Businesses seek cover amid wave of discrimination lawsuits August 6, 2021 UK and US insurers are being flooded with requests for cover from businesses amid rising numbers of covid related discrimination lawsuits, it has been reported. According to Reuters, there have been 2,950 Covid-19 related employment lawsuits in the United States since the start of the pandemic, with health and safety, remote working and workplace discrimination [...]
CEO Roger Burnley exits Asda early after £6.8bn acquisition August 6, 2021 Asda has today announced that CEO Roger Burnley has left the company in the midst of its transition to new ownership. Burnley is leaving just months after the UK’s third biggest supermarket group was purchased by the billionaire Issa brothers and the private equity group TDR Capital for £6.8bn. In the process the Issa brothers [...]
London compared: How hard has your borough been hit by Covid-19? August 6, 2021 Almost three weeks after the majority of restrictions were lifted in the UK on “Freedom Day”, City AM analysis has revealed which London boroughs suffered the most Covid deaths during the last year of the pandemic. From the onset of the pandemic in March 2020 to when the UK’s third lockdown began to wind down [...]
HMRC revenue from Capital Gains Tax jumps fourfold as businesses sell off assets August 6, 2021 The government has collected almost £10bn from capital gains tax (CGT), a fourfold increase compared to a decade earlier. New HMRC data shows the taxman collected £9.94bn in the 2019-2020 tax year a sizeable jump from the £2.55bn sum taken for the year ending in April 2009. Over 28 per cent of CGT came from [...]
Apple to scan iPhones for child sex abuse images August 6, 2021 Apple has announced plans to search people’s iPhones for child sex abuse material (CSAM) using new technology raising privacy concerns. Overnight Apple confirmed that “NeuralHash” technology will allow them to detect known CSAM images stored in iCloud photos. The automated system will perform on-device checks of photos before they are uploaded to the iCloud. The [...]
Stamp Duty Holiday gives UK property market and tax coffers a major boost August 5, 2021 The government has published data confirming that the UK property market has been given a major boost by the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) holiday. Results for the second quarter of 2021 show that total SDLT transactions jumped 165 per cent compared to the same period last year and are up nine per cent compared [...]
New car sales fall to lowest level since 1998 amid pingdemic August 5, 2021 Supply issues and staff shortages have proved a speed bump for new car sales which fell by 29.5 percent in July 2021 according to an industry body. A total of 123,296 new vehicle registrations were recorded last month by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) – the lowest figures for July since 1998. [...]
John Lewis and Pret named and shamed for failing to pay minimum wage August 5, 2021 The government has named and shamed some 191 employers, including John Lewis, Pret A Manger and The Body Shop, for paying workers under the national minimum wage. Investigations by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs found that employers owed a total of £2.1m to over 34,000 workers who were underpaid between 2011 and 2018. Named employers [...]
France and Spain holidays saved but travel firms urge government to open borders August 5, 2021 Fresh changes to the UK’s travel traffic light system to ensure holidays in France and Spain can happen this summer for vaccinated Brits, but many airlines and tourism companies are demanding faster progress. From 4am on Sunday arrivals from France, if fully vaccinated against Covid-19, will no longer need to self-isolate at home for 10 [...]
HSBC bans UK customers from making payments to Binance August 4, 2021 HSBC has announced it will stop UK customers from making payments to Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, “wherever possible.” In a message sent to customers on Tuesday HSBC said, “we’ve taken this decision due to concerns about the possible risks to you. We take our duty as a responsible lender seriously and want to [...]