UK house prices: What will happen to property values in 2021? January 16, 2021 The UK residential property market boomed in 2020, with house prices ending the year at a record high, despite the shutdown of the sector during the first coronavirus lockdown. Government measures such as the stamp duty holiday helped revitalise the market, while the lifting of lockdown restrictions prompted a surge in demand. Lockdown also inspired [...]
EY gender pay gap shrinks as ethnicity pay gap widens January 14, 2021 Ernst & Young has reported a 32.4 per cent gender pay gap among its staff, as at April 2020, and a nearly 37 per cent ethnicity pay gap. EY UK chairman Hywel Ball said the gender pay gap at the Big Four firm had improved by 4.7 per cent in the last year, which was [...]
Government launches legal action against former Carillion directors January 14, 2021 Ministers have launched legal action against eight former directors of collapsed outsourcing giant Carillion, a move that could see them banned from serving as directors for up to 15 years. Nearly three years after the firm went bust, business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has brought proceedings against the former chairman, two chief executives, two finance chiefs, [...]
Financial services M&A dips as management shifts priorities January 12, 2021 M&A in the UK’s financial services industry dropped amid the pandemic as management’s priority shifted away from deals to the preservation of cash. The UK financial services industry announced just 136 deals in 2020 down from 211 in 2019, according to exclusive EY data. Deal activity came to a near standstill at the start of [...]
Prince Charles urges business to back new ‘Earth Charter’ January 11, 2021 Prince Charles will today urge the private sector to sign up to the “Terra Carta”, a new environmental pledge to protect the natural world. The “Earth charter”, which takes its name from the Magna Carta, has already been signed by dozens of high profile businesses. These include Astrazeneca, Bank of America, EY, Unilever, and Blackrock, [...]
Explainer: What the Brexit deal means for UK nationals and EU migration January 8, 2021 New immigration rules and pandemic travel restrictions are colliding to cause a bumpy start to 2021. Although the Brexit transition deadline has passed, individuals who are eligible can continue apply under the Withdrawal Agreement until 30 June 2021 in many cases. There is confusion in these early days and some airlines have reportedly refused boarding [...]
UK house prices end 2020 on record high but growth slows January 8, 2021 UK house prices ended 2020 on a record high, but the pace of growth slowed towards the end of the year, the latest figures showed. House prices in the UK were 0.2 per cent higher in December than the previous month, reaching an average value of £253,374. On an annual basis, property prices jumped six [...]
London set for IPO ‘bonanza’ in 2021 January 7, 2021 Building on the momentum seen towards the end of last year, IPO activity in the capital is set to surge this year. After a pause in the first half of the year as the pandemic took hold, activity started to re-emerge by the end of the summer before a significant uptick in the last quarter. [...]
Private equity bidders eye KPMG’s restructuring arm January 6, 2021 Private equity firms are eyeing up KPMG’s restructuring arm, as the Big Four firm prepares to offload its restructuring operations in the UK. Intermediate Capital Group and Towerbrook Capital Partners are preparing to submit initial bids for the business ahead of a deadline later this month, Sky News reported. The division is rumoured to be [...]
UK PMIs: Services activity contracts again in December January 6, 2021 UK business activity contracted again last month despite the lifting of lockdown restrictions, new data revealed today. The IHS Markit/Cips purchasing managers (PMI) index for services scored 49.4 in December, with any score below the 50 mark indicating contraction. The reading was up on November’s score of 47.6, when much of the economy was stuck under further [...]