The future of film: Big screen’s make or break moment August 9, 2021 As blockbuster season explodes into action and Cannes finally reconvenes, it may seem like business as usual for cinema. But peek behind the scenes and there are still huge challenges to overcome. Three CAs in the sector tell Christian Koch about the big screen’s make-or-break moment. This article first appeared in ICAS’ CA magazine. Hollywood and [...]
The Analyst: Is Netflix going to be able to swim up-stream? August 7, 2021 In the middle of another summer results season, the outlook for many media and tech companies – like many other sectors – is generally positive. But bucking that trend is behemoth Netflix, where net subscriber additions – the bread and butter of the business, after all – missed analyst expectations by around a quarter of [...]
Weekend Read: We may be about to find out what shape the recovery takes August 7, 2021 Since the first cases of Covid-19 began to disrupt the global economy, economists have not been shy of predictions. V-shaped, L-shaped, even hockey-stick recoveries have all been on the table. We may be about to find out who was right. While output growth and economic activity are still historically strong, in developed economies, those indicators [...]
Businesses seek cover amid wave of discrimination lawsuits August 6, 2021 UK and US insurers are being flooded with requests for cover from businesses amid rising numbers of covid related discrimination lawsuits, it has been reported. According to Reuters, there have been 2,950 Covid-19 related employment lawsuits in the United States since the start of the pandemic, with health and safety, remote working and workplace discrimination [...]
US jobs market recovery smashes expectations in July August 6, 2021 The US jobs market rebound is defying expectations and surging at a much faster pace than first thought, according to fresh data published today. The US economy added 943,000 jobs in July, helping to push down the unemployment rate 0.5 per cent to 5.4 per cent, the US Bureau of Labour Statistics said on Friday. [...]
Crypto AM Daily in association with Luno August 6, 2021 Crypto at a glance with Jason Deane It “feels” like Bitcoin has been busy over the last few days, yet we find ourselves pretty much back where we were this time last week, price wise at least. Of course, for many of us, short term price is completely irrelevant since we’re so focussed on where [...]
HMRC revenue from Capital Gains Tax jumps fourfold as businesses sell off assets August 6, 2021 The government has collected almost £10bn from capital gains tax (CGT), a fourfold increase compared to a decade earlier. New HMRC data shows the taxman collected £9.94bn in the 2019-2020 tax year a sizeable jump from the £2.55bn sum taken for the year ending in April 2009. Over 28 per cent of CGT came from [...]
Summer shoppers hesitant to return to high streets as footfall down 34% on pre-pandemic levels August 6, 2021 High street footfall in July was down by one third on the same month in 2019, before the pandemic, showing businesses still have a long way to go in rebuilding lost trade. High street footfall declined by 34.6 per cent in July compared to 2019, 1.2 percentage points below last month’s rate, according to data [...]
Pingdemic plagues UK jobs market as wages rise at fastest pace in over two decades August 6, 2021 The UK jobs market continues to be plagued by severe worker shortages caused by the “pingdemic” and intense job insecurity, but wages are rises at fastest pace in over two decades, according to new figures published today. KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation research shows candidate volumes for unfilled jobs fell at the second [...]
The Office: Clean air becoming a key part of the return August 6, 2021 If London is to get back on its economic feet after the COVID-19 pandemic, it needs workers to come back to the office. Many people are saying that the future of work will be different, with employees requesting more of a balance between office and home working. Maybe so, but some employers will insist on [...]