Pontins accused of racial discrimination after ‘undesirable guest list’ targeting Irish customers emerges March 2, 2021 Pontins has been accused of racial discrimination after a whistleblower revealed that the holiday park firm had used an “undesirable guest list” to block customers with Irish surnames. The company’s owner Britannia has signed a legally binding agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission forcing it to investigate and review its policies. The whistleblower [...]
Vote of confidence for London as Deloitte office sold to Hong Kong real estate business for £255m March 2, 2021 A large City of London office, used by Deloitte, has been sold to a Hong Kong-based real estate company for £255m. The 147,000 sq ft office, Athene Place at 66 Shoe Lane, recently underwent a full refurbishment before the sale. In June 2018 Henderson Park bought the space after Deloitte had vacated the building. The [...]
Financial services firms move £1.3 trillion to EU following Brexit vote March 2, 2021 Financial services firms move £1.3 trillion to EU following Brexit vote
Hong Kong explores allowing SPAC listings March 2, 2021 Hong Kong is considering allowing SPAC listings as the popularity of blank-cheque vehicles starts to pick up outside the US. Special-acquisition companies (SPACS) are vehicles that raise capital through a public listing with the purpose of acquiring an existing company. They offer private companies a faster and more predictable way to go public and have [...]
Ministers ‘absolutely committed’ to securing future of Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant March 1, 2021 Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has said that the government is “absolutely committed” to securing the future of car manufacturing at the Ellesmere Port plant in Cheshire. Over the last week, ministers have been in talks with the plant’s owners Stellantis over whether the company will develop its new Astra model at the plant. Stellantis – [...]
London regains top spot in Schroders’ Global Cities Index March 1, 2021 London has returned to the top spot in the Schroders’ Global Cities Index after scoring highly in its response to climate change in comparison to other cities in the index. This year, the index has introduced a transport score into the ranking, with a particular focus on mass transit systems. As a result, car-reliant Los [...]
Former French President Sarkozy sentenced to three years in jail March 1, 2021 Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to three years in jail for corruption charges, after he was found guilty of trying to bribe a magistrate. Two years of the three-year sentence will be suspended, and it is unlikely the former President will spend a single day in jail. The remaining one-year prison term [...]
Brexit: Labour calls for ‘more ambitious’ UK-EU financial services talks March 1, 2021 Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds has called for the UK to be “more ambitious” in its post-Brexit talks with the EU on future financial services regulation. Dodds said today that the government “seems to be trying to manage expectations down” about the Memorandum of Understanding talks and that getting equivalence from the EU should be the [...]
Want to boost UK exports? Help ignored service providers March 1, 2021 As the UK economy seeks to recover from the twin disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic and a new trading relationship with Europe – making sure that we have a robust return of UK trade flows will be a crucial element of this. There are easy wins that the Government and Department for International Trade can secure. Ensuring [...]
New UK-Kenya trade deal to be extended to all of East Africa after threats not to ratify March 1, 2021 The recently signed trade deal between the UK and Kenya will be extended to Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and Tanzania, according to multiple media reports in Kenya. The announcement follows weeks of threats by members of the House of Lords as well as Kenyan MPs not to ratify the trade agreement, which was signed [...]