Skills in the City: financial services sector looks to the future October 18, 2021 To what extent should organisations that compete fiercely to attract new recruits (and for business overall) be collaborating when it comes to enhancing their workforces’ skillsets? It’s tricky to imagine many of the Square Mile’s biggest names freely sharing their training programmes outside their own four walls. ‘Sure, we’ll just send you what we do [...]
Global Britain is a good policy – now we need businesses to put it into action October 18, 2021 Our economy is facing many challenges, but there is a huge opportunity too. Both the Government and business must be committed to make a success of our Global Britain mission. Following the G7 summit in Cornwall and with Cop26 just weeks away, the timing is right for business to feed into the development of what [...]
Snapping supply chains triggers wave of profit warnings October 17, 2021 Supply chains snapping, soaring energy costs and the ongoing labour squeeze has crimped listed companies’ profits. The number of profit warnings issued by UK listed companies in the last three months climbed to 51, up sharply from 19 in the second quarter of this year, research by EY-Pantheon has found. Elevated profit warning levels have [...]
How challenger banks are revolutionising the sector October 15, 2021 This article first appeared in ICAS’ CA magazine. Three expert CAs tell Karam Filfilan how a new wave of challenger banks are helping to revolutionise the sector, both for consumers and businesses. Read October’s CA magazine now Digital transformation has revolutionised the banking sector over the past decade. Gone are the days of neighbourhood bank branches [...]
Roof tiler Marley abandons £500m floatation plans amid growing market concerns October 12, 2021 The biggest producer of roof tiles in Britain has abandoned its £500m plans to float on the London Stock Exchange, blaming “market volatility” as investors fear a rise in UK interest rates. Marley Group announced its change of plans this morning despite “considerable institutional investor interest”, according to the company. The news came less than [...]
Audit reform: FRC asks for power to cap Big Four’s audit clients October 12, 2021 The chief executive of the UK’s accounting watchdog has asked ministers for the authority to enforce a cap on the number of large companies that any one accountancy firm can audit, in an attempt to break up the dominance of the Big Four firms. Sir Jon Thompson went on to question the likelihood of the [...]
Wednesday’s GDP figures will remind Brits of sunnier economic times October 12, 2021 The economic mood at the moment is not upbeat. Households are facing an acute cost of living crisis, businesses are warning of shortages at Christmas, inflation is likely to run hotter and for longer than the Bank of England initially expected. Doom and gloom. However, on Wednesday, positivity will be partly revived as the Office [...]
Grid investments coming up short risks freezing the UK’s renewables transition October 11, 2021 The conditions are ripe for growth in the UK’s renewable sector as COP26 fast approaches, though a lack of investment could hamper the country’s goals. As policy paves the way for fresh investment and new tech, the renewables sector continues to battle bottlenecks – which could require a doubling of investment over the next 10 [...]
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 [...]
CA Summit 2021: Speakers announced October 4, 2021 Join free · Online · 5 – 7 October If you’re working in or around the field of finance or accountancy, this is an event you won’t want to miss. Split into three chapters – Learn, Grow and Inspire – with a day devoted to each, the CA Summit 2021 is packed with talks, presentations and interviews. [...]