The City A.M. weekend: How to have fun during lockdown November 7, 2020 This is not the weekend we wanted, but it’s the weekend we have to make do with. As we enter another period of lockdown, there are no galleries, cinemas, restaurants or places to have fun of any kind. So here’s the weekly City A.M. culture and entertainment round-up, lockdown edition. Over the next few weeks [...]
English airports will close without government support, AOA warns November 6, 2020 The Airport Operators Association (AOA) has written to the Prime Minister to call for urgent support to help protect airports following restrictions on international travel announced as a part of England’s second national lockdown. In a letter to Boris Johnson the trade body said airports would like to remain open throughout the lockdown, but without [...]
The best home delivery kits, from prepare-at-home gourmet meals to chocolates and whisky tasting November 6, 2020 The prospect of another month without restaurants is frankly too much to bear, especially with the nights drawing in and the temperature dropping. The hospitality sector was already on its knees and now it needs our help more than ever. Thankfully you can kill two birds with one stone – supporting your favourite chefs and [...]
US employment growth hits five-month low but beats estimates November 6, 2020 The number of Americans finding new work slipped to its lowest level in five months in October as stimulus petered out and coronavirus cases rose, although the figures came in well above expectations. Last month 638,000 Americans found jobs, the US Labor Department said today in its monthly non-farm payrolls report. That was down from [...]
The Mandalorian Season 2 episode by episode: S2E1 review November 6, 2020 *** SPOILERS AHEAD: If you haven’t watched the most recent episodes of The Mandalorian Season 2, look away now*** The debut episode of Season 2 was something to behold. The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) got to lean into the show’s Western influences by defending a small town from a giant dragon, alongside a great guest star [...]
Government backtracks on Covid death charts used to justify lockdown November 6, 2020 The government has quietly replaced death rate projections that pushed England into its second national lockdown, after admitting the charts showed figures that were “too high”. Graphs presented alongside new lockdown measures at the Number 10 press conference last Saturday predicted the UK would see up to 1,500 coronavirus-related deaths a day by early December. [...]
Lockdown expected to delay client results and accounts, KPMG says November 6, 2020 The current national lockdown across England is expected to delay the announcement of results and accounts of clients, KPMG UK has said. The Big Four firm told City AM it is expecting and preparing to delay the announcement of results and accounts of some of the entities it audits. England entered a second national lockdown [...]
New boss at Pizza Express as slice taken out of debt pile November 6, 2020 Pizza Express has appointed a new chairman and chief executive, Allan Leighton and David Campbell respectively, and reduced its debt pile by £400m after completing its recapitalisation. The new capital structure has reduced debt by more than £400million, from £735million to £319million, and includes the immediate injection of £40million of new capital. The business also [...]
PwC buys mindfulness app for all staff amid coronavirus crisis November 6, 2020 Audit giant PwC has bought a 12 month subscription to a mindfulness app for all 22,000 staff across the UK business. City AM understands the chosen app is ‘Headspace’, a mobile app that aims to help users feel less stressed through a combination of meditation, mindfulness and better sleep. In a note to all partners [...]
Building business resilience for a better future November 5, 2020 | City Talk The standout figure from EY’s latest profit warning analysis is the 34% of companies that have issued a profit warning in the first nine months of 2020. That’s over a third of companies that have materially downgraded their earnings forecasts at least once, compared with 23% in the whole of 2001 and 18% in 2008. [...]