Singapore audit reform stresses need for UK action, IIA warns January 13, 2021 Recent changes to rules surrounding audit in Singapore have highlighted why action on audit reform in the UK is crucial, the CEO of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors has warned. CEO John Wood said reform of the UK’s audit sector was necessary to protect the UK’s leading reputation in corporate governance. The Singapore stock [...]
Debenhams closes six stores including Oxford Street flagship January 13, 2021 Debenhams has permanently closed six department stores, including its flagship site in Oxford Street, due to the third national lockdown. The retailer had planned to reopen the stores to sell off remaining stock, but the introduction of new Covid-19 restrictions means that sites where it was unable to secure lease extensions will close. The closures [...]
London Stock Exchange gets green light for $27bn Refinitiv deal January 13, 2021 EU competition regulators have approved London Stock Exchange’s $27bn (£20bn) takeover of Refinitiv, clearing the way for a major new rival to Bloomberg. The European Commission today said its investigation had raised a number of concerns about the deal, but that these would be addressed by a number of remedies. These include LSE’s €4.3bn sale [...]
Chris Tremlett: Sri Lanka Test series is chance to showcase wealth of England options January 13, 2021 England are in good shape as they prepare to kick off a big year with a two-Test series in Sri Lanka, starting tomorrow. The tourists have a very balanced squad and a lot of depth to choose from; that hasn’t always been the case in previous years. With Ben Stokes, Rory Burns, Moeen Ali, Chris [...]
Square Mile sees four times as many commuters than during first lockdown January 13, 2021 There were four times as many trips made on public transport in the City of London last week than during the spring’s first lockdown, Transport for London (TfL) data shows. Last week there were around 80,000 entrances and exits from Tube stations in the capital’s financial district, which equates to 40,000 journeys. By contrast, back [...]
Debate: Should Primark open an online store? January 13, 2021 Overnight opening hours, queue-management systems and lashings of promotions – Primark did everything it could to keep its customers happy amid a year of on/off lockdown restrictions. But with parent company Associated British Food’s trading update out this week, is it time for the High Street phenomenon to go digital, too? Kam Phullar, Lead Strategist [...]
‘Appalling’ sized children food parcels were in line with government advice January 13, 2021 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has revealed that the miserly free school meals handed out to children this week by a private company were in fact in line with government advice. Starmer hit out at Boris Johnson for distancing himself from the fiasco as the size of the meals had been dictated by Department of [...]
Hits Don’t Lie: Shakira sells entire song catalogue to Hipgnosis January 13, 2021 Shakira has become the latest musician to cash in on her song rights after selling her entire back catalogue to music royalty fund Hipgnosis. The London-listed company today said it has acquired the rights to Shakira’s portfolio of 145 songs, including hits such as Hips Don’t Lie, She Wolf and 2010 World Cup anthem Waka [...]
MP calls for City watchdog to probe ‘patchy’ British Gas insurance January 13, 2021 A Stockport MP has called for City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), to investigate a British Gas backlog dispute as more than 100,000 could be left without home insurance. British Gas parent company Centrica has been accused of provoking a strike which has left its ‘HomeCare’ customers without cover. Writing to the FCA this [...]
Technology companies dominate list of best places to work in the UK January 13, 2021 Here's the list of best places to work in the UK, and these tech firms dominate