Nottingham – where the living and working is easy August 5, 2020 “Nottingham is an easy city, easy to do business, easy to find talent and we’ve been able to grow our business here easily” said Halli Bjornsson, Co-Founder and CEO at Lockwood Publishing, creators of the hit 3D virtual world Avakin Life which has 500,000 Daily Active Users. Many more who live, work and run gaming [...]
For young Londoners, working from home is a cramped and dismal experience August 5, 2020 Ah the great British work from home experiment: levelling the playing field, redressing work-life balance, enabling millions of people to work when and where best suits them. After a brief period of chaos at the end of March when the nation struggled to get to grips with Zoom and Amazon sold out of laptop stands, [...]
Three-quarters of London firms welcome staff back to offices August 4, 2020 London firms are starting to bring their staff back to the workplace after more than four months of remote working due to the pandemic. A survey of 100 business leaders conducted by London First reveals a phased return of staff is underway for three quarters of London firms. The survey, which was carried out last [...]
Wiley apologises for ‘generalising’ Jewish people in antisemitic tweets July 29, 2020 Disgraced rapper Wiley has apologised for “generalising” Jewish people after a string of offensive tweets, but has refused to acknowledge his comments were antisemitic. The British rapper went on a two-day Twitter tirade starting on Friday, calling Jewish people “cowards and snakes”, asserting they controlled the justice system and compared the Jewish community to the [...]
A digital tax is no way to reward our innovative online retailers July 28, 2020 Throughout lockdown, the advantages — indeed, the essentiality — of online retail became clear. Now, Rishi Sunak is rumoured to be mulling over a new online sales tax. Advocates for this new tax, such as SportsDirect owner Mike Ashley and Tesco boss Dave Lewis, believe that the existing business rates system creates an uneven playing [...]
Coronavirus roadmap: When will England’s lockdown end? July 18, 2020 Boris Johnson has outlined a roadmap for the end of England’s lockdown, giving hope that coronavirus social distancing could end before Christmas. Johnson changed tack on government guidance to work from home where possible in a speech on 17 July. Instead employers will be asked to discuss with employees whether and how they can safely [...]
Let’s not miss this opportunity to upskill our dormant workforce July 1, 2020 Today, we mark 100 days since lockdown began — and for many of us, that has meant three months of unforeseen “me-time”. As our economy begins to reopen and recover, some may be regretting not yet having taken the chance to finally learn to juggle, play the trumpet, or simply get out and jog more [...]
Redrow anticipates turnover to drop by more than a third June 30, 2020 Housebuilder Redrow expects turnover to drop more than a third this year, as the closure of its sites during lockdown had a “profound” impact on business. The figures In a trading update for the year ended 28 June, Redrow said turnover is expected to fall from £2.11bn last year to £1.34bn. The group’s completions also [...]
Exclusive: Westminster denies firms business rates relief for empty offices during lockdown June 17, 2020 Central London companies whose staff abandoned offices to work remotely during the coronavirus lockdown have been refused business rates relief, City A.M. can reveal. Westminster City Council has refused to grant the relief to office-based businesses such as accountants, law firms, and consultancies despite their workspaces remaining empty over the period. The move has sparked [...]
Shaftesbury swings to £287m first half loss as coronavirus hits property value June 10, 2020 West End landlord Shaftesbury has swung to a £287m first half loss, as the value of its estate plummeted in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. The company, which has a portfolio of restaurants, pubs, shops, and workspaces in central London, said that the store closures brought about by the nationwide lockdown had affected tenants’ [...]