Rising fintech star explains why banks are rushing to jump on the lucrative BNPL bandwagon September 19, 2022 Virgin Money recently confirmed plans to enter Britain’s buy now, pay later (BNPL) market. The banking player is the latest player to start offering BNPL products, which generally can help people to spread the cost of purchases without adding to their overall cost. Earlier this year, another bank, NatWest, said that it planned to enter [...]
Handbagged review: Camp tribute to the Queen needs a juicy plot September 16, 2022 Kiln Theatre artistic director Indhu Rubasingham was so nervous last night that she forgot her words on stage at the Handbagged press night. It’s not common for a director to be treading the boards when a show is open, they’re normally in the audience, but this was no ordinary press night. Following the Queen’s passing, [...]
Antigone review: Sophocles is dragged into modern London September 16, 2022 While Sophocles may have written his great Athenian tragedy Antigone way back in 441BC, its core themes are enduring, something playwright Inua Ellams makes abundantly clear in this sharp and moving adaptation. Transposed to modern-day London, Ellams’ eponymous heroine is a young British-Pakistani Muslim. We meet her, along with her three siblings, at their local [...]
If Oslo can come up with new ideas for the housing crisis, London can too September 16, 2022 While the UK wrestles with average house prices that are now higher than the average annual salary, in Norway’s capital Oslo an ambitious state-backed model has just been created which could solve the problem of housing affordability at a stroke. Just like in the UK, and especially within London, the divide between people who own [...]
Brexit onslaught deepens as a third of all UK exporters to EU vanish due to red tape knockout September 15, 2022 The number of UK businesses exporting goods to the EU fell 33 per cent to 18,357 in 2021, from 27,321 in 2020, according to data from HMRC. Discussing the figures with City A.M., Michelle Dale, a senior manager at accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young, pointed out the fall is due to the extra red tape [...]
Mike Leigh: ‘The Queen dying is emotional but King Charles? That’s another matter’ September 15, 2022 For a man seven-times Oscar nominated for films about so-called ‘ordinary’ people, Mike Leigh certainly plays the part. We meet outside the newly opened Garden Cinema, but there’s no blacked-out car to deliver perhaps Britain’s most famous living director. Instead, Leigh appears from around a street corner, alone, clasping a folded chair under arm. If [...]
King Charles III must find the balance of being a modern royal, following in his mother’s path September 15, 2022 In his mother, King Charles III has a model, but it will be a constant balancing act ahead.
The Queen and the prime ministers, a weekly meeting to hold the Union together September 14, 2022 Over the 70 years of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, she met and dealt with thousands of government ministers, from the United Kingdom and from the Commonwealth. While she would deal most regularly with the British prime minister, with regular weekly meetings, she interacted with ministers in other ways, such as at Privy Council meetings. Commonwealth [...]
Child eye health: Everything you need to know September 13, 2022 Children across the globe continue to suffer from vision loss, which could be prevented or treated. The number of children and infants is growing exponentially. It is estimated that by 2050 many more children will remain undiagnosed and untreated. Whilst solutions are available to prevent the child’s eye health from worsening, however drastic and significant [...]
Making Bitcoin energy efficient will take time, but it will be worth the wait September 13, 2022 Viktor Prokopenya, executive director of VP Capital and renowned analyst, reveals his optimism over the reputation of crypto mining.