Unilever to trial four-day working week in New Zealand November 30, 2020 Supporters of a four-day working week were given a major boost today as Unilever said it will trial the system in its New Zealand operations. The consumer goods giant said its 81 employees in New Zealand will retain their full pay while working just 80 per cent of normal hours. The trial will run until [...]
Easyjet working with restructuring heavyweights Alix Partners to reduce debt pile November 30, 2020 Low-cost carrier Easyjet is working with restructuring heavyweights Alix Partners in an attempt to refinance its hefty debt pile. The Telegraph first reported that the FTSE 250 carrier had asked the US firm for help as it is faced with paying back £1.4bn in debt to various lenders. The airline must repay a £600m loan [...]
To qualify or not to qualify? Auditors move to ditch risky clients November 30, 2020 Qualifying an audit could lead to unhappy clients and litigation risks, so it is safer to ditch clients instead, an expert has told City A.M., after several auditors dropped clients in October. Last month three separate auditors terminated contracts with clients in compromising circumstances. At the time the reputational risk of being associated with the [...]
Global Britain: should the dramatic shift in ownership of the UK stock market be feared or cheered? November 30, 2020 How global will Britain be in future? This is a question that polarises opinion. But while the UK still needs to define its place in a post-Brexit world, its financial markets have never been more populated with foreigners. According to data from the Office for National Statistics, more than half of the UK stock market is [...]
Preparing the City for a very different Christmas — and beyond November 30, 2020 Many businesses across London will be breathing a collective sigh of relief: subject to parliamentary approval, the decision to put the capital under Tier 2 restrictions means that they will be able to trade in the run-up to Christmas. Nonetheless, the festive period this year will be a very different occasion for all of us [...]
Mike Ashley ‘offers Arcadia £50m’ as crows circle retail group November 28, 2020 Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group is suggesting a £50m loan to keep Arcadia Group in business as the crows circle around the failing retail giant. Plans for the emergency loan come as Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia prepares to call in administrators, according to Sky News. It would be one of the biggest corporate victims of the [...]
FTSE 100 heads for second-best month on record but still lags peers November 28, 2020 Britain’s FTSE 100 stock index is on track for its second-best month in history as optimism about vaccines boosts unloved sectors such as financials and industrials that dominate the UK corporate landscape. Yet the index is still well behind its global peers this year. Despite US markets and global stocks hitting record highs, the UK [...]
Can asset management’s Covid-19 response help regain public trust? November 27, 2020 The tenth anniversary of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) back in 2018 sparked a deluge of articles recalling the days the financial system stared into the abyss. They questioned just how close we came to complete collapse, but also whether it could happen again. Had anything changed in the decade that followed? From some perspectives [...]
Recovery November 27, 2020 Bitcoin is booming Bitcoin staged a healthy pull back in the wake of a dramatic collapse in spot price from the mid-$19,000 all the way into the low $16,000 area. By early Friday, Bitcoin was looking to reclaim the $17,000 level once again and while the aforementioned shake out did raise fears of a more [...]
Screenshot: Is price comparison the Future of publishing? November 27, 2020 A weekly column from City A.M. bringing you all the biggest stories and trends in technology, media and telecoms This week **Media Moment of the Week: A baking bonanza **Future’s flirtation with Go Compare: Insane or inspired? **Baby boomer radio beats Media Moment of the Week For many of us, The Great British Bake Off [...]