Homeserve boosts profit forecasts as lockdown buoys firm November 17, 2020 Homeserve said it would beat current full year profit expectations after a strong first half saw the home repairs firm increase its revenue by nearly a fifth. The FTSE 100 company posted £536.7m in turnover for the first six months of the year, up 17 per cent on last year’s take. It said that the [...]
ESG and fixed-income indices surge in 2020 November 17, 2020 “Market indices have seen constant evolution in more than a century of history, but never more so than in the last year.” On 3 July 1884, the world’s first stock index, the Dow Jones Transportation Index, was published by Charles Dow. And every year since then, market indices have evolved and grown in scale and [...]
Unused office space ‘to cost London firms £13bn’, survey shows November 16, 2020 The shift to homeworking, accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic, could cost London businesses almost £13bn in unused office space, according to the latest research. London office workers want to spend an average of 2.7 days per week back in the office once all coronavirus restrictions are lifted, as long as they have the resources to [...]
Anti-vaxxers may be barred from pubs and offices: Senior Tory MP November 16, 2020 People who refuse to take a Covid-19 vaccine may be barred from restaurants, pubs and offices, a senior Conservative MP has suggested. Tom Tugendhat, MP for Tonbridge, Edenbridge and Malling and chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, told HuffPost UK he could “certainly see the day” when people are refused entry into pubs and restaurants, [...]
Explainer: What are green bonds? And how will the UK’s first green gilts work? November 15, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced yesterday that Britain will issue its first green government bond next year, in a bid to capitalise on growing investor demand for assets that fund environmentally-friendly projects. The market for investments with an environment, social, or governance (ESG) focus has increased exponentially in recent years. Around $250bn (£189bn) of green bonds [...]
Cummings to leave Downing Street with immediate effect November 13, 2020 Boris Johnson’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings is leaving Downing Street immediately. Cummings will continue to work until mid-December, and another senior aide will serve as temporary chief of staff, Johnson’s office said on Friday. “The Prime Minister has today asked Sir Edward Lister to take on the role of chief of staff for an interim [...]
Coronavirus: Grant Shapps rules out Brexit disruption to vaccine delivery November 13, 2020 Grant Shapps has ruled out potential disruption to deliveries of a coronavirus vaccine by post-Brexit border delays. The transport secretary today said there is a “back-up to the back-up” to prevent any hiccups, amid concerns delivery of the Belgium-manufactured Pfizer jab could be jeopardised if the UK fails to secure a trade deal with the [...]
UK regulators prepared to intervene if Brexit disrupts markets, says FCA November 12, 2020 British regulators are prepared to intervene if the UK’s full departure from the European Union on 31 December risks disrupting financial markets, an executive from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said. While Britain has already left the bloc, post-Brexit transition agreements gives banks and trading platforms full access to EU markets until the end of [...]
Vaccine news puts growth back into The City: Moneyfarm’s investment chief November 12, 2020 This week’s news that pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German manufacturer BioNTech had reached a breakthrough in the development of their Coronavirus vaccine led to one of the heaviest trading days since the height of the pandemic crisis, with nearly $2 trillion changing hands across global markets. Firms across The City are in an upbeat mood as the announcement that [...]
Croydon council goes bust and freezes spending as Covid costs bite November 12, 2020 Croydon council has become the first London borough to buckle under the weight of the pandemic, as it today filed a notice declaring it virtually “bankrupt”. In a letter to councillors seen by City A.M, Croydon’s finance director Lisa Taylor outlined “serious issues” facing the borough, including a potential budget shortfall of around £66m this [...]