Bounce back in sports? February 4, 2021 While many hoped 2021 would be a bounce back year for the sports industry, the new strain of COVID-19 has left football clubs with a number of financial concerns. Match day revenue is very important for football clubs across the industry. The situation is dire with spectators not allowed into grounds. In England’s League Two, [...]
Supreme Court decision in the FCA Test Case on BI insurance – what does this mean for SMEs? April 21, 2021 The Supreme Court decision in the FCA Test Case on BI insurance has been widely publicised as a resounding success for businesses. Recently published data collated by the FCA, however, shows that as of 13 April 2021 only 39% of the 35,438 policyholders whose Covid-19 Business Interruption (BI) insurance claims have now been accepted by [...]
Corporate collapse and pre-pack wave February 5, 2021 The pandemic has wrought massive damage to many business. A dramatic drop in trading has left many firms unable to pay their debts. The normal assumption is that this would trigger a wave of corporate failures. However, the official figures to Q3 2020 is that the number of corporate insolvencies is lower than the previous [...]
An increase in distressed investment expected January 18, 2021 In autumn 2020 we conducted our Restart Capital Survey of over 500 SME business and over 100 investors. There was a feared wave of corporate insolvencies with 35% of the business respondents expecting to be out of business within 12 months (and 43% of medium sized enterprises). 84% of the business respondents considered themselves distressed [...]
Edge computing – what to look out for in 2021 January 18, 2021 Businesses will be familiar with cloud computing, with many having moved their IT to colocation facilities or to cloud-based applications such as Office 365, Salesforce and Slack. The networks required to deliver these services transfer huge amounts of data to central hubs where it is processed and stored. This can result in data congestion and [...]
The Green Recovery February 8, 2021 In 2020 we have all seen the way we live our lives on a day to day basis fundamentally altered. These events have given us the opportunity to reflect on what “normal life” does and should mean. This has resulted in increased focus on our impact on the environment and climate change with calls on [...]
CMA’s review of market concentration in the pandemic January 18, 2021 In April 2020, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) cleared Amazon’s £450million investment into Deliveroo, heeding (and ultimately accepting) warnings from the parties that, absent the investment, Deliveroo would ultimately have to exit the market. Particularly so in the light of the impact of the government imposed lockdown and shuttering of restaurants. It is tempting [...]
Remote working – striking a balance January 18, 2021 Presenteeism has long been associated with working life in the city, viewed by many employers and employees as essential for getting known and getting ahead. However, in response to the Covid 19 pandemic, businesses have had to cope with an abrupt move to mass remote working, in a way many never would have imagined feasible [...]
When will the fun and GameStop? February 3, 2021 Retail and day traders dealing in shares and other assets that Wall Street funds bet against may not be new; Wallstreetbets, the Reddit group at the centre of the story, itself has been in existence since 2012. However, with retail investors buying in such numbers as recently, the group has captured worldwide attention. Perhaps the [...]
Red faces full of port wine: how to drink England’s favourite wine May 4, 2021 What’s the first thing you think of when you read the word “port”? I suspect for many of you it will evoke a very distinct stereotype, and not all of that will be positive. Some of you, I’ll wager, thought “gout”. Most of the images that came to mind will have been of well-off, well-upholstered [...]