Exclusive: ‘We must be brave and move away from the EU’s way of thinking’, says Tech Nation chair January 7, 2021 After what was a difficult year for tech firms, City A.M. sat down with Stephen Kelly, chairman of Tech Nation, the industry body that represents UK startups and runs Britain’s Tech Nation visa scheme for foreign entrepreneurs. Brexit has just taken place, how will this impact London’s startup space? Brexit is the UK’s opportunity to [...]
Mandatory testing is the boost the travel industry needs January 7, 2021 Lockdown 3 has once again decimated the travel industry. There is a total ban on foreign trips except for very specific reasons such as work or urgent medical or compassionate need. We are in a total mess but there is one clear way out. The government needs to act quickly and introduce stringent Covid testing for [...]
Close to 4,000 UK financial firms ‘at risk of collapse’ after first Covid-19 lockdown January 7, 2021 The UK’s first Covid-19 lockdown threatened the viability of around 4,000 financial firms, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said this morning. The financial watchdog surveyed 23,000 smaller financial firms to greater understand the financial impacts of Covid-19 and found that 59 per cent of firms expected blows to their profits due to the pandemic. Others’ [...]
Sport tackles Covid-19: How Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool and tennis chiefs at Wimbledon are helping the NHS and vaccine roll-out January 7, 2021 Football clubs Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool as well as Wimbledon tennis chiefs have pledged to join the fight against Covid-19. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has offered to put up NHS staff at the Copthorne Hotel adjoining the club’s Stamford Bridge home. Tottenham bosses have made their stadium available for administering vaccines, as have Liverpool. The [...]
UK researchers developing world’s first Covid vaccine patch January 7, 2021 Researchers at Swansea University are in the process of developing the world’s first ‘smart vaccine device’, which is able to inject a Covid-19 vaccine as well as measure its effectiveness by monitoring the body’s response. The patch, which will produce the vaccine through the skin by using thousands of micro-needles, would be capable of monitoring [...]
Opening golf clubs would be a hole in one for lockdown health January 7, 2021 It will come as no surprise that 2020 was a bittersweet year for the UK’s golfing industry. While the urbanisation and redevelopment of golf courses mean that many much-loved greenspaces are being lost in the bid for more housing, the sport saw a huge increase in uptake after the restrictions of the first lockdown were eased, as [...]
Footballers warned by own union to stick to lockdown rules following spate of high-profile breaches at top clubs January 6, 2021 Footballers’ union the PFA has urged players to observe lockdown rules as a matter of “vital importance” following a number of high-profile breaches. Stars from Manchester City, Tottenham and West Ham have attracted criticism for holding social gatherings over the festive period. The PFA’s warning comes as Covid-19 cases soar in the Premier League and [...]
Zurich offers staff 10-day ‘lockdown leave’ for frazzled parents January 6, 2021 Zurich is offering full time staff 10 extra days of paid leave for parents who face childcare emergencies in the wake of England’s third national lockdown. More than one in five of Zurich’s 4,500 UK employees with children will benefit from the extra time off, which can be taken in consecutive days or one at [...]
Nightingale Hospital in London to open as mass vaccination centre January 6, 2021 The Nightingale Hospital at London’s Excel Centre will be used from Monday as a mass vaccination centre along with six other locations across the UK. NHS staff will be used to administer vaccines at the centre, with the government aiming to vaccinate the 13m people most at risk of dying from Covid by 15 February. [...]
Corona Impact Series: How a Chiswick energy startup grew up fast during the pandemic January 6, 2021 In this series, City A.M. looks at the financial and economic impact of the ongoing pandemic on a range of small and medium-sized businesses across London. This week: how a small West London-based supplier of green energy thrived during last year’s lockdowns. The pandemic story of So Energy in Chiswick certainly bucked the national trend last year. Only [...]