It’s Blue Monday, so what does 2025 look like for insolvencies? January 20, 2025 Today is supposedly the most depressing of the year, and businesses appear to be lacking confidence too, says Sarah Rayment Today is Blue Monday, supposedly the most depressing day of the year, when the reality of gloomy weather, Christmas debt and post-holiday blues all kick-in. But it’s not just individuals feeling the effects, business confidence [...]
ScottishPower: Court grants appeal against HMRC over £28m tax bill January 17, 2025 Energy giant ScottishPower has been granted an appeal to allow it to deduct £28m in fines by Ofgem for corporation tax purposes
Elon Musk wants to ban WFH for millions in the US government January 17, 2025 Elon Musk may terminate remote work for millions of federal employees, as he steps into his new role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E). The tech titan and outspoken Trump supporter outlined plans to announce a mandatory return to office policy to reduce the size of the US government workforce and cut [...]
Mining behemoths Rio Tinto and Glencore reportedly considered merger January 17, 2025 Mining giants Rio Tinto and Glencore reportedly discussed a merger last year. The two companies held discussions as late as October last year, but they didn’t progress further, as first reported by the Financial Times. A merger in full or in part of Glencore, with a market cap of £46.47bn and Rio Tinto, with £164.99bn, [...]
SMEs’ rising use of credit cards spells trouble for the UK economy January 17, 2025 More and more small businesses are becoming reliant on credit cards, and it's the whole economy that will suffer, writes Rob Burlison.
Savills: End of work from home drives recovery in office property market January 16, 2025 International property services company Savills has predicted a strong commercial property market this year driven by cheaper financing, the sustainability agenda and workers’ return to the office. The FTSE 250-listed firm told the market this morning that while it expected challenging conditions to continue, “most markets are in recovery”. However, the firm added that geopolitical uncertainty, [...]
Wise: Fintech’s customers surge on back of payment deals boom January 16, 2025 Customers at fintech platform Wise have jumped 20 per cent over the last year as the firm continues to make deals with top financial clients. In a quarterly trading update, the money transfer firm revealed that cross border volumes had surged 24 per cent, or 27 per cent on a constant currency basis, to £37.8bn. Meanwhile, [...]
Reeves has dodged a bullet but she’s surrounded by landmines January 16, 2025 After all the excitement of a ministerial resignation, it’s time to check in on the government’s growth agenda. After all, the fate of individual politicians is of no significance when viewed against the major economic challenges facing the government, and the country. Talking to City CEOs, particularly those in the pension and investment sectors, it’s [...]
Carillion is ancient history. Seven years on, the audit profession has moved on January 15, 2025 Seven years on, the audit industry has moved on from Carillion. It's legislation that needs to catch up, writes ICAEW CEO Alan Vallance.
Topps Tiles investor stages revolt as shares nose dive January 15, 2025 A major investor in Topps Tiles has staged a revolt against the retailer as its share price continues to nose dive towards a new historic low. Private equity firm MS Galleon used its near 30 per cent stake to vote against the company’s remuneration report at this year’s annual general meeting, resulting in 40 per [...]