Outgoing lottery operator Camelot faced with falling ticket sales and Brits ‘tightening their belts’ June 28, 2022 Falling sales of tickets and instant win games amid signs that players had “tightened their belts” in the face of soaring costs are hitting outgoing UK National Lottery operator Camelot hard. Camelot, which recently launched legal action against the Gambling Commission after losing the lottery’s next licence to rival Allwyn, saw sales drop 3 per [...]
‘Real pay cut by 12 per cent’: Firefighters threaten to strike after angrily rejecting 2 per cent pay offer June 28, 2022 A firefighters’ union leader is warning of strikes after reacting angrily to a 2 per cent pay offer. The executive of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) is recommending rejection of the offer, which it said is well below the soaring rate of inflation. Between 2009 and 2021, firefighters’ real pay has been cut by 12 [...]
Prime Minister and Chancellor to dismiss Tory calls for early tax cut June 28, 2022 The Prime Minister is set to bat away demands from Tory backbenchers to slash cuts in a major speech with the Chancellor next month. According to a report in The Times, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak are set to outline the government’s economic strategy in the speech. However, they will delay announcing a timeline for [...]
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 [...]
Soaring inflation burns hole in councils’ finances, LGA finds June 28, 2022 Rampant inflation is burning a hole in the finances of English and Welsh councils and may force them to trim public services without more funding, reveals a fresh report published today. Rising energy costs caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine lifting European gas prices and an uplift to the national living wage will heap an [...]
The lack of board diversity is deterring investors as the gender gap could take 100 years to close June 27, 2022 A lack of diversity in Europe’s top financial services boardrooms is deterring investors from backing firms, new research has revealed.
Postal services face summer mayhem as strikes loom June 27, 2022 Over 100 Crown Post Offices will closed for one day in July, as workers strike against a massive real-terms pay cut.
‘We are engulfed in a crisis of epic proportions,’ CBA chair Jo Sidhu tells Old Bailey picket June 27, 2022 Criminal barristers on Monday picketed outside of London’s Old Bailey court as part of a strike over legal aid fees. Hundreds of barristers, solicitors, and other supporters turned up at the picket line outside of the UK’s most famous court, in demanding a 25 per cent increase in legal aid fees. The strike comes as [...]
Explainer-in-brief: The domino effect driving unions to strike over pay June 27, 2022 As this week begins, we come back to the railways with a sigh of relief. Yet the rail strikes of last week are unlikely to be a one-off, as RMT leader Mick Lynch has already warned more could come if the talks between the unions and the rail bosses keep on failing. Someplace else in [...]
Arts and crafts giant Hobbycraft’s expansion drift undiminished with new stores and recruitment drive planned June 27, 2022 Several new stories and a recruitment drive are on the agenda of arts and crafts retail chain Hobbycraft as the company confirmed this morning it plans to continue its expansion after a lift in profits for the past year. The company said its adjusted pre-tax profit for the 2022 financial year was £15 million, which [...]