Purplebricks fined £260,000 for breach of money-laundering rules August 18, 2020 Online estate agency Purplebricks has been fined more than £260,000 by HM Revenue & Customs for violating money-laundering rules. Under UK regulations implemented in 2017, estate agencies are required to ensure customers are not using their business to launder money. The legislation says estate agencies are responsible for carrying out financial checks on their clients [...]
Matt Hancock officially scraps Public Health England August 18, 2020 Health secretary Matt Hancock has officially axed Public Health England (PHE) and announced the formation of the National Institute for Health Protection. The new institute will be formed through a merger for NHS Test and Trace, the Joint Biosecurity Centre and parts of PHE, and will have a mission of “protecting people form external threats [...]
Brexit: City faces wait beyond 2020 for EU financial market access August 18, 2020 The City of London may not know whether it will gain post-Brexit access to EU markets until next year, according to Brussels’ financial services chief. European Commission executive vice president Valdis Dombrovskis warned yesterday that regulatory equivalence – which would give City firms access to the EU – could still take months to be granted. [...]
Capita shares slide on coronavirus-triggered first-half loss August 18, 2020 Shares in outsourcer Capita fell more than 10 per cent today after it said it had fallen to a first-half loss because of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The company said its turnaround planned had been torpedoed by the economic effects of the virus outbreak. Shares in Capita, which provides consulting and digital services [...]
Coronavirus will make it harder to raise finance in the next year, say fintech founders August 18, 2020 The majority of fintech founders in the UK believe the pandemic will make it harder to raise finance in the next year. A survey by the Digital Finance Forum (DFF) found that just under half of respondents cited limited access to capital as the most pressing challenge during the pandemic. It comes as the government [...]
Oracle ‘in talks’ over Tiktok takeover as US ban looms August 18, 2020 Oracle is said to be mulling a bid for Tiktok as it looks to rival Microsoft in the race to take over the wildly popular social media platform. The US tech giant, which is led by billionaire Larry Ellison, has held preliminary talks with Tiktok’s Chinese parent company Bytedance over an offer for Tiktok’s operations [...]
Wood Group shares jump despite fall in half-year profit August 18, 2020 Shares in oil services company Wood Group jumped more than nine per cent today as the market cheered its cost cutting and positive full-year projections. Wood Group said profit in the six months to 30 June fell 20.6 per cent as the coronavirus-driven oil price crash hit its global energy clients. Adjusted earnings fell 20.6 [...]
IoD chair resigns after less than two years in the role August 18, 2020 The chair of business advocacy group the Institute of Directors (IoD) has resigned after less than two years in the role. Charlotte Valeur took the job after its former chair Barbara Judge quit after a row over alleged racism, sexism and bullying. However, Valeur has now resigned less than two years into her three year [...]
Marks & Spencer to axe 7,000 jobs within three months amid pandemic August 18, 2020 Marks & Spencer is set to slash 7,000 jobs by December in a huge restructuring brought about by the pandemic, it said today. The high street giant, which was struggling prior to coronavirus, will focus the cuts in its central support centre, regional management and UK stores. It comes on top of 950 job cuts [...]
A-levels debacle: Williamson expects to stay in post ‘over the coming year’ August 18, 2020 Education secretary Gavin Williamson has sought to defend the government’s U-turn on A-level and GCSE grading, suggesting the blame lies with the body that decided on the original algorithm. Williamson also said he expected to remain in post “over the coming year”, amid calls for him to step down as a result of the fiasco. [...]