The view from outside the echo chamber: Working from home isn’t working November 3, 2020 After much speculation, a second national lockdown is here. For many, this is an extension of effectively nine months already spent working from home. However, some businesses are taking this a step further, by asking people to stay at home until the end of 2021, moving jobs to secondary cities, and even advertising for new remote-only [...]
CEOs, take note: Hygiene is now a boardroom issue November 3, 2020 The history of business is full of inflection points. Some are instantly easy to recognise, and fatal for non-innovators: the iPhone surpassed and killed the once ubiquitous Blackberry, while digital streaming rendered Blockbuster obsolete. Others are more gradual and harder to see. Entertainment venues, for example, took anti-smoking legislation in their stride and transformed, while [...]
UK jobs market weak ahead of lockdown despite rise in vacancies November 3, 2020 The number of firms looking to add to their workforces grew in the third quarter after a historic contraction in the spring, but the UK jobs market remained weak ahead of the recently announced second lockdown, a survey has shown. In the third quarter, 37 per cent of firms attempted to recruit, according to the [...]
UK spooks block two cyber attacks per day as hackers exploit Covid-19 November 3, 2020 UK spooks blocked an average of almost two major cyber attacks per day last year as unscrupulous hackers tried to capitalise on the Covid-19 crisis. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) handled 723 incidents between 1 September 2019 and 31 August 2020, up from an average of 602 incidents over the last three years. The [...]
Got an HSBC account? It’s time to show your support for the people of Hong Kong November 3, 2020 British consumers have faced a tough few months — but for those banking with HSBC, times may be about to get tougher still. Following a reported 35 per cent fall in its quarterly profits, HSBC has announced that it might have to start charging its customers for basic services such as current accounts British customers [...]
Regulator extends mortgage payment holiday ahead of lockdown November 2, 2020 The financial watchdog has proposed an extension of the mortgage payment holiday for borrowers struggling to make payments, ahead of a second national lockdown
US election: Almost 100m early votes cast as record turnout looms November 2, 2020 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Nearly 100m Americans have cast votes for tomorrow’s election already, with turnout expected to be at its highest in decades. The total amount of ballots cast now sits at 97m, which is around 70 per cent of the 139m people who voted in the 2016 election – a record for total number [...]
Supreme Court to hear FCA business interruption insurance appeal this month November 2, 2020 The Supreme Court will this month hear an appeal of the Financial Conduct Authority’s business interruption insurance test case. The test case launched by the watchdog against eight insurance companies was fast-tracked for an appeal earlier this month. The FCA launched legal proceedings in June after it failed to find an agreement with the insurance [...]
Green deodorant firm raises million-plus growth fund November 2, 2020 An eco-friendly deodorant has raised millions in seed funding in a round including Jam Jar Investments. Wild, a refillable plastic-free deodorant, was founded in 2019 by former Hello Fresh Marketing Director Freddy Ward and co-boss Charlie Bowes-Lyon. Read more: Get all the news on the US Election and what it means for markets Much of [...]
PwC to take over from KPMG as M&G’s external auditor November 2, 2020 PwC is set to take over from KPMG as M&G's external auditor.
