Mind the gap? Financing scale-ups takes sharper focus August 19, 2020 ‘There is a risk… of a lost generation of innovative businesses unable to access the right capital to scale and go global’: so warns an analysis published this month entitled The Future of Growth Capital. The report – co-produced by Innovate Finance, the ScaleUp Institute and Deloitte, in collaboration with industry, investors and the recently [...]
Why City PR firm Cicero is getting back to the office August 19, 2020 As offices around central London prepare to welcome some staff back to work, the need for employers to instil confidence in their coronavirus safety measures is paramount. At City lobbyist firm Cicero, over 80 per cent of employees have already been back to the office at some point since lockdown restrictions began to ease in [...]
Gavin Williamson smirks on — proving that this government values loyalty over competence August 19, 2020 If a picture is worth a thousand words, then there is one image that sums up the whole sorry mess of the A-level results fiasco. No, not one of the photos of tearful students, quivering with outrage and despair that their university places had been snatched away by a heartless algorithm. Rather, it is a [...]
What role will cash play in the post-Covid recession? August 19, 2020 With the UK plunging into what the chancellor has called an “unprecedented” recession, what can we learn from the downturn in 2008 about the role of cash and its importance to people and businesses under economic pressure? Cash underpinned the economy and consumer spending habits after the 2008 recession. Will 2020 be significantly different? I’d [...]
Marks & Spencer to axe 7,000 jobs within three months amid pandemic August 18, 2020 Marks & Spencer is set to slash 7,000 jobs by December in a huge restructuring brought about by the pandemic, it said today. The high street giant, which was struggling prior to coronavirus, will focus the cuts in its central support centre, regional management and UK stores. It comes on top of 950 job cuts [...]
Misnomers, uncertainty, and a need for compassion – how to get the UK’s future immigration system on the right path August 18, 2020 Priti Patel’s latest statement on immigration post Brexit quietly came and went last month. While it did not give anything new away, it was what was missing that was most interesting. The paper set out how the immigration system will work after Brexit, and it should do a decent job for larger businesses. The skilled [...]
Wall Street nears record highs on retail optimism as mining stocks lift FTSE 100 August 17, 2020 Wall Street edged towards record highs this afternoon on optimism about better-than-expected retail earnings as the FTSE 100 pushed higher during a subdued start to the week’s trading. The Nasdaq rose 0.68 per cent while the S&P 500 resumed its ascent towards record highs with gains of 0.29 per cent. However, the Dow Jones slipped [...]
Trade groups threaten legal action over post-Brexit customs system August 16, 2020 The government’s new post-Brexit customs system may face a legal challenge, after trade bodies have complained it will distort competition. The Sunday Telegraph reports that trade bodies clashed with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) at a meeting of its customs experts panel. Trade bodies expressed their concern that the new Trader Support Service, which will [...]
REC: Post-lockdown record rise in vacancies hints at UK jobs recovery August 14, 2020 More new vacancies for UK jobs were advertised last week than at any other time since the lockdown began, a new report has found. Around 126,000 new UK-based jobs were posted in the week 3-9 August, according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). It brought the total number of vacancies across the UK to [...]
UK job vacancies see biggest weekly rise in 2020 August 13, 2020 The number of online job adverts has risen according to new data, despite an increasing number of people being made redundant across the UK. The total volume of online job adverts saw its biggest weekly increase in 2020 between 31 July and 7 August, data from the Office of National Statistics has revealed. Job adverts [...]