Essex fire extinguisher seller seeks to raise £3m on London’s AIM June 14, 2022 A British fire safety company, that first started selling its product on Amazon, is seeking to raise £3m by listing on London’s AIM. Essex-based fire safety firm Lifesafe Technologies is planning to float on London’s alternative market after it first began selling its “5-in-1” fire extinguisher on Amazon in August 2021. The company’s lightweight fire [...]
Let lawyers take holidays without having to work, Mayer Brown managing partner says June 13, 2022 Mayer Brown’s UK managing partner has told partners in the law firm not to disturb associates on their holidays – apart from in emergencies. In an internal memo seen by The Lawyer, Dominic Griffiths, the highest-ranking partner at Mayer Brown’s London office, told the law firm’s senior lawyers not to interrupt younger lawyers’ holidays, as [...]
Lloyds Bank to pay staff extra £1,000 each to deal with UK’s cost-of-living crisis June 13, 2022 Lloyds Bank is set to pay £1,000 bonuses to the vast majority of its UK staff to help them deal with the cost-of-living crisis. The UK’s biggest retail bank is set to give one-off, £1,000 bonuses to more than 64,000 of its rank-and-file staff, according to an internal memo seen by City A.M. The bank [...]
Brexit: UKIP donor Arron Banks loses libel lawsuit against Carole Cadwalladr after High Court backs journalist’s public interest defence June 13, 2022 Brexit campaigner Arron Banks has lost his libel lawsuit against Guardian journalist Carole Cadwalladr, in a decision welcomed by the investigative reporter as a “victory for public interest journalism”. The ruling comes after Banks sued Cadwalladr over claims made on two separate occasions – during a TED talk in 2019 and on Twitter in the [...]
Google settles lawsuit for $118m over claims it ‘systematically’ underpaid female employees June 13, 2022 Google has agreed to pay $118m (£96m) to settle a class-action lawsuit brought forward by four of its former employees over claims the tech giant “systemically” underpaid 15,500 of its female employees. The Silicon Valley firm will also bring in an independent labour economist to analyse its pay practices to ensure female workers are not [...]
City watchdog convicted just two people for insider trading in the past five years June 13, 2022 The UK’s financial watchdog achieved just two successful convictions against individuals for insider trading over the past five years, according to The Times. New data recovered from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) via a freedom of information (FoI) request shows the watchdog secured just two successful convictions in the five years running from [...]
Government outlines plans to block ‘foreign influences’ from compromising UK universities June 13, 2022 The UK government is seeking to protect universities from “undue foreign influences that work against British values,” by forcing higher education institutions to report the financial links they have with individuals or organisations from overseas. The new rules, which could be introduced as part of an amendment to the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill, [...]
Centrica files application to reopen UK’s biggest natural gas storage facility June 10, 2022 Centrica has filed a formal application to reopen Britain’s biggest natural gas storage site, after the site was closed five years ago for “economic” reasons. The Windsor headquartered utility company has submitted a formal application to the North Sea energy regulator to reopen the Rough facility off the east coast of Yorkshire. City A.M. understands [...]
Divorce filings surged after ‘no-fault’ laws came into force June 10, 2022 The coming into force of “no-fault divorce” laws led to spike in couples filing for divorce, new HMCTS figures show. Almost doubled the number of divorce applications were filed in April 2022 compared to April the previous year, after no fault divorce laws came into force. The new laws, which allow couples to separate amicably [...]
Terry Smith’s buy-and-hold investment fund ditches stake in Starbucks June 10, 2022 Terry Smith’s flagship investment fund has ditched its stake in Starbucks, after the firm picked up a stake in the Seattle firm after its share price dropped at the start of the pandemic. The buy-and-hold investment fund, started by the star fund manager nicknamed “the English Warren Buffett,” has now sold off its stake [...]