DEBATE: Will workplace diversity suffer from a new flexible working culture? October 1, 2020 Will workplace diversity suffer from a new flexible working culture? Jo Preston, director & head of people at Teamspirit, says YES One of the silver linings of the coronavirus pandemic has been the corporate pivot towards flexible working. The swiftness with which thousands of employees transitioned from office desks to kitchen tables demonstrated a huge [...]
State-owned bank raised concerns over bounce back loans’ fraud risk September 30, 2020 The state-owned British Business Bank issued formal objections to the government’s coronavirus Bounce Back Loan and Future Fund schemes ahead of their launch, newly-released documents show. In letters sent to business secretary Alok Sharma in May, BBB chief executive Keith Morgan raised concerns including the BBL scheme’s “very significant fraud and credit risks” and whether [...]
Collaboration and compromise, not catastrophe: the key to defusing landlord-occupier tension September 30, 2020 Tensions between commercial landlords and their financially stressed tenants continue to grow, and how landlords respond will be critical to the recovery not only of the real estate sector, but of the wider economy. The government announced a further extension to the commercial rent moratorium, preventing landlords from taking recovery action through until the end [...]
Uber’s back and its rivals will just have to deal with it September 30, 2020 Having scraped by on short-term “emergency licences” for about two years, Uber, the California-based ride-sharing app provider, has been given a “proper” licence to operate in London again, after winning in a crucial appeals case this week. For now, this marks the end of two years of legal limbo. In 2017, Transport for London (TfL) [...]
And this week’s winner for the Stupid Scientist award is… September 30, 2020 Scepticism about the advice given by government scientists about Covid-19 is rising sharply. In areas like Bolton infections are high. Interviews with the locals reveal that so, too, is disbelief in the veracity of the statements made by members of SAGE, the government science advisory group. The scientists, rational beings themselves, may ascribe this to [...]
Measures to suppress Covid-19 are causing untold damage to students and young people September 30, 2020 The motto of the Young Money Blog is “don’t get mad — get informed”. But in recent weeks and months, I’ve found it hard not to get mad. As we try to head into an uncertain and bleak winter, emergency laws designed to curb the spread of Covid-19 are fast becoming a moral and economic [...]
Sunak’s subsidy scheme will save just one job per company in the business travel sector September 30, 2020 Last week, the chancellor outlined his Winter Economy Plan — trying to balance the needs of the economy with our health and wellbeing. No enviable task. Listening to his polished performance in the Commons, it would be easy to conclude that the chancellor’s new approach — underpinned by a Job Support Scheme and extended tax [...]
London faces emergency two-week lockdown as UK hospital deaths hit highest since July September 29, 2020 Ministers are drawing up plans to enforce sweeping lockdown measures across the country including a ban on household mixing in London, as new coronavirus infections continue to rise. Pubs, restaurants and bars may be forced to shutter for two weeks in both the North of England and in London, marking a return to so-called circuit [...]
Tory minister backs ‘1984’ ban on singing and dancing September 29, 2020 A government minister has backed the government’s ban on singing and dancing in public venues, warning that some jobs in the UK’s night-time economy will take a “long time” to return in the wake of the pandemic. Skills minister Gillian Keegan told Sky News’ Kay Burley this morning that emergency laws implemented yesterday to curb [...]
Hotel Chocolat swings to loss as pandemic bites into sales September 29, 2020 Luxury chocolatier Hotel Choclat swung to a statutory loss in the 52 weeks to June, after shuttered commuter hubs and store closures during the crucial Easter period swallowed up sales and hammered finances. The results Revenue rose three per cent for the 12 months to the end of June, after a 14 per cent hike [...]