The big takeaway: How City Pantry is stirring up the catering industry January 7, 2019 London's food revolution has happened remarkably quickly. In a matter of years, the city has opened up to a world of cuisine, and is now home to more street food vendors than you can shake a crab stick at. Take sushi shops: almost unheard of in London 20 years ago (many Brits grimaced at the thought [...]
Business groups give their verdict on EU rubber-stamped Brexit deal November 25, 2018 After 18 months of wrangling, Theresa May has finally won approval for her withdrawal deal from the EU's 27 leaders. When the Prime Minister announced last week that the withdrawal agreement had been approved by her Cabinet, many businesses welcomed the news, saying it afforded them more clarity after months of uncertainty. Here's what they had [...]
Poundworld to close as many as 100 stores as latest retail CVA is put on the table April 26, 2018 Poundworld has become the latest retailer to consider store closures and rent reductions. Some 100 stores could be shuttered under new plans, according to Sky News. The retailer is set to follow the likes of New Look, Carpetright and Toys R Us with a mechanism called a company voluntary arrangement (CVA). Hundreds of jobs are [...]
Brexit: UK’s services sector pleads for mutual recognition deal in letter to Prime Minister July 3, 2018 Some of the biggest firms in the UK's services sector have written to the Prime Minister, urging her to secure a future trade deal that puts mutual recognition at its heart. The letter, coordinated by the Professional and Business Services Council and signed by the likes of KPMG and Deloitte, Allen & Overy and Clifford [...]
Here are the six (yes, six) reviews the audit sector is currently facing November 14, 2018 As 2018 continues to be the annus horribilis of audit, bean counters are finding that sector reviews are, as the saying goes, like buses. With news this week that MPs are going to launch their own super-inquiry, the sector now faces six reviews. If that seems like more than you’ve got to grips with, here’s a [...]
New WPP boss Mark Read announces strategy review as North American revenues drag September 4, 2018 WPP revenues fell in the first half after a poor performance in North America as newly appointed chief executive Mark Read today announced a strategy review. Shares in the advertising giant fell by six per cent at the time of writing. The figures Reported revenues fell by 2.1 per cent in the first half compared [...]
How would you like to pay for that, madam? October 17, 2018 The global payments industry is dramatically improving due to technology. Mobile has changed everything. Payments are getting faster and smarter. Competition is intense. And payments are revolutionsing markets in the developing world even faster than in the developed world. In just the next seven years, the McKinsey Global Institute estimates that widespread adoption and use [...]
Will humanity be phased out of the workforce by robots? June 10, 2018 As automated employees begin to fulfill not just physical roles but also cognitive ones, workers can be safe in knowing that history has proven humanity’s staying power. Researchers have concluded unanimously that automation will make improve our ability to do our jobs, boost wages and make the world a better place, according to a report [...]
Retail round up: What’s happening on the high street? January 11, 2019 Not as bad as it could have been. That’s the general feeling about high street performance over Christmas after major retailers and the supermarkets published their festive figures this week. The British Retail Consortium says that 2018 was the worst Christmas for retails for 10 years but, as ever, the figures show there are winners [...]
PwC global chair says firm ‘cannot rest on laurels’ as global revenues pass $40bn October 2, 2018 The global chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has said audit remains “at the heart of what we do”, after global revenues at the professional services giant rose above $40bn (£30.66bn) for the first time despite a series of accounting scandals. Total revenue across PwC’s international network of firms hit $41.3bn, a seven per cent rise in [...]