Universities pay vice-chancellors more than £500,000 as generous packages include bonuses and benefits November 12, 2021 Three universities in England paid their vice-chancellors £500,000 or more in salary, bonuses and benefits last year, figures show. Data from the Office for Students (OfS) shows that 1.8% of university staff received a basic salary of £100,000 or more in the academic year 2019/20 – up slightly from 1.7% in 2018/19. But the proportion [...]
Global luxury market on track to beat pre-Covid sales this year – but Europe lags behind November 11, 2021 The global luxury goods sector is set for a powerful rebound and will outperform pre-pandemic levels this year, but Europe lags behind in the absence of tourists’ purses, consultancy Bain has said. Global sales of personal luxury goods – which include fashion, cosmetics, perfumes, watches, handbags and jewellery – are set to reach €283bn (£242bn) this [...]
OECD ranking: The award for the country with the world’s most competitive tax system goes to… November 11, 2021 Estonia tops the rankings in a new report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that was published today by the Tax Foundation, a tax policy non-profit in the U.S. The ranking zooms in on the the most competitive tax regimes around the world. Estonia’s top score is driven by a 20 per [...]
London’s drinking: Capital on the way back as Young’s toasts a healthy recovery November 11, 2021 Pub chain Young’s announced it would restart its dividend this morning after a healthy set of half-year results suggested the historic operator’s recovery is well on the way. Adjusted operating profit hit a healthy £27.1m in the six months to the end of September despite ‘lockdown’ and later restrictions on numbers still being in place. [...]
Taylor Wimpey on track to meet guidance, unscathed by supply chain concerns November 11, 2021 British housebuilder Taylor Wimpey this morning said it was on track to deliver full year results in line with previous guidance, after strong housing demand helped it offset supply chain pressures. Although the country’s third-largest housbuilder said it had experienced industry-wide pressures on the cost and availability of certain materials and a shortage of drivers [...]
Auto Trader reports highest-ever sales as digital efforts pay off November 11, 2021 Car marketplace Auto Trader has reported its highest-ever six months of sales and profits, as demand for cars from its platform surged to record levels and the company’s focus on its digital offering in the pandemic paid off. Revenue jumped 82 per cent to £215.4m , up from £118.2m a year earlier. This was up [...]
London grocery delivery app Dija snapped up by rival GoPuff November 10, 2021 London-based grocery app Dija has reportedly been sold to larger rival GoPuff amid fierce competition in the UK’s nascent rapid delivery market. The startup is set to announce the sale tomorrow, just five months after it launched, Sky News reported. While details of the deal will not be disclosed, the takeover will reportedly value Dija [...]
Old school db pension schemes face £450bn liabilities shortfall November 10, 2021 UK defined benefit pension schemes are facing an estimated £450bn hole in their balance sheets due to a shortage of long-dated inflation-linked gilts, according to a new analysis. Up to £450bn worth of inflation-linked liabilities are in jeopardy because the government hasn’t issued enough index-linked debt for pension schemes to match them, according to an [...]
Activist fund Gatemore buys stake in DFS and warns of buyout vulnerability November 10, 2021 Gatemore Capital management has bought a stake in DFS and told its fund investors that the sofa chain is undervalued by public markets and thus ripe for a private equity bid. Adding to its roster of listed British retailers, which includes Moss Bros, French Connection and Superdry, the activist fund told investors last month that [...]
Keep off the grass: UK wildflowers at risk of extinction November 10, 2021 Research from British conservation charity Plantlife and Renault has revealed that in the UK one in five wildflowers is at a risk of extinction due to pollution. According to the data, since the 1930s 97 per cent of the country’s grasslands and meadows have disappeared, while floral diversity plummeted on road verges, usually home to [...]