Christmas cancelled for London as capital enters “Tier 4” December 19, 2020 Christmas has been effectively cancelled for those living in London and the southeast of England after a new, more infectious strain of coronavirus has spread throughout the region. The capital and southeast England will enter a new ‘Tier 4’ from tomorrow morning, that will see households locked down and non-essential retail closed, mimicking the rules [...]
Elon’s twitter, record borrowing and Zoom stocks: City A.M.’s Business Quiz of the Year (Part 1) December 18, 2020 It’s been a… strange year. But there have been some lighter, albeit somewhat baffling, moments in the business world. See if you can remember the highs and lows of 2020, from Barclays behaving badly to the aftermath of Carlos Ghosn’s daring escape – and look out for part 2 before the end of the year.
Law firm CRS ‘threatening staff with pay cuts to return to the office’ December 18, 2020 International law firm Charles Russell Speechlys (CRS) has been accused of threatening staff with pay cuts if they do not return to the office, despite official government guidance urging those who can to work from home. Staff were allegedly told coronavirus fears are not a reason to work from home, and if they wanted to [...]
US trade chief believes next WTO director-general should have ‘real experience’ December 18, 2020 The US trade chief Robert Lighthizer has implied that the process to find the next World Health Organisation (WTO) director-general should be re-opened. In Lighthizer’s first ever international interview, he told the BBC on Wednesday that the next WTO director-general should be ”someone with real experience in Trade.” Lighthizer goes on to say that the [...]
London and southeast in Tier 3: What are the rules? December 17, 2020 Most of the southeast of England is set to join London in Tier 3 from midnight on Friday, as the government scrambles to contain a sharp spike in coronavirus cases. The move will see Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Peterborough, and the whole of Hertfordshire move into the highest level of restrictions from 0.01am on Saturday. It [...]
Tide to introduce new business payroll service in 2021 December 17, 2020 Business fintech firm Tide has announced that is it to release its first payroll service via its banking app in early 2021. Tide Payroll will be HMRC compliant and will allow SMEs to conduct their payroll from within their Tide account with an all-in-one payroll service that will allow users to run payroll and pay [...]
London’s IPO market proves resilient despite choppy conditions December 17, 2020 Despite rocky conditions caused by Covid-19 and Brexit-related uncertainties, the London Stock Exchange (LSE) retained its title as Europe’s most active market this year. LSE proceeds have accounted for almost a third of total European proceeds in 2020. So far there have been 26 London IPOs this year, which is in line with 2019’s 27. [...]
Watches of Switzerland repays furlough cash as it clocks surge in sales during pandemic December 17, 2020 Watches of Switzerland has raised its full-year guidance and announced it will repay furlough cash, after clocking a major boost in profits and sales during the pandemic. Operating profit at the luxury watchmaker beat expectations over the six months to 25 October, hiking 52 per cent year on year to £45.6m. Adjusted earnings before tax [...]
Twitter bans harmful false claims about COVID-19 vaccinations December 16, 2020 By Elizabeth Culliford (Reuters) – Twitter Inc said on Wednesday that it will start removing false or misleading tweets about COVID-19 vaccinations that could be harmful, including false claims the vaccines will intentionally cause harm or control populations or that invoke “a deliberate conspiracy.” Twitter’s policy update, announced in a blog post the same week [...]
Rangers, Hummel and JD Sports probed by competition watchdog over replica kit pricing December 16, 2020 Scottish football club Rangers are being probed by the UK competition watchdog over the pricing of their replica kits. The Competition and Markets Authority is also investigating Rangers’ former kit maker Hummel and retailers JD Sports and Greaves Sports. The CMA said it’s probe centred on “suspected anti-competitive behaviour in relation to the price at [...]