Government axes Industrial Strategy Committee in ‘build back better’ push March 4, 2021 Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has scrapped the government’s Industrial Strategy Committee as part of the government’s new “Build Back Better” plans. The 16-strong group of industry leaders, which was set up just two and half years ago, were yesterday told their services were no longer required, Sky News first reported. Members include Bank of England [...]
Using physics and theories to navigate the complex world of dCommerce March 4, 2021 Justin Banon, co-founder of Boson Protocol, walks us through his thinking from concept to completion in the complex world of dCommerce.
Brexit: EU ‘simply can’t trust’ Britain as tensions rise over Northern Irish protocol March 4, 2021 The EU will see Britain as an untrustworthy partner after its decision to alter the Northern Irish Brexit arrangement, Ireland’s foreign minister said this morning. Simon Coveney claimed it was not the first time the EU have seen warning signs in Britain’s dealings, after the move sparked accusations of a breach of trust. The comments [...]
B&M ups earning expectations after strong lockdown trading March 4, 2021 Discount retailer B&M this morning upped its earnings expectations following a strong performance during the latest coronavirus lockdown. The chain said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for this financial year will be between £590m to £620m. The latest forecast accounts for the voluntary payment of business rates, amounting to around £80m. It [...]
Sadiq Khan pledges to spend more on London economy in election campaign launch March 4, 2021 Sadiq Khan will today launch his re-election campaign by promising to spend more of his £16bn City Hall Budget on the capital’s economic recovery, including creating a new fund to get people back to London’s West End. Khan will say in a speech later this afternoon that he will focus on “jobs, jobs, jobs” if [...]
Waitrose opens new London warehouse in online delivery push March 4, 2021 Waitrose has opened a new London warehouse in partnership with Wincanton in a bid to boost its online delivery capacity. The supermarket, which last year ended its partnership with Ocado, said the warehouse in Greenford will deliver 25,000 orders each week and employ an extra 800 staff when it opens fully later this year. That [...]
UK PMIs: Construction activity bounces back as paused projects get green light March 4, 2021 UK construction activity bounced back in February as businesses gave the go ahead to projects that had been forced to be suspended due to the pandemic. The IHS Markit/Cips purchasing managers (PMI) index for construction scored 53.2 in February, with any score above the 50-mark indicating growth. That’s markedly ahead of analyst expectations of a score of [...]
Hygiene surge boosts ratcatchers Rentokil March 4, 2021 Rentokil said that it had boosted profit 5.4 per cent across the full year thanks to huge growth in its hygiene business amid the coronavirus pandemic. Across the year, ongoing operating profit rose to £383.8m, up from £365.5m the year before. Revenue also increased 5.0 per cent to £2.8bn. Despite the impressive performance, shares in [...]
Rathbones ends ‘challenging’ year with a dividend hike March 4, 2021 Investment management giant Rathbones finished a ‘challenging’ 2020 with £54.7bn funds under management, the firm said this morning, after enjoying growth of 8.5 per cent last year. The firm’s underlying profit before tax increased by 4.3 per cent to £92.5m, meanwhile its funds business soared 32.4 per cent to £9.8bn. Chief executive Paul Stockton said: [...]
Schroders’ assets under management hit record high March 4, 2021 Schroders’ assets under management reached a record high despite net inflows dipping over the year. AUM jumped 15 per cent to £574.4bn after strong demand in its private assets and solutions divisions pushed net inflows to £42.5bn. Profit before tax and exceptional items increased marginally to £702.3m beating a consensus of £649.2m. Schroders declared an [...]
