British Chambers of Commerce calls for commercial eviction ban extension January 28, 2021 One of the UK’s largest business lobbies has called for the government to extend its commercial eviction ban beyond March as businesses continue to face strict Covid-19 restrictions. The British Chambers of Commerce said today that businesses desperately needed certainty beyond March, with the majority of British businesses still expected to be closed even when [...]
Concrete changes can allow Britain’s digital firms to fly January 28, 2021 Britain’s technology entrepreneurs seem the last people who need any attention from Government right now. Valuations are soaring. IPOs are being lined up. Even as the pandemic constrains our daily lives, businesses that will deliver the jobs, growth and tax revenues of the future are thriving. But in the great global race to create and [...]
Toyota overtakes Volkswagen to become world’s top carmaker January 28, 2021 Toyota has today overtaken Volkswagen to reclaim its crown as the world’s biggest car producer, the first time it has held the spot since 2015. The Japanese carmaker saw 9.5m cars roll off its assembly lines last year, despite an 11 per cent drop in production due to the pandemic. Volkwagen, on the other hand, [...]
Rishi Sunak tells MPs he wants to raise taxes then cut them before next election January 28, 2021 Rishi Sunak has told a group of Conservative MPs that raising taxes this year will give him scope to cut them in the lead up to the 2024 election. The chancellor told the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers yesterday that he will have to make difficult choices this year to trim the UK’s bulging Budget [...]
With no office, our future leaders are being held back January 27, 2021 In spite of the challenges facing central cities around the world at the moment, they are and will remain places with huge concentrations of the jobs which provide the greatest opportunities to learn and to move up the job hierarchy. For young people, Central London offers an unparalleled combination. A range of independent employers with [...]
Major London law firms still making use of government’s furlough scheme January 27, 2021 Major law firms, some of which are based in the City of London, are still making use of the government’s furlough scheme. City firms Trowers & Hamlins, BLM and and TLT were among those still making use of the coronavirus jobs retention scheme last month, according to HMRC data published by The Lawyer. A spokesperson [...]
UK to start talks with Switzerland on post-Brexit financial services deal January 27, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak will today start formal talks with his Swiss counterpart in a bid to broker a new post-Brexit financial services agreement for the UK. The Treasury said the talks would see the two sides try to deliver “a comprehensive mutual recognition agreement that would reduce costs and barriers for UK firms accessing the Swiss [...]
Supply chains aren’t what they used to be: disruption is now par for the course January 26, 2021 From the impact of COVID-19, to tariff wars between the US and China, and the uncertainty of Brexit, supply chain risk has become increasingly difficult, and important, to manage. At the same time, increased geopolitical tensions have caused a growing concern about nation state espionage, which has put organisations under pressure from governments to “decouple” their [...]
‘No plans’ to extend VAT cut for hospitality, Treasury minister says January 26, 2021 The government has “no plans” to extend the VAT cut for hospitality, tourism and leisure firms, despite industry calls for the tax break to continue while the sector is under coronavirus restrictions. Rishi Sunak last year reduced VAT for hospitality firms from 20 per cent to five per cent as part of emergency coronavirus measures. [...]
UK unemployment rate jumps to highest for five years January 26, 2021 The UK unemployment rate rose to 5.0 per cent of the economically active population in the last quarter, spurred on by a record rise in redundancies. For September to November 2020, an estimated 1.72m people were unemployed, according to new figures from the Office of National Statistics. That’s up 418,000 on the same period the [...]