BDO eases promotion pause and makes 20 new partners January 6, 2021 Some 20 employees at BDO have finally been promoted to partner at the firm, having had their promotions delayed for six months because of Covid-19. The new partners work across the audit firm’s tax, audit and advisory teams and their promotions are effective from 1 January. A total 470 staff that were due promotions in [...]
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 [...]
Sterling hits $1.36 amid relief over Brexit deal December 24, 2020 Sterling extended gains on Thursday and hit $1.36 on the news that a Brexit deal has been agreed. Sterling had this morning been boosted by speculation, rising 0.47 per cent to $1.35, up 0.6% on the day and heading towards the 2-1/2 year high of $1.3625 hit last week. The pound edged up to 90.05 [...]
FTSE falls into the red as Brexit deal wait continues December 24, 2020 The FTSE 100 has fallen into the red as mid morning passes and the UK waits to hear if it has secured a deal with the European Union. At just past 11am London’s main market dropped 0.44 per cent after initially opening on the up. The market opened up 66 per cent this morning, following [...]
Trump pardons prison pals in final weeks of office December 24, 2020 Donald Trump has pardoned a number of people close to him and his family as one of his final acts as President of the United States. Trump has pardoned his former campaign manager Paul Manafort, ex-adviser Roger Stone and the father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Manafort and Stone were both convicted of crimes relating [...]
Cancel Christmas mixing or risk thousands of super-spreading events, urges Independent Sage December 24, 2020 Household mixing on Christmas Day should be banned and all areas placed in Tier 4, Independent Sage has said, as the Covid situation worsens in the UK. The group of independent scientists urged the government to make changes to the planned easing of restrictions on Christmas Day, describing the new strain of Covid as “incredibly [...]
Bosses beg for help as new Tier 4 restrictions shutter 50,000 businesses December 24, 2020 Some 50,000 more businesses have shut their doors as a result of the latest Tier 4 coronavirus restrictions, causing panic among affected industries. Yesterday afternoon health secretary Matt Hancock announced Tier 4 restrictions would be extended to cover almost all of the South of England from Boxing Day. Tier 4 restrictions are largely the same [...]
Alibaba under investigation by China for monopoly tactics December 24, 2020 Alibaba is under investigation by Chinese regulators for alleged monopolistic practices, in the latest blow for Jack Ma’s fintech and e-commerce empire. The probe is part of an accelerating crackdown on anticompetitive behavior in China’s booming internet space, and the latest setback for Ma, the 56-year-old former school teacher who founded Alibaba and became China’s [...]
Premier Inn owner Whitbread asks landlords for 50 per cent rent cut December 23, 2020 Premier Inn owner Whitbread has asked its landlords for a rent cut of 50 per cent, as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic restrictions continue to affect trade. Whitbread sent a letter to its landlords, urging them to “share some of the pain of lockdown,” according to reports. Whitbread, which also owns Beefeater and Brewers Fayre brands, [...]
BREAKING: Another new mutation of Covid-19 spreading in UK from South Africa December 23, 2020 A new mutation of Covid-19 is spreading in the United Kingdom, having arrived from South Africa. The variant, which is considered to be even faster to spread than the mutation announced last week, is highly contagious. Anybody who has been to South Africa in the last two weeks, and any close contacts of anybody who [...]
