,000 car drivers in London will face a daily £12.50 ultra low emission zone (Ulez) fee when the scheme expands, according to new analysis. The RAC, which carried out the research, said the expansion of the zone from August 29 will have a “massive financial impact on motorists and businesses”. It comes a day [...]