Opinion-in-brief: Chancellor of the Blockchain Philip Hammond dabbles in crypto October 12, 2021 Former Chancellor Philip Hammond is following in the footsteps of many a fresh-faced tech graduate and joining a crypto start-up. It turns out a slap over the wrist from Westminster’s lobbying watchdog for hounding the Treasury on behalf of OakNorth bank was enough to leave Lord Hammond disillusioned with traditional finance. Instead, he will be [...]
NFT platform Sorare under investigation by UK gambling commission October 12, 2021 Sorare, a platform where users buy and trade NFT football cards to build a fantasy team, is under investigation by the UK’s Gambling Commission. In a statement the Commission said that “any activity completed on the site by consumers in Great Britain is outside of the gambling regulations that a licensed operator should comply with.” [...]
Sally Rooney bans Hebrew translation of novel to protest Palestine conflict October 12, 2021 Acclaimed author Sally Rooney has reportedly rejected a bid to translate her latest novel into Hebrew over her views on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Rooney, 30, was catapulted to fame by her debut novel Conversations with Friends, and Normal People, which was long-listed for the Booker Prize and became a TV adaptation – both novels were [...]
OnTheMarket lifts profit expectations on the back of strong interim results October 12, 2021 The company behind property search website OnTheMarket.com saw profits soar in the first half of FY21 amid strong interest. The company saw revenues climb to £14.9m in the first half of the year, an increase of 46 per cent compared to the same period in 2020, while adjusted operating profit soared by 163 per cent [...]
EasyJet expects losses to top £1.1bn for the year October 12, 2021 EasyJet financials took a hammering in the final quarter of the year despite an uptick in flights over Summer as travel restrictions eased. The company’s headline loss before tax for the year ending 30 September 2021 is expected to be between £1.14bn and £1.18bn with the board opting not to issue a dividend for FY21. [...]
Each UK GP is responsible for over 2,000 patients on average October 11, 2021 The number of permanent qualified GPs has fallen 2.2 per cent since 2015, with each practitioner responsible for an average of 2,280 patients. Data from the House of Commons Library service showed that although the number of GPs in training has risen from 4,941 to 6,975 over the past six years there are just 26,778 [...]
Former Chancellor Philip Hammond joins crypto start up Copper October 11, 2021 Former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, has taken the plunge into the crypto space and joined Copper as an adviser. Founded in 2018 Copper is a custodian and trading platform which caters to over 400 institutional clients, including banks. The company, which acts as an intermediary between its clients and exchanges helps institutions to [...]
UK business failures expected to rise by 32 per cent October 11, 2021 Researchers are predicting a wave of business insolvencies will hit the UK before the end of 2022 as the government rolls back Covid support. During the pandemic many businesses have been kept afloat by emergency government funding which spared an estimated 18,900 companies from insolvency in 2020. Euler Hermes expects 37,000 businesses to fail before [...]
‘Hands off our EU’ say thousands of Poles as country-wide protests erupt October 11, 2021 More than 100,000 people took to the streets as pro-EU demonstrations broke out across Poland amid fears of a “Polexit.” Last week Poland’s highest court ruled that certain decisions by the EU’s Court of Justice have no jurisdiction in the country, sparking outrage from the bloc’s highest authorities and prompting concerns of a schism. On [...]
ASOS revenue jumps 20 per cent to £3.9bn October 11, 2021 Online fashion giant ASOS has revealed strong financial results for the year ending August 2021 and announced plans to up revenue to £7bn. Gross profit soared by 15 per cent to stand at £1.8bn as successive Covid lockdowns provided a boost to online shopping with the company’s customer base growing by 13 per cent to [...]
