London shares left buzzing after PensionBee hits £2bn in managed assets July 22, 2021 Online pensions provider PensionBee has racked up £2bn worth of pensions under management, which has sent shares flying over six per cent. The app said its assets under management had surged 117 per cent to over £1.9bn in the six months to 30 June. The pensions surge, up from £915m worth of assets in the [...]
Media freedom: Hong Kong police arrest ex-editor of squashed Apple Daily July 21, 2021 Hong Kong police have detained two former senior staff of stifled pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, just hours after they arrested the paper’s former executive editor-in-chief. Apple Daily’s former deputy chief editor Chan Pui-Man and managing editor Fung Wai-Kong were arrested for a second time, according to local media reports. The pair had already been arrested [...]
Online shopping frenzy to drive Royal Mail parcel volumes beyond pre-Covid levels July 21, 2021 Royal Mail has seen early signs that domestic parcel volumes are re-basing at a higher level than pre-pandemic as consumers continue to be gripped by an online shopping frenzy. Domestic parcel volumes have swelled by more than a third in comparison with pre-Covid levels, in the three months to June 2021. But compared with levels [...]
Next ups full-year forecasts as heatwave spurs Brits to summer shop July 21, 2021 British retailer Next is upping its full-year financial forecasts as consumers have flocked to stores in recent weeks to get their hands on clothing fit for the UK’s heatwave. The rosy outlook stoked confidence in investors as its shares rocketed in its early trading and held up highs of 8.2 per cent in the afternoon, [...]
Space-tech: Billionaire Bezos’ flight to space to draw in starry-eyed investors July 21, 2021 Following Amazon boss Jeff Bezos’ 10-minute venture into space yesterday, space-tech investment may be set to rocket, space-fund boss Mark Boggett has said. Just last week Boggett’s space investment firm Seraphim Space listed on the London Stock Exchange after rallying £178.4m from starry-eyed investors in mid-July. “Branson, Musk and Bezos initially cracked open the [...]
City Moves: Who’s switching jobs in the Square Mile this week? July 21, 2021 City A.M.’s Millie Turner provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every Wednesday afternoon. Email citymoves@cityam.com to be featured. Ex-UBS and Canary Wharf Group chiefs join construction-tech firm British construction technology company Modulous has bolstered its London workforce with former Canary Wharf and UBS leads this week. Former director of the Canary Wharf Group Chris [...]
MPs call out ‘complete absence’ of invasive beauty treatment regulation July 21, 2021 MPs have urged the government to strengthen regulation on non-surgical beauty treatments, like fillers and injections, citing a “complete absence” of a legal framework. After a year-long review, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Beauty, Aesthetics and Wellbeing have claimed the government has left the young industry to regulate itself. The APPG advised mandatory training [...]
Summer DIY builds up Wickes sales above pre-pandemic levels July 21, 2021 Supply store Wickes has seen like-for-like growth lift more than 22 per cent on pre-pandemic levels, as the UK’s warm weather pushes DIY’s lockdown momentum to continue. The Watford-headquartered retailer said that its sales lift in the 26 weeks to 26 June was driven by DIY and local trade. Physicals sales were up 33.1 per [...]
The City of London’s Al Fresco dining is here to stay for one more year July 20, 2021 The City of London Corporation has agreed to ease the weight on the hospitality industry by offering free pavement licences for one more year. Amid table number and household restrictions, the UK’s hospitality sector has been making use of pavements for extra Al Fresco seating. “We expect the buzz of the City will swiftly return [...]
IEA: Emissions to hit record by 2023 if green investment remains locked away July 20, 2021 The International Environment Agency’s forecasts have warned today that emissions will hit a record high in just two years unless more green investment is unlocked. After a brief fall last year at the height of the pandemic, which halted supply chains and pushed people homebound, the world is on track to surpass 2018’s emissions record. [...]
