Euro 2020: Pubs and restaurants reap rewards of England’s success July 16, 2021 Euro 2020 provided a windfall for pubs and restaurants as the country reached for pints whilst watching England reach their first final since 1966, new research released today shows. Latest spending data from Lloyds Bank shows spending in pubs and restaurants surged during Europe’s flagship men’s international football tournament, rising 52 per cent compared to [...]
Upsurge in FCA voluntary resignations costs watchdog over £7m July 16, 2021 The cost of the Financial Conduct Authority’s “voluntary resignation programme” has surged to over £7m compared to just £200,000 last year. The watchdog’s figures, published in its annual report for the year to April, showed the jump, in the number of staff who took advantage of its “Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme” (MARS) in the year [...]
Day three: Belarusian police raid homes of journalists and rights activists July 16, 2021 Police in Belarus have raided the offices and homes of journalists and human rights activists for a third consecutive day today. The so-far three-day search came as the UK’s ambassador to the United Nations and World Health Organisation in Geneva, Simon Manley, said the UK was still “deeply concerned by the human rights situation in [...]
Making peace with the price of Bitcoin and slowly stacking the Sats July 16, 2021 Another week of lacklustre market performance, low volumes and consistent talk of a possible capitulation by Bitcoin.
Pingdemic shutdown: No industry untouched by NHS Test and Trace havoc July 16, 2021 Staffing shortages have turned manufacturing, bin collections, retail, transport and healthcare upside down as the NHS Test and Trace app “pinged” more than half a million people into isolation last week. The contact tracing app’s sensitivity is now under review after reports that the app is “pinging wrong” and Brits are being told to self-isolate [...]
EP: 72 Newbury & Curragh July 16, 2021 Newbury takes centre stage in England on Saturday where the 2-year olds battle for a big prize in the Wetherbys Super Sprint over 5 furlongs, whilst the Curragh hosts the Group 1 Irish Oaks for the fillies on the same day. Eve Johnson Houghton runs the exciting Chipotle in the Super Sprint and she joins [...]
Covid unlocking lifts card spending above pre-pandemic levels July 16, 2021 The initial lifting of Covid restrictions in April provided a shot in the arm for card spending in the UK, shows new figures released today. Data from UK Finance reveals the value of card transactions in the UK in April was 11.2 per cent higher than in the same in 2019, before the onset of [...]
Britain is running out of new ideas and it’s killing productivity July 16, 2021 It is no secret that Britain is in a productivity slump. The statistics should be familiar. In the decade before the pandemic, productivity grew at just 0.3 per cent per year. Before the financial crisis, it grew at 2 per cent. That might sound like an abstract or wonkish concern, but it is the difference [...]
‘Stable-coins’: Japan to join race to regulate digital currency July 16, 2021 Japan is gearing up its efforts to regulate digital currencies internationally, according to reports, as other economic powers race to push out their own, ‘more stable’, tech-based currency. It is a sign that the Japanese government, alongside other G7 states, fear that the growing popularity of digital currency could rattle current financial systems beyond repair, [...]
Joe Biden’s executive order smoothing a transition to open-banking should inspire UK competition and innovation July 16, 2021 President Biden won a lot of praise when he issued a slew of consumer-friendly executive orders last week. One of them could have an impact here, an ocean away from the US consumers who’ll feel the direct benefit. The order aims to make it easier for US customers to access and share their banking data. [...]
