Unemployment claims in London airport communities rise at double the national rate March 1, 2021 The number of people claiming unemployment benefits rose at double the national rate in communities around London’s biggest airports in 2020. The coronavirus pandemic has decimated the travel industry, leading to airlines and airports slashing thousands of jobs to stay afloat. In Hayes and Harlington, Heathrow’s local constituency, the number of people claiming benefits rose [...]
Sterling loses early gains as new mutations dent vaccine optimism March 1, 2021 Sterling failed to hold onto early gains on Monday, as concerns over cases of a new Brazil coronavirus variant dented hopes that the UK’s swift vaccine rollout will usher a speedy economic recovery. The pound soared as high as $1.3999 in Asian trading, after retreating from a three-year high on Friday amid inflation concerns. In [...]
Nvidia resists UK jobs guarantee after $40bn Arm takeover March 1, 2021 British chipmaker Arm is facing uncertainty over its future headcount as Nvidia resists a guarantee on jobs following its planned $40bn (£29bn) takeover. California-based Nvidia is in talks with the government over potential commitments linked to the mammoth merger, including maintaining Arm’s headquarters in Cambridge. The company has pledged to keep the chip giant in [...]
Brexit: Labour calls for ‘more ambitious’ UK-EU financial services talks March 1, 2021 Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds has called for the UK to be “more ambitious” in its post-Brexit talks with the EU on future financial services regulation. Dodds said today that the government “seems to be trying to manage expectations down” about the Memorandum of Understanding talks and that getting equivalence from the EU should be the [...]
Campaigners slam Aviva’s ‘ambiguous’ net zero commitment March 1, 2021 Climate campaigners have questioned Aviva’s net zero commitment claiming the insurance giant will continue to invest in fossil fuels. This morning Aviva announced it planned to shrink its carbon footprint to net zero by 2040. The firm said it had written to the biggest carbon emitters in its portfolio urging them to sign up to [...]
Labour’s Anneliese Dodds hints at support for online sales tax on tech giants March 1, 2021 Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds has called for the government to level the taxation playing field between digital and bricks and mortar retail in a potential call for new online taxes. Dodds said at a pre-Budget address on Bloomberg that there was a “big gulf on how businesses based in bricks and businesses based on clicks [...]
Klarna’s valuation soars to $31bn after $1bn funding round March 1, 2021 Klarna has secured a $1bn fundraising round bringing the valuation of the buy now pay later firm to $31bn. The four times oversubscribed round makes Klarna the highest-valued European private fintech after a surge in online shopping during the pandemic. It comes amid speculation that the Swedish payments firm will go public with chief executive [...]
Tech platforms must be more transparent over news, says Reach boss March 1, 2021 Tech giants such as Facebook and Google must be more transparent over how they use news content, the boss of publishing group Reach has said. The social media companies have been embroiled in controversy surrounding their control over online media after Facebook blocked access to news in Australia. Jim Mullen, who leads the publisher behind [...]
Want to boost UK exports? Help ignored service providers March 1, 2021 As the UK economy seeks to recover from the twin disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic and a new trading relationship with Europe – making sure that we have a robust return of UK trade flows will be a crucial element of this. There are easy wins that the Government and Department for International Trade can secure. Ensuring [...]
Hong Kong’s Rosewood eyes $400m SPAC listing amid flurry of deals in Asia March 1, 2021 Hong Kong-based luxury Rosewood Hotel group has filed for a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) listing that could raise around $400m, two sources close to matter have disclosed. The luxury hotel group, with close familial ties to property developer New World Development (NWD) has recruited Credit Suisse and UBS to arrange the US SPAC listing, [...]
