Rise & grind: Employers splurge on keeping teams caffeinated while working remotely April 6, 2021 Employers kept staff fed and caffeinated while working from home during the pandemic, making up for the loss of coffee and sweets available at the office by expensing Starbucks and Deliveroo orders. Keeping teams fed and caffeinated while working remotely made up nearly 36 per cent of all expenses claimed during January to November 2020, [...]
Panic over: Brits made 117m fewer trips to the supermarket this March March 30, 2021 Brits made 117m fewer trips to supermarkets this month than in March 2020, which was a month that saw supermarket shelves stripped bare as consumers started panic buying ahead of the UK’s first national lockdown. Grocery sales fell three per cent in the four weeks to 21 March 2021, while during the same period last [...]
Bond investors and sustainability: is it all greenwash? March 29, 2021 With issuance of green, social and sustainability bonds expected to hit a record $650 billion this year, Schroders’ Head of Sustainable Credit Saida Eggerstedt tackles the topic of greenwashing. “We are in a boom era for borrowing linked to sustainability criteria,” according to Saida Eggerstedt, Schroders’ Head of Sustainable Credit. In 2020, the global issuance [...]
Asda faces ‘multimillion pound’ hit if supermarket loses equal pay claim March 25, 2021 Asda could be forced to make a “multimillion pound” payout if it loses an appeal on equal pay at the UK’s top court tomorrow. The supermarket is waiting for the Supreme Court’s judgement after it appealed against a ruling that workers in Asda stores – who are mainly female – could compare their pay with [...]
Global online tax on tech giants ‘in our grasp’, says Rishi Sunak March 23, 2021 Rishi Sunak has today said a global online tax on internet giants like Amazon and Facebook is “in our grasp”. Sunak said he was “very keen to see a resolution” on the issue, with the chancellor making it one of his top three priorities in G7 meetings this year that are hosted by the UK. [...]
Markets: FTSE eeks out gains as UK’s GDP drops March 12, 2021 Markets: FTSE eeks out gains as UK's GDP falls
Boris Johnson signals willingness for new UK online tax on internet giants March 10, 2021 Boris Johnson has today signalled he could be open to a new online tax on tech giants like Amazon, while highlighting the taxation “discrepancy” between digital and bricks and mortar businesses. Johnson said during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) today that chancellor Rishi Sunak has “tried to address” the discrepancy “in an equitable way”. Sunak has [...]
Co-op Group under pressure to repay £80m of government funding March 4, 2021 The Co-op board will reportedly meet next week to discuss handing back millions in government cash it was handed during the pandemic. The move would follow in the footsteps of leading supermarkets who returned business rates relief at the end of last year and have pledged to forgo the break announced in the Budget. The [...]
Budget 2021: Which expected policies were not announced? March 3, 2021 Rishi Sunak’s Budget was a tale of two halves, with the chancellor spending big over the next two years before implementing a series of tax rises in the years after. Many of the policies announced were already leaked days or weeks in advance, with the corporation tax rise to 25 per cent for the UK’s [...]
Aldi and Lidl sales growth slows as discounters struggle to compete with Big Four’s online capabilities March 2, 2021 The growth of the discount supermarkets Lidl and Aldi has slowed as the Big Four UK grocers benefitted from their more established online presence during the pandemic. German budget grocers Lidl and Aldi reported that sales were up 10.9 per cent and 5.6 per cent respectively in the 12 weeks to 21 February. However, three [...]