Real Estate: COVID-19 may permanently quarantine inflexible leases May 5, 2020 | City Talk Real estate leases have long represented a point of disagreement between accountants and financial analysts. This disagreement was the primary reason why the London-headquartered International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) went separate ways in finalising lease accounting standards. Figure 1. Lease Accounting Survey Report (October 2013) For a [...]
Volkswagen warns manufacturing costs set to rise as car demand collapses May 5, 2020 Volkswagen has warned that the car industry is likely to come under even more pressure as parts makers increase the prices of crucial components due to the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking to the Financial Times, Volkswagen’s board member for procurement Stefan Sommer said that some suppliers were raising prices to offset the fact that they are [...]
Coronavirus: NHS contact-tracing app trial launched on Isle of Wight May 5, 2020 A new NHS app designed to track the spread of coronavirus has been launched for some workers today as part of a trial on the Isle of Wight. Healthcare and council staff will be the first to test the contact-tracing app, with the rest of the island’s population able to join the trial from Thursday. [...]
Michael Spencer: Government must find way to ease ‘agonising’ UK lockdown May 5, 2020 Billionaire financier Michael Spencer has urged the government to “be brave” in its approach to easing the UK lockdown, warning the “agonising” effects of the economic shutdown risk causing lasting damage to British businesses. Spencer said that the longer the economy is “left in its paralysed state the greater the damage that accumulates”. He added: [...]
Remote working is causing employees to feel overworked May 5, 2020 Remote working is encouraging a culture of so-called EPresenteeism, according to a new survey, leading employees to feeling overworked and overwhelmed. Four in five HR managers think working from home has encouraged EPresenteeism, meaning employees feel they should be online and available as much as possible. Research commissioned by LinkedIn, in partnership with the Mental [...]
Business groups welcome start of UK-US trade talks May 5, 2020 Business groups have welcomed the start of UK-US trade talks today, urging the government to concentrate on Britain’s small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in negotiations. International trade secretary Liz Truss will host a video conference call with US trade representative Robert Lighthizer today to signal the start of negotiations. The first round of talks [...]
The City View podcast, from City A.M., with Michael Spencer May 4, 2020 In this episode Christian is joined by billionaire financier and City grandee Michael Spencer. Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS Spencer urges the government to “be brave” in easing the UK out of lockdown – a state of affairs he described as “agonising”. He warns of lasting damage [...]
GE plans to cut up to 13,000 jobs in further blow to US aviation sector May 4, 2020 General Electric (GE) said today it is planning on cutting the global workforce of its aviation unit by as much as 25 per cent, or up to 13,000 jobs. The announcement is the latest blow to fall on the beleaguered aviation sector which has been hit hard by the freeze in travel triggered by the [...]
Universal credit claims hit 1.8m during coronavirus crisis May 4, 2020 The British government received 1.8m Universal Credit benefits claims between 16 March and the end of April, work and pensions minister Therese Coffey said today. Universal Credit is paid to people in work as well as those who have lost their jobs. Coffey said the volume of claims was six times the normal rate and [...]
TfL should increase fares to promote social distancing, says think tank May 4, 2020 Transport for London (TfL) should increase fare prices at peak times once the coronavirus lockdown is eased, according to one of the country’s top think tanks. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) released a new report today, suggesting measures such as increased fare prices would act as a disincentive for people catching public transport once [...]