Small businesses lambast government’s price cut plan for being a “slap in the face” June 29, 2022 Asking small businesses to cut product prices as a way for the government to help Brits with the cost-of-living crisis was deemed as a “slap in the face” by trade bodies. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) argued that forcing small firms to “soak up additional costs just isn’t realistic,” as business owners are no [...]
AIM IPOs fall to lowest level since 2009 with just one in Q2 2022 June 29, 2022 The UK’s Alternative Investment Market had the lowest number of IPOs since 2009 in 2022’s second quarter. Only one company floated in Q2 and raised £6m, research by accountancy group UHY Hacker Young found. The last quarter to experience IPO activity this low was the first quarter of 2009, following the start of the financial crisis, [...]
London’s hotel mojo is back as occupancy rates climb albeit pandemic recovery remains ‘uphill battle’ June 29, 2022 Recovering occupancy rates and food and beverage sales are rapidly powering a recovery in the London hotel market, albeit slower than the industry had anticipated. For the first time since prior to the pandemic, occupancy rates in London are now exceeding the rest of the UK, at 66.9 per cent, overtaking UK rates of 68.4 [...]
DeFi-ing the rules: five opportunities and five risks of decentralised finance June 29, 2022 In the Star Wars universe, the Force is a mystic energy field generated by living beings that binds the galaxy together. The ability to wield the Force gives Jedi Knights their superhuman abilities, making them peacekeepers of the galaxy. But how powerful would the Jedi be if every ‘transaction’ that used the Force had to [...]
Top investors demand firms including Tesla and Exxon Mobil cough up climate data June 29, 2022 A group of 263 top financial institutions have today called on firms including Tesla and Exxon Mobil to reveal their environmental impact data, as pressure grows on businesses for transparency on climate impact.
Windfall tax is a ‘fiscal shock’ to the oil and gas sector, warns industry body in letter to Chancellor June 28, 2022 One of the UK's leading energy bodies has sent a letter to the Chancellor Rishi Sunak, warning the new windfall tax will harm the country's investment climate.
‘Extreme caution’ urged over census data collected in pandemic despite ONS saying it has ‘full confidence’ in its figures June 28, 2022 Census figures collected during the national lockdown should be treated with “extreme caution” according to a council leader, after appearing to leave off three per cent of the capital’s population. It has been claimed that the Office for National Statistics’ latest data failed to include 300,000 Londoners compared to the previous projection, despite the organisation [...]
Incoming CMA chair warns job cuts could make it harder to take on cases that protect consumers from high prices June 28, 2022 The competition watchdog’s ability to get the best deal for British consumers could be endangered by job cuts, the government’s chosen candidate for chair of the body has warned. The government intends to slash 91,000 civil service jobs over the next three years, in an endeavour to bring headcount back to 2016 levels. Ministers’ preferred [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Behind the low-pay complaints from barristers June 28, 2022 Once considered to be the hallmark of a lucrative career, now even the lawyers are striking. Well, only some of them. Yesterday marked the first day of four-week long strikes undertaken by criminal barristers over legal aid fees. They’re calling for a 25 per cent pay rise, and have been offered 15 per cent. Some [...]
Exclusive: Poor connectivity costs UK firms £18bn a year June 28, 2022 British SMEs are losing £18.77bn a year because of poor connectivity, costing the UK economy, an estimated loss of £7.7bn every year. The research, conducted by Three UK, YouGov and Development Economics, found that micro-businesses and small to medium sized firms, who provide their employees with work phones, are losing out on an average of one hour of [...]