Brits to get an extra Bank Holiday to celebrate Queen’s Platinum Jubilee November 12, 2020 The Queen’s 70th year on the throne will be marked with a “once in a generation” show in 2022, with an extra Bank Holiday for Brits to join in the celebrations. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden and Buckingham Palace announced the move this morning. Read more: Takeout pints in, banana bread out as Brits react to [...]
ITV forecasts advertising rebound after Covid-19 slump November 12, 2020 ITV today said it expects advertising revenue to be slightly higher year on year in the fourth quarter as spend begins to recover from its pandemic-induced slump. The broadcaster said total advertising spend was down seven per cent in the third quarter, a sharp improvement on the 43 per cent crash posted in the previous [...]
WH Smith scraps dividend as it crashes to £280m loss November 12, 2020 WH Smith has scrapped its dividend for the full year as the pandemic drove it to a pre-tax loss of £280m. The figures WH Smith posted revenue of £1bn in the year to the end of August, down 33 per cent on last year. The company swung to a pre-tax loss of £280m, compared to [...]
UK must ‘knuckle down’ to get EU trade deal, says Irish PM November 12, 2020 The UK must “knuckle down” to secure a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU, the Irish prime minister has said. Taoiseach Michael Martin said failing to reach an agreement would be “very, very damaging all round”. The UK is running out of time to secure a trade deal with the bloc before the transition period [...]
Some 19,000 jobs for 16-24s created under government Kickstart Scheme November 12, 2020 More than 19,000 placements for unemployed young people have been created under the government’s £2 billion Kickstart Scheme so far. The Kickstart Scheme began last week and, according to HMRC, is expected to produce “tens of thousands” more placements in the coming months. The scheme provides funding to create new job placements for 16 to [...]
London’s housing market activity expected to slow next year, survey finds November 12, 2020 London’s housing market activity is expected to slow down next year as the withdrawal of government support measures and a difficult economic backdrop dampens the post-lockdown surge in demand. The latest research showed that both demand for properties and new homes being listed for sales remained strong last month. However a survey by the Royal [...]
Begone Trumpist protectionism! How Biden will boost prospects for global trade November 12, 2020 We cannot be sure on the exact order in which European leaders were contacted by the US President-elect, but we do know that Boris Johnson was among them early on, silencing the hysteria that our Prime Minister might be snubbed. Fears have abounded during this US presidential race that a Joe Biden win would result [...]
Green Bonds are misguided, counter-productive, and an investment handicap November 12, 2020 On Monday, the chancellor announced that the UK government will soon be issuing “Green Bonds”. In separate but related news, Scottish Widows will dump £400m of stocks that don’t meet Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria. ESG compliance has become the first thing discussed at investment committee meetings. Everyone wants to show how green they [...]
Could ditching the office make us all poorer? November 12, 2020 While we have in many ways adjusted to life in a pandemic, the profoundly disorientating changes we’ve seen since the initial nationwide lockdown are stark. The “death of the office” narrative has persisted through the easing and then reimposing of lockdown restrictions, and while no one can predict exactly how this will play out, it [...]
Government’s digital strategy cannot be a missed opportunity November 12, 2020 Why is there no British tech titan on the scale of Google, Apple or Amazon? This is a question that has exercised the minds of those in and outside of government for some time. Many have concluded that more needs to do done if the UK is ever going to create a $1 trillion home [...]
