How UK business leaders can help Covid-hit female entrepreneurs in Africa October 15, 2020 How far does £40 get you? In the UK, and London especially, it might buy you a meal for two, take-out coffees for the month, or a nice cosy jumper to see you through the autumn and winter months. But in sub-Saharan Africa, such an amount could be life-changing. We’re not talking about hand-outs here, [...]
Beware the risk to economic stability if banks are asked to shoulder the full burden of Covid-19 October 15, 2020 The economic cost of Covid-19 has been — and will continue to be — immense. As the Bank of England publishes its surveys on bank liabilities and credit conditions today, it is a reminder that much of that cost will fall on the financial sector, and within that, on the larger banks. But how that [...]
Mayfair hedge fund takes £140m stake in British Airways owner October 15, 2020 One of the UK’s largest hedge funds has taken out a large position in embattled British Airways owner IAG amid the worst crisis in aviation history. £35bn Marshall Wace today disclosed a three per cent stake in the airlines group, making it one of IAG’s largest stockholders. The Mayfair-based fund has previously taken out short [...]
National Grid launches £700m subsea power link October 15, 2020 National Grid (NG) will today open its latest energy interconnector, which will provide enough clean power for 1m households. The 149-mile-long power cable, which runs between Portsmouth and Caen in France, allows the two nations to share excess zero carbon power. By the end of its first year in operation, IFA2 will have helped avoid [...]
The City View: LMAX CEO urges City to ‘support young talent’ amid Covid October 15, 2020 In this episode Christian talks to David Mercer, CEO of LMAX Group, the fast-growing fintech firm and FX and institutional crypto exchange that clocked up $56m (£43m) in gross profit in 2019, with trading volumes of $3.5tn. Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS LMAX Group is listed in the Deloitte Fast 50 and The Sunday Times [...]
Pay attention, London: Nicola Sturgeon’s spat with Alex Salmond could scupper her mission to break up the UK October 15, 2020 At a time when Londoners are all focusing on the latest lockdown restrictions, wondering what will become of our jobs, and asking if Trump or Boris will still be in post this time next year, does anyone other than expat Scots care who wins the stair-heid rammy between Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond? But care [...]
A message to Rishi from entrepreneurs: Forget tax hikes and let the go-getters get going October 15, 2020 Rishi Sunak certainly deserves praise for his response to the pandemic — so far. Because, as his recent statement to the Commons showed, the real test has only just begun. We have seen the chancellor take decisive action to avoid a bonfire of jobs, and he clearly has his eyes on the future. His speech [...]
How to restore trust in a digitalised society October 15, 2020 Before the ascent of the internet, trust was earned through local reputation. A network of family, friends and neighbours determined which organisations could be relied upon by word of mouth. Someone would confide that a car dealer had let them down and was not to be trusted, shifting business elsewhere. Every parent was quickly made [...]
Government paying test and trace consultants equivalent of £1.5m salary October 14, 2020 The UK government is paying some management consultants the equivalent of more than a million pounds a year to work on the coronavirus test and trace system that its own scientists have criticised. Some senior-ranking consultants at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) are being paid around £7,000 a day, Sky News reported. That would amount to [...]
Gambling firms unveil new online games rules as reforms loom October 14, 2020 British gambling firms today unveiled a new code of conduct for the design of online games as they look to tackle problem gambling in the face of looming industry reforms. New measures include slowing down spin speeds on slot machines, banning several controversial game features and improving access to safer gambling information. The Betting and [...]
