Exclusive: Building societies slash business lending by a third November 13, 2020 Building societies have slashed their business lending by a third in the five years, City A.M. can exclusively reveal. According to new figures from accountants BDO, the amount of money lent by the UK’s biggest building societies has dropped from £11.8bn in 2015/16 to just £7.9bn last year. The fall in lending comes at a [...]
The Week In Sportbiz: Premier League set to axe pay-per-view (for now), Formula E gets cosier with Extreme E, and Gosper gives US his World Cup vote November 6, 2020 Less than a month after its introduction, Premier League clubs are expected to ditch their unpopular pay-per-view service. Since debuting on 17 October, half of all games have been restricted to those willing to pay £14.95 a time. Fans groups protested the extra charges by successfully urging people to donate thousands of pounds to food [...]
Amazon to escape UK tech tax as global crackdown falters October 14, 2020 Amazon is facing fresh scrutiny over its tax liabilities after it emerged the tech giant will not be affected by the government’s landmark digital services tax. In April ministers unveiled the new tax — which charges a two per cent levy on the revenue of internet companies — saying it would ensure companies contribute their [...]
DEBATE: Should the government take equity stakes in struggling businesses to help support them? August 21, 2020 Should the government take equity stakes in struggling businesses to help support them? Leigh Webb, associate director and head of private equity sponsor coverage at finnCap Group, says YES. While I agree that, on the whole, government ownership is far less effective than using equity or capital markets when bailing out companies, this is not [...]
Parents and students set for court battle over A-level results August 16, 2020 Angry parents and students are preparing to take legal action to appeal A-level results awarded under the emergency coronavirus marking system. Many students saw their expected results downgraded by the government’s system last week, particularly in lower socio-economic areas. For example, there have been many examples of students from poorer backgrounds having expected A* or [...]
Uber faces final Supreme Court appeal to argue drivers are not employees July 20, 2020 Uber will tomorrow begin one final attempt to overturn a ruling that means it must treat its drivers as “workers” in what could be a landmark case for UK employment rights. The ride-hailing app has already been defeated on the two previous occasions it has tried to challenge the ruling, which was first made in [...]
Signals of growth: Crypto’s journey toward the mainstream May 26, 2020 From pop culture icons to industry behemoths, crypto is indeed gaining momentum. Last week, many on crypto Twitter were surprised to see a post from JK Rowling responding to one of crypto’s renowned reporters, Leigh Cuen, with a question: “I don’t understand bitcoin. Please explain it to me.” I describe what followed as pandemonium. Crypto [...]
Ex-EY partner wins $11m gold smuggling cover-up case against firm April 17, 2020 An ex-EY partner today triumphed in an $11m (£8.8m) claim against the Big Four firm which he accused of conniving in the cover up of gold smuggling and money laundering. Ex-EY partner Amjad Rihan sued EY after he said he was forced to flee Dubai after alleging the firm helped cover up the smuggling of [...]
Volkswagen fitted cars with emissions test ‘defeat devices’, High Court rules April 7, 2020 The High Court has ruled today in favour of thousands of consumers that Volkswagen used a “defeat device” on some of its diesel cars which was able to cheat emissions tests. The vehicles affected were sold under Volkswagen, Audi, Seat and Skoda brands and were fitted with an EA 189 diesel engine. The ruling by [...]
Chris Packham to challenge HS2 decision on climate change grounds March 3, 2020 Renowned broadcaster and naturalist Chris Packham has launched a legal challenge against Boris Johnson’s decision to green light the controversial HS2 rail project on climate grounds. According to Packham, the climate impact of HS2 is “incompatible” with the UK’s net zero target, and will damage or destroy almost 700 wildlife sites, including over 100 ancient [...]