Welcoming Londoners back to Finsbury Circus Gardens August 10, 2020 This month, the Square Mile’s largest open space and London’s first public park is opening once more after being closed for 10 years due to Crossrail works. We are delighted to reopen the beautiful Finsbury Circus Gardens for the public to enjoy this summer, as staff begin to return to the City for work. Finsbury [...]
BBC boss apologises over broadcast of racial slur August 9, 2020 BBC director general Lord Tony Hall has apologised and said the broadcaster made a mistake, after a news report containing a racial slur was shown last month. The N-word was used in full in a report by social affairs correspondent Fiona Lamdin about a racially aggravated attack in Bristol, aired by Points West and the [...]
The return to work: Here’s when City firms are going back to the office August 7, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday said a strong recovery for the UK economy will require people to have the confidence to return to work at the office. The government is worried that hospitality businesses are being hit hard by people working from home. But London firms have adopted a more cautious approach than the [...]
Let’s give our SMEs all the help they need to expand overseas — by tackling unfair payment charges August 7, 2020 Coronavirus has changed our lives, there’s no denying that. But it’s also changed the way a huge number of businesses operate on a daily basis. We’re not just seeing SMEs cope with new track and trace systems and social distancing rules. They’re revolutionising the way they make money, moving operations online, and even going cashless [...]
Ride-hailing firms Gett and Ola sign corporate partnership August 6, 2020 Ride-hailing firms Gett and Ola have today announced a new partnership following a surge in demand for corporate travel as the UK returns to work after the coronavirus lockdown. The partnership will allow Gett’s corporate clients access to Ola’s platform in London, enabling them to request a variety of Ola ride options from September. In [...]
Petropavlovsk shareholders set for crunch vote after months of boardroom strife August 6, 2020 Shareholders at gold miner Petropavlovsk will on Monday vote to settle months of strife after a long-running tussle for control of the firm’s board. Voters will choose between rival proposals investors from Prosperity Capital Management and Everest Alliance over the future make-up of the board after seven directors, including chief executive Pavel Mavlovskiy, were ousted [...]
Meggitt shares sink over reports firm mulling equity raise August 6, 2020 Engineering firm Meggitt has said it is reviewing its options after reports that the FTSE 250 firm was considering raising new equity to help bolster its finances. Yesterday Bloomberg reported that the aerospace engineer was mulling a $600m (£455m) sale of new stock and was reviewing its debt with advisers. Shares fell 6.2 per cent [...]
Edward Bramson resumes activist campaign against Barclays August 6, 2020 Edward Bramson has renewed his activist campaign against Barclays’ investment bank, even after the division reported a surge in revenue this year. Bramson reportedly told shareholders in his investment Sherborne Investors that the pandemic had “significantly distorted the first half results of all the banks”. In April Bramson called a temporary truce in his battle [...]
Bank of England: Downturn better than feared but UK faces longer recovery August 6, 2020 The Bank of England has significantly improved its prediction for the path of the UK economy this year, but said the recovery will take longer than initially expected. The Bank’s projection, released today, said the UK economy was likely to shrink by 9.5 per cent this year and then grow by nine per cent in [...]
‘Edtech’ surges to the top of the class August 6, 2020 From near-ubiquitous interactive whiteboards to cloud platforms, coding and coaching via video-call, education technology has travelled a long way since schools introduced basic computing laboratories in the 1980s. These advancements have been given a further powerful push by the digital acceleration triggered by coronavirus: most visibly in the need for teaching professionals to deliver classes [...]