West End landlord: Weekly footfall 60 per cent of pre-Covid levels – CityAM : CityAM August 23, 2021 West End landlord Shaftesbury has said weekly footfall has recovered to 50-60 per cent of pre-pandemic levels as hospitality businesses enjoy a “strong recovery” of trading levels. The landlord reported increased occupancy across all uses with available-to-let vacancy at 4.1 per cent by 13 August 2021 compared to 8.4 per cent on 31 March 2021. [...]
Tony Blair’s son Euan raises £65m in funding round for start up – CityAM : CityAM August 23, 2021 An education start up founded by Euan Blair, son of former prime minister Tony Blair, has secured £65m in funding. Founded in 2016, Multiverse provides school leavers with apprenticeships and training, helping to secure people work in companies such as Google, Unilever, Facebook and Morgan Stanley. The investment is understood to be part of upcoming [...]
Leaders are entitled to holidays but Dominic Raab’s Crete vacation was a dereliction of duty August 23, 2021 Last week Foreign Secreatry, Dominic Raab was harangued from all sides because he was on holiday and either uncontactable or unwilling to disrupt his respite to make a telephone call to a minister in Kabul. The question of whether or not a conversation between Raab and his Afghan counterpart, Mohammad Hanif Atmar would have made [...]
Global Britain must pivot towards Asia but it must also ensure polluting countries take climate change seriously August 23, 2021 If the Government’s Global Britain vision is to be a success, the UK must strengthen ties with the most populous continent in the world: Asia. An agreement to boost cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – ten member countries in the Indo-Pacific, home to nearly 10 percent of the world’s population – [...]
One in three British firms to restructure business to cope with post-Brexit environment August 23, 2021 Almost one in three medium-sized businesses are going to have to drastically change their operations to cope with the new post-Brexit UK-EU trading relationship, according to new figures published today. Research by accountancy firm BDO reveals 32 per cent of mid-sized businesses think they need to alter their business model to remain viable amid the [...]
Global dividends continue march toward pre-Covid levels August 23, 2021 Companies are restoring investor payouts rapidly as the spectre of the Covid crisis over their future prospects recedes, according to fresh figures released today. Data from Janus Henderson shows global dividends surged 26.3 per cent to $471.7bn in the second quarter of this year on an annual basis. Companies that halted dividends to protect cash [...]
Sara Glass CA: From the private sector to CFO of the Scottish Parliament August 23, 2021 This article first appeared in ICAS’ CA magazine. Sara Glass CA left a successful career in the private sector to become CFO of the Scottish Parliament. She tells Ryan Herman why the two roles are more similar than they appear. It is less than a year since Sara Glass CA became Chief Financial Officer for the [...]
Sainsbury’s shares rocket: Investors eye supermarket’s property portfolio August 23, 2021 Sainsbury’s shares were up 15 per cent cent after reports that a private equity giant is poised to launch a bid topping £7bn. Shares in J Sainsbury rose by 15 per cent on Monday to 338.89p, after closing on 294.70p. Apollo Global Management is reportedly considering a bid for the supermarket after previously losing out [...]
Female FTSE 100 directors earn 73 per cent less than male counterparts August 23, 2021 A recent investigation has found that female FTSE 100 directors on average earn 73 per cent less than their male counterparts. Research by New Street Consulting Group found that the average pay for female directors stands at £237,000, compared to £875,900 for male directors. The data reveals that the gender pay gap at the top [...]
National Covid-19 antibody surveillance programme launched by government August 22, 2021 A nation-wide antibody surveillance programme for the public has been launched by the UK Health Security Agency to collect data to build the government’s understanding of immunity against Covid-19. The government today announced that free home antibody tests kits will be offered to adults in the UK who test positive for the virus from Tuesday. [...]
