British Gas pays out £1.7m after prepayment supplier error August 27, 2020 British Gas will pay out £1.7m after the energy supplier failed to inform hundreds of thousands of customers that it had changed prepayment supplier. On 1 January, the Centrica-owned firm changed top-up provider from Paypoint to Payzone, but failed to notify 270,000 customers. Ofgem, the energy regulator, said some British Gas customers had suffered as [...]
The Hut Group plots mega £4.5bn London initial public offering August 27, 2020 The Hut Group today unveiled plans for a £4.5bn float on the London Stock Exchange in a move that is set to land its co-founder a bumper payday. The consumer brands retailer, which is based at Manchester Airport, said in a filing that it intends to carry out a free float of at least 20 [...]
Service sector employment fell sharply in last quarter as UK entered recession August 27, 2020 Employment fell sharply across the UK services sector in the three months up to August as the coronavirus pandemic sent the country into the deepest recession on record. The service sector dominates the business landscape in this country, making up nearly 80 per cent of the economy. According to a survey conducted by the CBI, [...]
London landlord Grosvenor pays for tenants to extend Eat Out to Help Out August 26, 2020 West End landlord Grosvenor will pay for its Mayfair and Belgravia tenants to continue to offer half price meals throughout September to boost visitor numbers in central London. The property company said it will fund the £10 discount offer after the government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme comes to an end on 31 August. [...]
FTSE 100 swings into the red as pound surges with US stocks mixed August 25, 2020 The FTSE 100 stumbled as traders shrugged off Brexit worries to bid up the pound, while US stocks were mixed after the US and China signalled progress on trade. London’s main stock index was 0.3 per cent lower at 6,088 points in afternoon trading, having dropped back after climbing more than one per cent. The [...]
Southeastern to introduce colour-coded system to help commuters avoid busy trains August 25, 2020 Train franchise Southeastern will from next week tell passengers how busy their train is before they board to help them better observe social distancing rules. The operator, which runs rail services into London and the south-east, will become the first franchise to share such data directly with commuters in a bid to increase confidence that [...]
Downing Street refuses to call for Londoners to go back to work August 24, 2020 Downing Street has refused to call for more people to return to their offices, despite increasing fears that decreased foot traffic in central London will cripple the economy. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said today that it was up to individual employers to decide whether to bring back employees, while also refusing to say if [...]
UK retail sector enjoys ‘significant’ jump in footfall as economy recovers August 24, 2020 The number of visits to UK retail destinations jumped last week as the economy’s recovery picked up steam, new data has shown, with London a particular bright spot. Footfall was up 4.1 per cent in the 16 to 22 August period compared to the previous week, data firm Springboard said today. The rise was “a [...]
Exclusive: Consumer goods firm Ultimate Products to repay furlough scheme wages August 24, 2020 Consumer goods firm Ultimate Products will repay all the money that it has claimed through the government’s job retention furlough scheme after outperforming expectations despite the coronavirus pandemic. City A.M. can reveal that the London-listed firm is set to give back the £465,237 it was given to keep staff on over the lockdown period, and [...]
The City View: Moneypenny CEO on why it’s time to come out of hiding and find some confidence August 24, 2020 In this episode Christian talks to Joanna Swash, chief executive of the customer services and office support provider Moneypenny, which has 20,000 corporate clients in the UK and US. Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS Joanna talks about the impact of the early stages of lockdown on her company and explains how she transitioned 1,000 [...]