London IPO activity smashes new records as it already outpaced whole of 2020 October 6, 2021 London has retained its dominance as the most attractive European IPO venue by funds raised in the third quarter, continuing the deal momentum witnessed in the previous two quarters and reaching new record highs. Both the main market and Alternative Investment Market (AIM) have built on the resurgence of activity seen in the last two [...]
Canary Wharf skyscraper faces uncertain future as China cracks down on builders October 6, 2021 Many development projects in London are in limbo as Beijing is cracking down on overleveraged firms and casting a pall of uncertainty on their ability to bankroll their ventures. Greenland, a major Chinese real estate developer which rushed to London in post-recession boom along with many others, is reportedly struggling to finish ‘Spire’, which when [...]
Boris Johnson expected to reveal ‘national living wage’ hike October 6, 2021 Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce plans to raise wages for the country’s lowest paid earners to around £9.42 per hour. The increase will boost the pay of minimum wage workers over the age of 23 by around 5.7 per cent, more than double the previous increase of 2.2 per cent in April [...]
Rishi Sunak assures City that bonfire of financial services regulations post-Brexit is around the corner October 5, 2021 Rishi Sunak has moved to assure the City that changes to financial services regulation post-Brexit are around the corner as he set out his ambition to “make sure [London] remains the most competitive place in the world for financial services”. When challenged at a Conservative party conference fringe event on why there hasn’t been a [...]
UK pig farmers begin culling healthy animals amid major labour shortage October 5, 2021 Pig farmers have today been forced to begin the UK’s first cull of healthy animals since records began, as acute labour shortages leave abattoirs unable to process enough of the country’s meat. Around 600 healthy pigs have been slaughtered and had their carcasses thrown “in the bin” today, as farmers were forced to begin killing [...]
Produce workers ‘nabbed from farms by hospitality recruiters’ October 5, 2021 Hospitality recruiters have attempted to recruit seasonal pickers from farms in a bid to stem labour shortages, a trade body has claimed. Jack Ward, chief executive of the British Growers Association, told CityA.M., that recruiters were attempting to recruit people to work in bars “wherever they could find them.” “Particularly in the summer, competition for [...]
France hits UK with veiled threat to cut off power to Channel Islands October 5, 2021 France has made a veiled threat to cut off power to the Channel Islands in the latest escalation of a long-running fishing row. French European affairs minister Clement Beaune said “we are tired of being nice” and that he “will not stand” for French fishermen being locked out of UK waters by Downing Street. Cabinet [...]
Shortages: Boris Johnson denies crisis exists as he calls supply chain ‘fantastic’ October 5, 2021 The Prime Minister today he is “not worried” about the staffing shortages which have played a role in petrol pumps running dry and risk a mass pig cull and shortages this Christmas. Boris Johnson played down the prospect that rising inflation rates could cancel out wage growth as he pins his long-term hopes on transitioning [...]
Just 127 drivers have applied for emergency UK visas, says Johnson October 5, 2021 Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that just 127 truck drivers have so far applied for UK visas to help ease acute shortages. In an interview with the BBC Johnson said that the road transport industry had been asked to provide the details of drivers who were willing to come to Britain amid shortages. So [...]
CBI president: UK must bring in more immigrants to deal with shortages October 4, 2021 The president of one of the UK’s largest business groups has called for the government to increase immigration in the short-term to deal with key worker shortages. Lord Karan Bilimoria, president of the Confederation of Business Industry (CBI), today told City A.M. that there should also be a government board that sets immigration targets to [...]