Scotch Malt Whisky Society owners enjoy sales growth despite Brexit export issues July 19, 2021 The Artisanal Spirits Company, the owner of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, has enjoyed a 28 per cent lift to online sales in the UK despite minor membership growth. Despite last year’s lockdown spurring on drinking habits, the spirits company pulled in £1.7m in the six months to 30 June, in comparison to £1.3m during [...]
Diversity drive? EY offers senior female staff golf lessons in bid to catch up with peers July 19, 2021 Diversity in senior positions is a problem all City leaders face, but one firm has taken the term “diversity drive” to new lengths. Female consultants at a London division of EY have reportedly been offered golf lessons so they don’t miss out on networking around the tee. Staff at leading professional service firms have identified [...]
Opec+ reach deal to ramp up oil production July 19, 2021 The alliance of oil producing countries have reached an agreement to ramp up oil supply. Opec+ will increase oil production by 400,000 barrels a day in a move expected to dampen soaring oil prices. As part of the deal, the group will reverse an existing cut of 5.8m barrels per day by September next year. [...]
Exclusive: Two City lawyers on a mission to make their fintech the ‘Amazon of Islamic finance’ July 19, 2021 Islamic Finance Guru (IFG), a UK-based Islamic finance platform, has closed an investment round led by Outward venture capital, as the market for Islamic fintech grows. The UK-based startup has raised £3m from Outward VC and B&Y Venture Partners. The news come just a week after the Boubyan Bank Group announced that the world’s first [...]
Belu CEO, Natalie Campbell, on how the ethical bottled water company navigated the pandemic July 19, 2021 Natalie Campbell faced an instant crisis when lockdown began just days after she became CEO of Belu. She tells Lysanne Currie how the ethical bottled water company navigated the pandemic, and is now ready to thrive once more. This article first appeared in ICAS’ CA magazine. Natalie Campbell was just 15 when she decided she [...]
Facebook and Amazon are losing the antitrust argument but are gambling on America’s broken politics to save them July 19, 2021 In recent weeks, Amazon and then Facebook launched legal challenges against Lina Khan, the new Chair of America’s antitrust regulator, the Federal Trade Commission. Both argued that Khan should step aside in any future investigation into competitive practices and any possible pursuit of a Big Tech breakup. Rather than offering much criticism of the content of [...]
Work from home advice has finally been dropped and we need our staff back in offices for our economy to recover July 19, 2021 Today is truly a significant moment for businesses and households across the nation, as social and economic COVID-19 restrictions in England are finally eased. It’s been a long journey, but for the City, after many months of quiet we can now breathe a collective sigh of relief, as workers and visitors start to return to [...]
Boris Johnson urges caution on freedom day as he continues self-isolation July 18, 2021 Boris Johnson has urged caution as England today is freed from social distancing restrictions for the first time in 16 months. The Prime Minister also outlined once again his five-point plan for how the country will live with Covid-19, which includes reducing the time between vaccines, keeping the Test and Trace regime in place and [...]
UK retail lobby: Self-isolation policy will lead to ‘critical impact’ due to ‘pingdemic’ July 18, 2021 The UK’s retail sector lobby has warned that England’s current self-isolation policy will lead to serious disruption to businesses, with millions of people set to be told to self-isolate in the coming weeks. British Retail Consortium chief executive Helen Dickinson said “something’s got to give” or “we will see some more critical impacts over the [...]
Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak at odds over potential health and social care tax July 18, 2021 Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak are reportedly at loggerheads over the imposition of a new £10bn-a-year tax to cut NHS waiting lists and fix the country’s social care crisis. Johnson and health secretary Sajid Javid are said to be strongly in favour of the new levy, while the chancellor is opposed. The Prime Minister said [...]