Consumer confidence edges up despite inflation and supply chain woes November 19, 2021 Shoppers put aside concerns about soaring inflation and supply chain woes and spend in the run-up to Black Friday and Christmas, leading consumer confidence to edge up, according to new data published this morning. GfK’s long-running Consumer Confidence Index increased three points to minus 14 in November following a three-month downturn. A seven-point jump in [...]
Exclusive: Deloitte reveals the UK’s fastest growing tech companies November 19, 2021 London firms came out on top in Deloitte’s annual ranking of the UK’s 50 fastest growing technology companies. The country’s top 50 tech firms achieved an average growth of 3,337 per cent and saw combined revenues of £2.92bn this year, up 33 per cent compared to last year’s total of £2.2bn. The final score sheet [...]
Bitcoin cashback announcement ends in controversy for UK fintech Mode November 18, 2021 Major retailers Boots and Ocado have distanced themselves from an announcement claiming they would offer customers cash back in Bitcoin. Today London-listed fintech Mode announced it would be adding more than 40 UK retailers including Boots, Ocado and Homebase to its crypto cashback rewards scheme. However, in comments to City A.M. both Boots and Ocado [...]
Alibaba shares slide five per cent as earnings fall short of forecasts November 18, 2021 Alibaba shares tumbled five per cent after the company’s third quarter financials disappointed investors. In results released today, Chinese tech giant Alibaba revealed that revenue for the three months to October 2021 was $31.1bn (£23bn), up by 29 per cent compared to a year prior, but a far cry from analyst predictions of $32.1bn Net [...]
Accounting watchdog: Third of all audits ‘unsatisfactory’ amid fears sector reforms will be watered down November 18, 2021 An “unacceptably high” number of audits still need improving, according to the UK accounting watchdog’s latest report, amid increasing concerns that the government may scale back long-awaited corporate governance and audit reforms. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) today published its latest annual report on UK audits, finding that 33 per cent of all audits still [...]
Three reasons why your strategy isn’t working November 18, 2021 Why is it that while all firms have strategies, some are more successful than others? Certain firms do have a first-mover advantage in offering services and products to their customers and extracting value that competitors cannot. Others are able to reinvent themselves in a way that competitors are unable to match. Whatever the approach taken, [...]
Markets spit out Metro Bank as private equity giant Carlyle walks away from takeover talks November 18, 2021 US private equity giant Carlyle has walked away from talks to buy British high street lender Metro Bank, prompting markets to spit out the lender. Its shares plummeted over 19 per cent today. However, they are still above where they were before Metro Bank announced it was being courted by Carlyle. However, that take did [...]
High voltage: National Grid’s profits spark to life amid Europe’s energy crunch November 18, 2021 National Grid is benefitting from booming profits as the energy crisis continues to bite.
Lib Dems call for bank tax hike to plug TfL funding gap November 18, 2021 The Liberal Democrats have called for taxes on banks to be hiked to help fill Transport for London’s (TfL) £6.6bn funding gap. The party called the long-running TfL funding saga between the government and mayor of London Sadiq Khan a “a ridiculous macho battle”, while urging them to “sort this mess out”. Khan last night [...]
By far best-paid in Europe: CEOs in UK make 759 per cent more than their employees November 18, 2021 Chief executives in the UK are on average 759 per cent more than their employees, making the wage gap in Britain the biggest in all major economies. Business leaders in the UK also get paid more than anywhere else in the world, after the United States. On average, CEOs are paid £300,312, whereas the median [...]