Britons will not splurge Covid-19 savings on post-lockdown spending spree, says OBR March 8, 2021 Britons will not embark on a post-lockdown spending spree with funds saved during the Covid crisis, according to a senior member of the UK’s budgetary watchdog. The Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) committee member Sir Charlie Bean told MPs today that of the £180bn in excess savings Britons have accumulated during Covid-19, only “a relatively [...]
What’s behind the recent surge in oil prices? March 8, 2021 Global oil prices briefly rose above $70 today, their highest levels since January 2020, as the recent market rally continued apace. Although cooling later in the day, the spike saw prices hit peaks not seen since the US assassinated Iranian general Qassim Soleimani at the beginning of last year. And once again, it was security [...]
More UK funds run by men called Dave than women March 8, 2021 There are more funds run by men called Dave than there are female managers in the industry, according to Morningstar analysis. There are 68 UK funds run by men called Dave or David and just 45 women, equivalent to just 7.7 per cent of UK-domiciled funds in Morningstar’s sample. Additionally of the £475m in managed [...]
GameStop shares jump 30 per cent following e-commerce commitment March 8, 2021 Shares in GameStop jumped 30 per cent today to nearly $180 per share, after the American video game retailer formed a committee to transform it into an e-commerce business. Gamestop’s share price hit its highest since January today, on the news that it chose shareholder Ryan Cohen as the head of a new committee to [...]
Boris Johnson rules out bringing forward reopening timetable March 8, 2021 Boris Johnson has stressed the need for caution and has ruled out bringing the unlocking timetable forward despite the better-than-expected vaccine rollout. In a Downing Street conference the Prime Minister stressed the need for a “cautious and irreversible approach”. “People would rather trade some urgency and haste in favour of certainty and security about the [...]
Oil price through the roof following Saudi drone attack March 8, 2021 Oil price have eased back off their mornign high of over $70 a barrel, which followed a drone attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities over the weekend. Saudi officials said on state television that the ttack hit one of the oil storage yards at the Ras Tanura port in the east of the country, with [...]
Fries and Prejudice: Burger King accused of using ‘sexism as clickbait’ in latest tweet March 8, 2021 Burger King was accused of using “sexism as clickbait” today, after posting an attention-grabbing tweet for International Women’s Day. This morning the fast food chain tweeted: “Women belong in the kitchen.” The controversial tweet was timed to coincide with International Women’s Day, a day that celebrates the achievements of woman around the world. Burger King [...]
Goldman-backed broadband firm Cityfibre plots major stake sale March 8, 2021 Challenger broadband firm Cityfibre is preparing the sale of a major stake to a new investor in a deal said to be worth hundreds of millions of pounds The London-based company has tapped bankers at UBS and Rothschild to identify a third backer, Sky News reported. The buyer would join the two existing investors West [...]
Hotels, restaurants and pubs ‘optimistic’ about bounce back in trading March 8, 2021 Many hotel, restaurant and pub firms are “optimistic” about the future despite the pressures of the Covid-19 crisis, with most expecting trading to bounce back by the end of the year, a survey showed. Hotel businesses had the most positive outlook, with 83 per cent of the operators surveyed saying they were confident about future [...]
IWD Mea Culpa: I haven’t done enough for gender diversity, but I will March 8, 2021 I’ve mostly worked in large corporations, like Amex, where diversity as a human resources concept has just poked its head into the boardroom. Now, I’m steering a high-growth fintech where we have an opportunity to make diversity a principal focus embedded in our growth. Across our 300+ employee base in London, Bristol, New York City [...]
