Unemployment rate set to surge in UK coronavirus lockdown April 21, 2020 The UK unemployment rate is set to rocket amid the coronavirus lockdown, economists warned today as data showed employment at a record high before March. But job vacancies sank by 52,000 year on year to 795,000 for the first three months of 2020, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. UK unemployment also inched up [...]
Pessimism & reluctance April 17, 2020 A moment of nostalgia for sterling and relief for the euro. Sterling was not unduly worried this week, having a surprisingly successful week. Over the eight-day week it strengthened by an average of 0.5%, losing out only to the puzzlingly mismatched Australian dollar and Japanese yen. It added one euro cent and one and one [...]
EY UK to cut partner profit 20 per cent in coronavirus response April 15, 2020 EY UK said today it will cut partner profit 20 per cent in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The firm said in a statement that “its partners will do everything possible to navigate through the covid-19 situation with no redundancies amongst its 17,000 UK employees, no people furloughed and no reduction in employee salaries.” The [...]
Deloitte UK cuts partner profits 20 per cent and freezes salaries in response to coronavirus slowdown April 15, 2020 Deloitte UK will cut partner profits 20 per cent profit this year and staff across the business will have their salaries frozen in response to the coronavirus slowdown, the firm’s senior partner said today. The firm is also delaying the distribution of profits to partners to try and conserve cash. Senior partner and chief executive [...]
Coronavirus: UK job vacancies contract for first time in more than a decade April 8, 2020 UK job vacancies contracted for the first time in more than a decade last month as the coronavirus outbreak caused demand for staff to plummet. A survey by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and KPMG said the vacancy measure dipped below 50 for the first time since September 2009, falling to 47.8 in March. The [...]
Prince Andrew’s former private secretary quits troubled Pitch@Palace April 7, 2020 The Duke of York’s former private secretary is said to have quit her role as chief executive of his embattled Pitch@Palace initiative. Amanda Thirsk, who served as Prince Andrew’s aide for 15 years, has resigned to take up an undisclosed role in the private sector, Sky News reported. It comes as the initiative, which offers [...]
Freshfields suspends partner profit distribution and freezes pay April 6, 2020 Magic Circle law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has suspended partner profit share for the fourth quarter and frozen pay across the firm to help weather the economic crisis triggered by coronavirus. The firm has also deferred decisions on staff bonuses until later in the year. A Freshfields spokesperson said: “We are focused on supporting our [...]
Shareholders may push Debenhams into administration April 3, 2020 Debenhams is set to plunge into administration as shareholders attempt to keep the historic retailer out of creditors’ hands during the coronavirus outbreak, it is reported. Debenhams is poised to announce its intention to appoint administrators next week, with KPMG in the running, Sky News reported today. Investors could push for the move to prevent [...]
City Moves for 31 March – Who’s switching jobs at Quantuma, Medica and FRP? March 31, 2020 Today’s City Moves includes Quantuma, Medica and FRP Quantuma Business advisory firm Quantuma has announced the appointment of Philippa Robinson as a director in its corporate finance team. Philippa joins Quantuma after qualifying with KPMG to become a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. In her role at KPMG, she [...]
With every crisis comes an opportunity, so what should a post-coronavirus UK work towards? March 25, 2020 The world is in crisis. All over the world, governments and businesses – and most importantly people – are slowly adjusting to a world that seemed implausible only a few weeks ago. Yet here we are. And if there is any certainty now, it is that we are unlikely to emerge from this to return [...]