Greene King to close pubs as 10pm curfew cripples sales October 7, 2020 Pub chain Greene King is preparing to permanently close 26 sites, putting hundreds of jobs at risk of redundancy, due to a sharp drop in sales exacerbated by the 10pm curfew on hospitality venues. It has launched a consultation process with 800 employees over the potential job cuts, Sky News reported. The company is seeking [...]
Climate activists target Blackrock London office over ‘greenwashing’ October 2, 2020 Climate protestors have targeted Blackrock’s London headquarters over its failure to put climate change at the heart of its investment strategy. In January Blackrock’s chief executive Larry Fink announced it would put environmental sustainability at the core of its strategy. The world’s largest asset manager announced a sweeping overhaul in a bid to position itself [...]
Why the government must give more support to London’s hospitality sector October 1, 2020 Hospitality and tourism have felt the force of Covid-19 like no other sector. Green shoots started to emerge during the summer months, as Eat Out to Help Out, a staycation boom and the warm weather put much-needed cash in the registers of hotels and restaurants across the UK. While London remained quiet, there was some [...]
Coronavirus: TSB to axe a third of branches and over 900 jobs September 30, 2020 TSB has announced plans to close 164 branches and cut over 900 jobs as the British lender grapples with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The lender said the cuts – which represent a 10 per cent reduction in the bank’s workforce and the loss of a third of its branches – were part of [...]
London businesses show signs of recovery post-lockdown September 30, 2020 There are encouraging signs that businesses in the capital are on the road to recovery after emerging from lockdown. Despite a bleak year for firms across a broad range of sectors, a new poll of London businesses show a slight improvement in business conditions in the third quarter. The majority of the firms surveyed by [...]
London businesses among most confident in the UK, survey shows September 30, 2020 London businesses were among the most confident of any UK region in September, a new survey showed, with sentiment across the country reaching its highest level since lockdown began in March. Business confidence in the capital rose nine points during September to minus four per cent, according to Lloyds Business Barometer. While overall UK confidence [...]
FTSE 100 dividend payouts fall to lowest level in nearly a decade September 29, 2020 Dividend payouts by FTSE 100 firms have dropped to their lowest point in nearly a decade as the pandemic forces companies to slash payments. Dividend payments for FTSE 100 firms are forecast to plunge 24 per cent this year, according to AJ Bell. It follows an 11 per cent drop in 2019, leaving the total [...]
Record number of companies turn out for City Giving Day 2020 September 23, 2020 A record number of organisations took part in this year’s City Giving Day as companies gathered online in spite of the pandemic to celebrate the City of London’s philanthropic side. Over 460 companies registered for this year’s event, which raised money for charities such as Place2Be, Onside Youth Zones, Samaritans and The Duke of Edinburgh’s [...]
HSBC, Citi, Goldman and Deutsche Bank pause plans to return to office September 23, 2020 Banks have rushed to pause plans for staff to return to their UK offices following fresh government guidance on coronavirus. Deutsche Bank and Citigroup have also encouraged staff to return to work remotely amid concerns over rising Covid-19 cases. Read more: City firms begin to send workers home after new government rules The banks’ changes [...]
City firms begin to send workers home after new government rules September 22, 2020 City firms have begun to send workers home after the government today told people to begin working from home again where they can. About 1,000 Barclays staff will revert to home working due to the new coronavirus advice, the bank said today. Although around 22,000 employees had remained working from the lender’s offices during the [...]