Thinking around corners on UK rental market could transform life for the better June 1, 2021 With pubs and restaurants open across London once again, the capital’s young professionals can return to one of their favourite pastimes: gathering together over a drink to complain about the rental market. We all know the stereotypical ladder: you begin in a slightly shabby, probably shared flat, you move on to somewhere on your own [...]
Europe shrugs off third wave fears with Germany’s bullish job market June 1, 2021 As Europe gears up towards recovery, German unemployment dropped more than expected in May as companies bolstered their workforces ahead of pent-up demand, data showed today. Falling Covid-19 infections and the easing of lockdown restrictions have revealed surprisingly sturdy job market data – with pent-up demand fuelling a consumer-driven recovery this summer. The number of [...]
In pictures: Londoners gather at Essex Road vigil for ‘flower man of Islington’ June 1, 2021 A loud applause broke out at a vigil for a stabbing victim who was known as the “flower man of Islington”. Tony Eastlake, 55, died from a knife wound after being attacked in Islington, north London, on Saturday just before 5.30pm. A crowd of family, friends, customers, passers-by and neighbours gathered last night for a [...]
Czech police call for own Prime Minister’s indictment in EU subsidy fraud case May 31, 2021 Czech police have recommended that Prime Minister Andrej Babis should be indicted over alleged fraud involving European Union subsidies. Prague’s prosecution office said it has received the results of the updated police investigation into Babis’s possible involvement in the fraud. Prosecutors now have to decide whether to file charges against Babis or dismiss them. Police [...]
Slaughter & May adopts different working rules for junior and senior staff May 30, 2021 Law firm Slaughter & May is planning separate rules for its junior and senior lawyers that will see those in higher positions able to work from home more often. Trainee lawyers, newly qualified associates and new recruits will be required to work from the office four days a week on average from September, the Telegraph [...]
Exclusive: Meet the former UBS and JPMorgan heavyweights shaking up private banking May 28, 2021 As the economy is slowly switching into recovery gear, activity in the City and beyond is starting to pick up again. That is also the case for Vestrata, a relatively new fintech player that is taking the wealth management and private banking space by storm by bring machine learning and automated risk metrics into the [...]
US shoppers behind Klarna’s recent platform transaction boom May 28, 2021 Swedish ‘buy now, pay later’ company Klarna has reported a jump in transactions using its platform in the January to March quarter, helped mainly by growth in the United States. Klarna’s gross merchandise volume (GMV) – the value of transactions made using its payment platform – nearly doubled to $18.9bn in the first quarter from $9.9bn a [...]
Brexit: ECB to crack down on ‘desk mapping’ in London to drive more bankers and capital to the EU May 27, 2021 The European Central Bank is ramping up efforts to push more management and capital out of the City and Canary Wharf, into the EU. The central banking authority plans to scrutinise and crack down on so-called ‘desk mapping’ – or ‘back-to-back booking’ – to determine whether banks’ key staff, capital and book trades used by [...]
Klarna rival Laybuy turns its attention to the UK’s buy now pay later market May 27, 2021 The buy now pay later market has exploded in recent years and now a New Zealand company is trying to make its mark in the UK. Laybuy was set up by Gary Rohloff, his wife and his two sons in 2018 and launched in the UK in early 2019. The likes of Klarna and Clearpay [...]
Exclusive: Three-quarters of London firms set for office return by September May 26, 2021 Almost three-quarters of London businesses are planning a return to the office by September, a new survey by Addison Lee has revealed. Of the 142 firms asked by the taxi firm, 74 per cent said that they would be making a return to their workplace over the coming months. And more than half of these [...]