Legal history: First-ever televised sentencing at Old Bailey hailed a ‘landmark moment’ as Ben Oliver gets life July 28, 2022 Judge Sarah Munro QC made legal history today as she sentenced 25-year-old Ben Oliver to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 10 years and eight months. It was the first televised sentencing to take place at the Old Bailey ever. The footage was being broadcast on news channels and being made available online through [...]
Tube money: Govt warns long-term funding proposal for Transport for London is ‘our final offer’ July 28, 2022 Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has warned that the long-term funding proposal made to Transport for London (TfL) is the Government’s “final offer”. The capital’s transport body has been reliant on money from the Government to keep services running during the coronavirus pandemic. The latest short-term funding agreement expires on Thursday. Mr Shapps wrote on Twitter: [...]
US ambassador enters Brexit snakepit: ‘Everybody has to give a little for the sake of Northern Ireland’ July 28, 2022 Jane Hartley, the US ambassador to the UK, has joined the Brexit debate by calling for further negotiations to find a way to make the Northern Ireland Protocol work. Jane Hartley said indecision is “never a positive” when it comes to economic investment, as she spoke of the importance of finding a resolution to the [...]
Staff left in the dark leads to ‘unengaged employees’ as half of all Brits want new job, warns Aspire chief July 28, 2022 Almost two thirds businesses have not communicated with their staff about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to research shared with City A.M. today. While a third of businesses have spoken to their employees about the invasion of Ukraine, almost half of these businesses have not yet outlined their plans with regard to whether they [...]
Tsunami of new customers: 200,000 households flock to British Gas as competitors are wiped out but profits nearly halve July 28, 2022 British Gas welcomed more than 200,000 customers as some of the energy giant’s rivals went out of business in the first six months of the year. The business gained 158,000 new accounts when it took over the responsibility to sell gas and electricity to Together Energy’s customers. Together was one of around 30 suppliers that [...]
One in three UK bosses on brink of burnout: ‘Years of 19-hour work days nearly put me in hospital’ July 27, 2022 More than a third of UK bosses are on the brink of burnout, while nearly one in five are currently experiencing it because of rising energy prices, rocketing inflation and supply chain delays. Rising costs are already one of the main causes of burnout, with 36 per cent of SMB owners citing that as a [...]
Rishi Sunak under fire for ‘flip-flopping’ on tax after promising to cut VAT on energy bills July 27, 2022 Tory leadership hopeful Rishi Sunak has been accused of “flip-flopping” on tax after pledging to cut VAT on energy bills and interrupting his rival Liz Truss in two debates in recent days. It came after the Tory leadership hopeful unveiled plans to remove VAT from domestic energy bills for a year if the price cap [...]
Online searches for shared workspaces more than double as more Brits move towards hybrid working July 27, 2022 Interest in companies providing shared workspaces continues to rise as businesses look for new approaches to hybrid working. In fact, online searches for ‘WeWork’ more than doubled (up 144 per cent) in the first six months of 2022 compared to last year, while searches for ‘Workspace’ rose by nearly a third (32 per cent), as [...]
Rail strike reality check: Train staff halt work again while driver colleagues earn up to £73k per year July 27, 2022 Rail passengers are suffering fresh travel chaos today as 40,000 rail workers are striking, with RMT union members at Network Rail and 14 other train companies walking out over pay and job terms. Disputes in the bitter row over jobs, pay, pensions and conditions are worsening, with more strikes in the coming days, and a [...]
Virgin Money announces plans to take UK’s fast-growing ‘buy now, pay later market’ by storm July 26, 2022 Virgin Money said this afternoon the bank plans to enter the buy now, pay later (BNPL) market later this year. With an offering called Virgin Money Slyce, Virgin Money is set to launch a new BNPL credit card product. Any spend over £30 can be spread across three, six, nine or 12-month repayment plans. Paying [...]