Kent Covid variant ‘no more deadly’ than original coronavirus strain March 31, 2021 The Kent Covid variant, which is now the UK’s dominant version of coronavirus, is no more deadly than the original strain, research by Public Health England (PHE) has found. A PHE study matched 2,800 cases of the B117 variant first identified in Kent against the original Covid strain and found there was no significant difference in [...]
BBC journalist flees China amid Beijing’s criticism of ‘fabricated’ reporting March 31, 2021 BBC News has said this morning that one of its journalists based in China has relocated to Taiwan, as he revealed information China ‘did not want the world to know’. The move comes amid growing criticism from Beijing about the broadcaster’s reports on alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang, which led to BBC World News [...]
March is over: UK led vaccine battle this quarter but European markets outperformed March 31, 2021 As it is the end of the month, as well as the quarter, it is perhaps worth reflecting on the fact that it’s been a fairly decent period for equity markets, despite the lockdowns across Europe and in the UK. Having said that, there has been mixed progress on the vaccine rollout, with the UK [...]
Allen & Overy joins magic circle firms offering ‘thank you’ bonus March 31, 2021 Allen & Overy has become the latest magic circle law firm to offer non-partners a ‘thank you’ bonus for their work during the coronavirus pandemic. Allen & Overy will give staff a one-off fee bonus in April, equal to five per cent of their annual salary. The Covid-19-related bonus will be in addition to the [...]
Exclusive: FTSE 100 dividend yields forecast to jump by 24 per cent this year March 31, 2021 Dividend yields on FTSE 100 shares may rise by 24 per cent this year as the economy begins its recovery from the coronavirus recession, according to new research shared with City A.M. this morning. Based on a consensus of analysts’ views on how dividends will increase over the next year, UK equity analysts at Bowmore [...]
£9.5m boost will help make City Corporation buildings ‘greener’ March 31, 2021 | City Talk The City of London Corporation has been given a multi-million pound Government funding boost to help make its buildings more energy efficient. The Square Mile’s governing body has been awarded £9.445 million from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme administered by Salix Finance on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The money [...]
PwC staff to head into the office two to three days a week post-Covid March 31, 2021 PwC will allow flexible working to continue when coronavirus restrictions ease, and has said staff can finish at lunchtime on Friday during July and August. The Big Four firm said it expects staff will spend an average of two to three days per week co-located with colleagues, either in the office or at client sites. [...]
Huawei: Growth slows amid geopolitical tensions, but smart cities on the horizon March 31, 2021 Huawei took home $137.7bn in revenue last year, an uptick of just 3.8 per cent year on year, as it saw a lift to its enterprise business amidst geopolitical tensions. The Chinese telecoms giant enjoyed a 23 per cent boost to its enterprise business which earned $15.4bn, as it has channelled its focus away from [...]
UK GDP shoots up after worst year on record amid non-stop ‘string of positive news’ March 31, 2021 The UK economy bounced back more strongly than first thought in the last six months of 2020, the Office for National Statistics said this morning. GDP rose by 16.9 per cent and 1.3 per cent in the third and fourth quarters respectively. An early estimate of one per cent growth for the period between October [...]
Revealed: The London boroughs where houses sell fastest March 31, 2021 The areas of the capital where property sells the fastest have been revealed, with outer London boroughs dominating the list. Waltham Forest was the neighborhood where sellers can hope to offload their properties the quickest, with two-bed terrace houses the fastest to be taken off the market in just 35 days. Barking and Dagenham, Bexley [...]