Cold turkey: Ministers face pressure to scrap ‘rash’ Christmas relaxation of rules December 15, 2020 The government is facing mounting pressure to rethink its decision to relax coronavirus restrictions for five days over Christmas over fears it will lead to a third national lockdown. In their first joint editorial for more than 100 years, the British Medical Journal and Health Service Journal today said the government should U-turn on its [...]
Barclays fined £26m for mistreatment of customers in arrears December 15, 2020 The UK’s financial watchdog has fined Barclays £26m for failures in its treatment of customers who fell into financial difficulties. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found that Barclays had mistreated some retail and small business customers who fell into arrears between April 2014 and December 2018. Read more: Parlez-vous Français? Paris’ finance sector gets ready [...]
Greenwich council backs down in government row over school closures December 15, 2020 The leader of a London borough has said he has “no choice” but to reverse a decision to close schools following legal threats from the government. Greenwich council leader Danny Thorpe said he “cannot agree that this is the correct choice for our schools”, but added: “I cannot justify the use of public funds to [...]
Study shows unethical leadership likely to ‘prevent corruption’ December 15, 2020 Unethical leadership can increase the prevalence of corrupt behaviour in organisations and workplaces. This is according to two Maastricht University studies, carried out by doctoral candidate Untung Manara and associate professor Suzanne van Gils, a lecturer in management communications and ethics, who were particularly interested in whether ethical leaders could help change the behaviour of [...]
Green and ESG bonds: what’s behind their rise? December 14, 2020 The green and social bond market continues to grow, evolve and diversify, remaining a helpful tool in driving sustainability. We look at what this means for investors. Green bonds have been attracting attention for some time, being a key element of the development and growth of sustainable or environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing in [...]
Manufacturers set for £24bn boost from surge in direct-to-consumer sales December 10, 2020 Manufacturers could see a £24bn boost in direct-to-consumer sales over the next three years as shoppers increasingly look to bypass traditional sales channels. According to new data from Barclays Corporate Banking, the direct-to-consumer segment could grow in value to £120bn, up from £96bn this year. The growth is down to more and more customers opting [...]
Sunday’s shopping surge beats Black Friday to largest shopping day of the year December 8, 2020 In what will be seen as a big boost for retailers, this past weekend has beaten Black Friday to the current crown of busiest shopping day of the year so far. This follows data released by Barlcayard Payments, which processes nearly £1 in every £3 spent in the UK, revealing that this weekend was the [...]
Market Finance to make £5,000 grants available to UK SMEs December 8, 2020 Market Finance has announced an SME fund that will make grants available to businesses struggling amid the pandemic. The fintech lender has launched the Business Booster Fund which will make grants of £5,000 available to the UK’s small firms in a bid to help them “kickstart” 2021. The initiative is broad brush – any business [...]
South African miner AngloGold Ashanti appoints Maria Ramos as chair December 8, 2020 Mining giant AngloGold Ashanti has appointed Maria Ramos as chair of the board following the resignation of Sipho Pityana. Ramos has been a director of the company since May 2019 and served as chair of the Remuneration and HR Committee, and as a member of the Social, Ethics and Sustainability Committee. Pityana has served as [...]
Could Goldman Sachs teach the UK how to level up organically? December 8, 2020 Almost exactly one year ago, a freshly elected Conservative government made “levelling up” one of its core priorities. Facing a new parliament with a healthy majority and a dynamic Prime Minister (remember that?), the government promised to bring individual prosperity to regions of the UK which had been “left behind”: not just the big cities [...]