British Land hails ‘notable improvement’ as restrictions ease July 13, 2021 British Land said that it had collected 99 per cent of the rent due for its offices in June as the FTSE 100 firm welcomed a “notable improvement in activity” across its markets. The property developer also said that in the seven weeks since the first lifting of restrictions, it had seen footfall and sales [...]
Retirement group Phoenix enters £197m pensions deal with Irish Life July 13, 2021 Retirement group Phoenix is set to sell Ark Life Assurance Company to pensions group Irish Life for around £197m, the retirement group today. Ark Life Assurance Company, known as Ark Life, added around £1.8bn of assets under administration to Phoenix’s heritage division as of 31 December. The deal, which is expected to be completed by [...]
UK tech on track for second record-breaking year of Asian investment July 13, 2021 The booming UK tech sector received almost twice the amount of Asian capital in the first six months of 2021 as it did during the whole of 2020, paving the way for a second record year of regional investment. By the end of June, Asian and Middle Eastern investors funnelled over £1.7bn into UK tech [...]
Met Police seize £180m of crypto in money laundering sting July 13, 2021 Detectives in London have smashed an international money laundering operation, seizing £180m in cryptocurrency.
Biblical rains pour on London, flooding areas and dampening summer hopes July 13, 2021 London was subject to rains of biblical proportions yesterday, which saw cars submerged and abandoned amid flash flooding, as July dampens summer plans for Londoners. The most severe flooding was spotted in parts of North and West London and has continued to cause travel chaos for Londoners. The Circle line was suspended this morning, while [...]
Banking shares jump after Bank of England gives OK for dividends, bonuses and buybacks July 13, 2021 Banking shares jump after Bank of England gives OK for dividends, bonuses and buybacks
Water firms slammed over ‘unacceptable’ environmental performance July 13, 2021 Southern Water and South West Water have this morning been slammed over their environmental record, which the sector watchdog called “consistently unacceptable”. According to the Environment Agency’s latest annual report into the UK’s water firms, no single company hit all the targets laid out for the 2015-2020 period. Although pollution incidents declined for the second [...]
Cyber attacks spurred by staff working from home, says global financial watchdog July 13, 2021 The surge of cyber attacks on the financial services sector, prompted by staff working from home, are likely to continue, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) says. The FSB, which coordinates financial guidelines for the G20 group of nations, said the pandemic-induced trend of working from home opened up new opportunities for cyber attacks. In their [...]
Metropolitan Police seize record £180m of cryptocurrency July 13, 2021 The Met has seized a record £180m of cryptocurrency connected to the capital as it looks to crack down on international money laundering. It follows the seizure of £114 of crypto last month – a woman arrested in connection with that case is now being interviewed for this latest confiscation. She has since been bailed [...]
UK entertainment and media industry to lead western Europe by 2025 July 13, 2021 The UK’s entertainment and media industry is forecast to become the largest in western Europe by 2025 following a rapid rebound in the aftermath of the pandemic. The sector has suffered a major setback due to Covid, with total revenue falling five per cent in 2020 due to the impact of lockdowns on cinema, live [...]
