Saudi Aramco profit falls 25 per cent on oil price implosion May 12, 2020 State-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco saw its first quarter profit fall 25 per cent as the coronavirus crisis decimated the price of crude oil. Over the course of the quarter, the price of worldwide standard Brent crude fell roughly two-thirds, sending the firm to a 62.5bn riyals (£13.5bn) profit, down from 83.3bn riyals a year [...]
Morrisons retail sales surge in lockdown but fuel demand drops May 12, 2020 Morrisons retail sales jumped in the first quarter of the year due to coronavirus stockpiling, however a drop in demand for fuel hurt overall sales. Like-for-like retail sales jumped 5.1 per cent in the 14 weeks to 10 May, driven by a 10.8 per cent surge in sales between weeks 12 and 14 of the [...]
Banking mustn’t just put up with tech, but embrace it May 12, 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic has brought new challenges to the world of business. Arguably, the most pressing being how organisations, unable to operate in their usual capacity, can access funds to remain afloat. To put the scale of this issue into context, it is predicted that if not supported correctly, a fifth of all UK SMEs [...]
Coronavirus: Everything is set to change May 12, 2020 It’s no real surprise that the eagerly awaited unveiling of the plan to get back to normal turned out to be such a litany of vagueness. This is a government that has always been more comfortable talking about what it doesn’t want to see happen than laying out actual plans. But behind the obfuscation, the [...]
The skills gap will only be solved if attitudes change, too May 12, 2020 Millions of words have been written about the skills gap holding back companies’ digital efforts. Businesses trying to launch digital services or to transform their operating model often complain that they can’t find enough people to make this happen. They often blame it on the ‘digital skills gap’, the idea that workers are not trained [...]
The City View podcast, from City A.M., with Nigel Vaz, CEO of Publicis Sapient May 12, 2020 In this episode Christian is joined by Nigel Vaz, CEO of the digital transformation giant, Publicis Sapient. Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS Nigel has 20,000 employees across the globe in 53 offices, so he’s confronting changes to the world of work just like every other company. But his [...]
Ten per cent of London’s population may have caught coronavirus May 11, 2020 Ten per cent of London’s population are estimated to have coronavirus antibodies, compared to around four per cent of the UK population, the government’s chief scientific adviser said today. “In London, it might be from that time, maybe 10 percent of people positive for antibodies, suggesting that’s the sort of range of infection, and across [...]
Boris Johnson defends government’s new ‘stay alert’ coronavirus slogan May 11, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson tonight defended the government’s new “stay alert” message in the face of criticism it was unclear. Johnson, in answer to questions from the public and the media, said the clarity of the government’s previous “stay at home” message was difficult to emulate as the UK begins to return to work. Pooja [...]
Business welcomes ‘step forward’ in new work safety guidance May 11, 2020 Business groups have welcomed a “significant step forward” after the government issued safety guidance for employers to help Brits return to work. The so-called Covid-secure guidelines, published this evening, set out practical steps for eight different workplace settings that are allowed to be open, from construction sites to factories and takeaways. It comes after Prime [...]
Hospitality sector calls for additional support for furloughed staff May 11, 2020 The UK’s hospitality sector has called for additional support for furloughed workers to ensure businesses survive the coronavirus lockdown. In a letter to chancellor Rishi Sunak, trade body UK Hospitality today urged the government to extend the existing coronavirus job retention scheme, which is currently set to run until the end of June, and increase [...]
