Exclusive: London firms revolt over business rates payments during lockdown June 29, 2020 Tens of thousands of London companies are believed to be mutinying against the taxman by refusing to pay business rates for the three months of the coronavirus lockdown. In light of the pandemic, the government has handed firms in the retail and tourism sectors a year-long holiday on the tax, which is applied to companies’ [...]
Innovation and decentralisation are key June 29, 2020 The financial services industry is held back by rules imposed after the 2008 crash. We need to move forward. To liberate the financial industry, decentralisation is the way ahead. One of the unexpected side effects of of social distancing and the lockdown has been the uncovering of a lot of pain points in the business [...]
Menzies chief to exit in move to Glenfiddich owner June 26, 2020 Airport services group John Menzies chief executive Giles Wilson will step down, the firm said today, as he leaves to join Glenfiddich owner William Grant & Sons. Wilson will take up his post as William Grant & Sons chief financial officer in the end of August. John Menzies said Wilson will not be replaced. Its [...]
Rebecca Long-Bailey fired from shadow cabinet over ‘antisemitic’ tweet June 25, 2020 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has sacked Rebecca Long-Bailey as shadow education secretary after she retweeted an article that was deemed antisemitic. Long-Bailey was removed by the shadow cabinet today after she reposted an article that claimed the US policeman that killed George Floyd had learnt the tactics in Israel. Actress Maxine Peak made the [...]
ActivTrades’ revenue set to climb to record high in H1 2020 June 25, 2020 London-based online brokerage ActivTrades is on track to post its best ever half-year results, thanks to an increase in trading volumes and strong growth in the number of clients. With only a few days to go to the end of the second quarter, the company has recorded £30 million in revenue for the first half of 2020, more than trebling [...]
UK retail sales start to rebound in May following record drop June 19, 2020 UK retail sales began to rebound in May, exceeding expectations by rising 12 per cent month-on-month following a record plunge in April, with the proportion spent online hitting a record high. With fuel excluded, retail sales climbed 10.2 per cent month-on-month, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed. The reading had been expected [...]
Facebook announces $200m for businesses owned by black people June 18, 2020 Facebook today announced that it will commit $200m towards businesses owned by black people, the latest in a string of tech giants to announce such initiatives. In a post, chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg revealed the plan, saying that the firm needed to take action. She wrote; “The past few weeks have compelled us to [...]
Boris Johnson tells Emmanuel Macron that Brexit talks cannot stretch into autumn June 18, 2020 Boris Johnson has told French president Emmanuel Macron that it makes no sense to extend post-Brexit trade talks into the autumn. The two leaders met today in Downing Street to mark the 80th anniversary of French president Charles de Gaulle’s wartime BBC broadcast to Nazi-occupied France. After the commemoration, which included a flypast by the [...]
There can be no route back to normality for ableist commuter culture June 17, 2020 “Do not expect to return to the transport network you were used to.” We’re all used to hearing that there will be no return to “normal” life any time soon. So it’s no surprise that Transport for London (TfL) has broadcast the same message about our commutes as some tentatively plan to return to the [...]
New boss for Hugo Boss as fashion house drafts in former Tommy Hilfiger CEO June 17, 2020 Hugo Boss has announced that former Tommy Hilfiger chief Daniel Grieder will be its new chief executive. Grieder, 58, will take up the post in June next year, after a decades-long career at Tommy Hilfiger. It comes after outgoing CEO Mark Langer announced that he was stepping down in March. Langer will leave post at [...]