Serco profit jumps on crisis demand but shares fall flat August 6, 2020 Outsourcing firm Serco said profit jumped 53 per cent in the first six months of the year, as demand for its services boomed during the coronavirus crisis. An additional need for the back office and IT services that Serco provides to the government offset the lack of demand for its transport and leisure services, the [...]
Hammerson to raise £826m amid overhaul of leasing approach August 6, 2020 Retail landlord Hammerson this morning confirmed it is aiming to raise £826m to help it survive the coronavirus crisis, as it announced an overhaul of its leasing model. The shopping centre owner will tap investors for £551.7m through a rights issue, and is planning to sell its 50 per cent stake in Via Outlets for [...]
More women at the top means more profits for businesses — and a stronger economy for everyone August 6, 2020 A warm-up act will normally dismiss the first polite round of applause from an audience and insist they can demonstrate more enthusiasm than that. Many a time I’m the warm-up act on the boardroom stage. I may never manage to work the crowd into a frenzy, but at the very least I wake them from [...]
Home, sweet home: Why it’s time for a national conversation about happier houses August 6, 2020 How have you improved your home during lockdown? And has it truly made you happier? Given that spending on home improvements was one of the first boosts to the economy during spring 2020, with the Office for National Statistics reporting that people in England and Wales spent 147 per cent more time gardening and doing [...]
Bubble trouble: Lessons from three centuries of boom and bust August 6, 2020 While 2020 has seen its fair share of market turbulence, it has some way to go to match the volatility of 1720. This month marks the 300th anniversary of the peak of the South Sea Bubble — one of the first financial bubbles, and still one of history’s greatest. The bubble began when the South [...]
DEBATE: Is Elon Musk right to predict that AI will overtake humans within five years? August 6, 2020 Is Elon Musk right to predict that artificial intelligence will overtake humans within five years? Chetan Dube, chief executive of IPsoft, says YES. Elon Musk is right. For the last few years we have been saying that by 2025 we will pass someone in the corridor and not know if they are human or android. [...]
London sees fresh fall in permanent jobs placements August 6, 2020 London recruiters saw a further decline in permanent jobs placements last month as firms transitioned out of the downturn caused by the pandemic. The fall in placements across London was stronger than those seen across the rest of England, according to KPMG and REC’s latest report on jobs. However the decline was the least marked [...]
The City View: The Publishers Association CEO on culture wars, discovering talent and industry challenges August 6, 2020 Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS In this episode Christian is joined by Stephen Lotinga, CEO of the Publishers Association, representing the UK’s fiction, non-fiction and academic publishing sector. After the biggest year ever for the industry in 2019, how has it coped with the lockdown and what are the chances of the great Coronavirus novel [...]
Voi to roll out first UK e-scooter trial in Cambridge August 6, 2020 Swedish firm Voi has been selected to run one of the first e-scooter trials in the UK in Cambridge as part of the government’s consultation on the new form of urban mobility. Working in partnership with local authorities, Voi will install its first fleet of coral-coloured scooters in the city by September, and create 50 [...]
Goldman Sachs sets new diversity goals for employing vice presidents August 5, 2020 Goldman Sachs has set new diversity goals for employing Black, Latino and female vice presidents, reflecting a growing acknowledgment that most top roles are held by white men. The bank said that by 2025 it wants seven per cent of its employees with the title to be Black and nine per cent to be Latino. [...]
