Hiscox sets aside $75m for catastrophe claims as gross premiums grow November 2, 2020 Insurance firm Hiscox said that it had set aside $75m (£58.1m) for natural disasters claims in the third quarter as gross written premiums grew in the first nine months of the year. In a trading statement this morning, the FTSE 250 firm revealed the decision to set aside the money after another autumn of dramatic [...]
National Lottery minimum age to rise to 18 amid new gambling review December 8, 2020 The government will increase the minimum age to play the National Lottery from 16 to 18 next Autumn and has launched a major review of gambling laws to make sure they are fit for the age of smartphone and in-play betting. Ministers will weigh up whether online restrictions like stake and spend limits and extra [...]
More needs to be done to power green recovery, say industry leaders July 8, 2020 Rishi Sunak has confirmed a £3bn green plan to boost employment and upgrade the UK’s infrastructure, but industry leaders have warned more needs to be done to power the recovery. In the much-awaited summer statement, the Chancellor said he planned to tackle the economic challenges of the pandemic with a “historic investment in infrastructure”. Responding [...]
COP26: Good fortune and lofty statements won’t tackle climate change, but business can March 30, 2021 It is the lines of the hapless but heroic Ted Hastings, in Line of Duty, which so often steal the show. Hastings’ common refrain “now we’re sucking diesel” should set the scene for COP 26, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow this year. Taken literally, it is an outcome we badly need [...]
PwC and EY: Our restructuring arms are not for sale March 4, 2021 Big Four firms PwC and EY have insisted they have no plans to follow in the footsteps of rivals KPMG and Deloitte and sell the restructuring units of their businesses. Selling restructuring units is in vogue at Big Four firms. This morning KPMG announced it had signed an unconditional agreement with private equity firm HIG [...]
Lambeth to receive surge testing amid concerns over South African Covid mutation February 9, 2021 Extra coronavirus testing will be carried out in Lambeth following confirmed cases of the South African Covid variant in the south London neighbourhood. Surge testing and genomic sequencing will be carried out in the SE27 0, SE27 9 and SW16 2 postcodes in Lambeth. People living within the targeted areas are strongly encouraged to take [...]
Increase coronavirus alert level, say UK’s top medical officials September 21, 2020 The UK’s chief medical officers have called for the government to increase the coronavirus alert level from three to four, which could see new restrictions imposed. A statement signed by the nation’s four top medical officials said they have “reviewed the evidence” and that “the number of cases are now rising rapidly and probably exponentially in significant parts [...]
Business groups urge ministers to back negative emissions push October 12, 2020 Business groups have written to the Chancellor and a number of other Cabinet colleagues urging them to support negative emissions technologies to “build back better” from the coronavirus pandemic. In an open letter, industry heavyweights Drax, Heathrow Airport, BA owner IAG and the CBI called on ministers to show a “clear, unambiguous commitment” to support [...]
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 [...]
Government scraps three-year spending review amid Covid-19 chaos October 21, 2020 The Treasury today confirmed that a comprehensive three-year review of government spending had been ditched in favour of a one-year review because of the economic disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. “While the government would have liked to outline plans for the rest of this parliament, the right thing today is to focus entirely on [...]