Editorial: Slashing staff pay for remote work is a slap-dash response to the shifts of the pandemic August 11, 2021 To say the cost of living in London is more expensive than the cost of living in rural Sussex is so obvious, it hardly bears repeating. By every price index, rent, transport, coffee, pints or food, London tops the charts. Companies have always forked out more money for employees who live in expensive metropolitan cities. [...]
Deliveroo shares slip despite revenue soaring and lockdown orders doubling August 11, 2021 Lockdown favourite Deliveroo revenue jumped 82 per cent to £922m in the first half of the year, results out this morning showed. The number of orders doubled to shy of 150m in the first half of 2021 compared with 75m during the same period last year when the first national lockdown was introduced. Deliveroo said [...]
Burger chain Wendy’s to launch ‘ghost kitchens’ in UK August 11, 2021 U.S. burger chain Wendy’s has announced plans for 700 delivery kitchens including in locations across the UK. The company announced a development commitment by REEF to launch 700 ‘ghost kitchens’ over the next five years across the U.S., Canada and UK. The delivery kitchen concept will target consumers keen to maintain at-home leisure habits beyond [...]
CMA backs Ofgem cuts to energy network returns August 11, 2021 The competition watchdog has today ruled in favour of Ofgem’s plans to slash returns for investors in the UK’s energy network. In its provisional ruling, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) knocked back the appeals of several of the country’s biggest energy suppliers, but acknowledged that the energy regulator had erred in some areas. It [...]
East London state school outperforms Eton in Oxbridge offers August 11, 2021 Brampton Manor Academy, a school in east London is celebrating after 55 students obtained the A-level grades to study at Oxford or Cambridge, more than the offers made to prestigious Eton College. The majority of pupils at the school in Newham are from ethnic minority backgrounds, receive free school meals (FSMs), or will be the [...]
Build to rent on track for record investment as investors eye projects outside London August 11, 2021 The build to rent market has received record levels of investment in the first two quarters of the year, according to new research. In the first half of the year, £2.35bn of capital was invested into the sector including more than £1.27bn in Q1 and an additional £1.08bn in Q2. Global property consultancy Knight Frank [...]
David Cameron denies lobbying for genetics firm to get £123m contract August 11, 2021 David Cameron has denied lobbying Matt Hancock on behalf of a genetics firm that won a £123m government contract. Cameron works as a paid adviser for US-based gene sequencing firm Illumina, who won the contract after the former Prime Minister wrote to Matt Hancock about attending a conference with him. The Times reports that Cameron [...]
Pandemic stretches gender pension gap to nearly £200,000 August 11, 2021 Women’s retirement prospects and savings have been dragged down by the pandemic much more than men’s, widening the gap between their pensions pots by almost £200,000. On average, the difference between the average pensions of women and men aged over 55 widened to £184,000 in in the last year – up £26,000 on 2020, according [...]
Heathrow passenger numbers begin to rise as restrictions ease August 11, 2021 The most passengers travelled through Heathrow in a single month since the beginning of the pandemic in July, the UK’s largest airport said today. In total, 1.5m passengers used the airport in July, up 74 per cent on last year. It said that the easing of travel restrictions was beginning to improve consumer confidence after [...]
Employers shun offering remote working to new candidates August 11, 2021 Few firms are offering new candidates remote working despite many predicting changes to working practices triggered by the pandemic are here to stay, according to new figures. Recruitment site Reed said just 5.6 per cent of jobs advertised on their website mentioned hybrid working in the job description. The proportion mentioning remote working is down [...]
