Travelex owner Finablr announces new boss as finance chief quits April 1, 2020 Travelex owner Finablr has announced a new chief executive as its finance boss quit, following the resignation of its auditor and two other directors in recent days. Finablr tapped Bhairav Trivedi for the top job after his predecessor Promoth Manghat left when the firm expressed doubts about its ability to continue. Trivedi joined Finablr on [...]
EY resigns as auditor of Travelex owner Finablr as board members quit March 30, 2020 EY has resigned as auditor of Finablr after the troubled payments firm could not accommodate some adjustments it requested, including changing the composition of its board. Trading in the London-listed firm’s shares was suspended earlier this month after Finablr warned it was preparing for potential insolvency. It has launched an investigation into its finances. Finablr [...]
COVID-19 – the latest challenge to ‘levelling up’ the UK economy March 30, 2020 In uncharted territory … When I flew out of Buenos Aires in late 1990, having ended my stint working as part of a team supporting the economic reform programme of President Menem, I genuinely believed I would never again work in such a severe economic situation like the one Argentina had been in. Prices in [...]
COVID-19 and cyber: Critical actions for employees and business to take now March 30, 2020 Recent weeks have been challenging for us all on so many fronts. Most importantly businesses have had to prioritise the health of society whilst doing their very best to keep things on track. Each day has brought new challenges as employees rapidly adapt to new ways of working. How can businesses maintain operational resilience and [...]
Government in talks over state takeover of Flybe – report March 29, 2020 Collapsed airline Flybe’s administrator EY has denied reports that it is in negotiations with the government to buy the regional carrier out of bankruptcy in order to protect the UK’s battered aviation sector. According to the Telegraph, the Big Four auditor has opened talks with government officials about nationalising the airline in order to serve [...]
Rishi Sunak unveils self-employed economic relief package March 27, 2020 The government has upped its response to the coronavirus crisis by vowing to pay low and middle income self-employed workers 80 per cent of their average monthly profits in a package expected to cost the Treasury £9bn. Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the much anticipated relief package yesterday, giving self-employed workers the same support announced for furloughed payrolled workers last week. Sunak [...]
130 profit warnings triggered by COVID-19 March 26, 2020 I’m not even sure where to begin. I think I’ll start with my week in numbers… On Monday…UK quoted companies issued as many profit warnings in a day as they did in the whole of April 2019 On Tuesday….8 FTSE Retailers warned, the sector’s average quarterly total in 2019 On Wednesday, by 10am…5 FTSE Household Goods and Home Construction companies had [...]
Zoopla: Coronavirus could send UK house prices plunging March 26, 2020 UK house prices could plunge dramatically as the coronavirus outbreak causes demand to dry up, Zoopla has warned. The spread of Covid-19 is already having a big effect on the market, causing a 40 per cent drop in demand for housing in the seven days to 22 March, according to data from property website Zoopla. [...]
Coronavirus to bring UK house prices growth to ‘juddering halt’ March 25, 2020 The coronavirus outbreak is set to bring UK house prices to a “juddering halt” in the coming months, a top economist warned today. UK house prices fell 1.1 per cent between December and January. But they were 1.3 per cent up on the previous year, data released today showed. The Office for National Statistics said [...]
COVID-19: The first test for purposeful business? March 24, 2020 There has been continued debate on the role of business in society, with many businesses keen to highlight their broader social contribution beyond their primary focus of generating profits for their shareholders. Coronavirus will cause the most significant disruption to the UK economy since the Second World War. It will affect businesses across numerous sectors, [...]