60 Saturday December 18 2021 | the times
Business
Londoners avoided the Tube, leaving
streets empty. Amanda Blanc’s Aviva
embraces hybrid working modelsalready decided to cancel their com-
pany-wide gatherings, including Lin-
klaters, the top law firm. KPMG, the ac-
counting giant, said that any firm-fund-
ed parties that had been due to be held
from last Monday had been postponed.
Even so, the softer nature of the gui-
dance has meant many white-collar
businesses have kept their offices open
for those employees who find it difficult
to do their jobs from home. The now
routine safety measures apply, such as
mask wearing when away from desks.
While some companies are encourag-
ing staff to get vaccinated, the law
makes it tricky for businesses in the UK
to mandate jabs. This differs from
America, where businesses are increas-
ingly requiring staff to be vaccinated.
The companies keeping offices openthey are under no pressure and should
feel free to work from home instead.”
Telegraph Media Group, the owner
of The Daily Telegraph, originally told
staff that “as in previous times, many
roles will be required to be performed
from the office including over the
Christmas and new year period”. It ap-
pears to have since changed its stance.
A spokeswoman said: “The vast major-
ity of our staff, including in the news-
room, are working from home.”
While Johnson said last week that
Christmas parties did not need to be
cancelled, Chris Whitty, England’s
chief medical officer, on Wednesday
advised people to limit socialising with
others in the run up to Christmas.
With worries about Omicron grow-
ing, many white-collar businesses hadly like everyone to still come into
the office for at least two days a
week” and said: “We believe that
full-time working from home is
not something ‘we can’ do.”
Yet the group swiftly clarified
its position when the memo
leaked and has since
stressed that the two
days are not manda-
tory. A spokesman
said: “If any col-
leagues do not feel
comfortable do-
ing so for what-
ever reason, thenwhich could be worth more than
£250 million. It has also funded claims
involving Comet, the collapsed elec-
tronics retailer, and Govia Thameslink
Railway.
Rowles-Davies, who has sat on
LCM’s board since it joined the junior
Aim market three years ago, was sacked
because of expenses claims that the
company said were “made in
contravention of LCM’s global expense
guidelines and policy”.
The claims amounted to “gross
misconduct”, LCM added, although it
refused to specify what exactly Rowles-
Davies had claimed for or if he had been
reimbursed for those expenses. LCM
was adamant that they would have no
impact on its finances.
“While the breaches are a significant
violation of internal company policies,
their quantum is not material to LCM’sfinancial condition and performance,”
the company said in a filing. Rowles-
Davies headed the London office but
those responsibilities will now be taken
over by Patrick Moloney, the group
chief executive, who recently moved
from Sydney. “I was due to relocate to
London to manage LCM’s growth some
time ago, however the pandemic
delayed this move,” Moloney said.
Rahim Karim, an analyst at Investec,
LCM’s house broker, said: “Despite the
negative headlines associated with [to-
day’s] news, we do not believe that it will
have a material impact on the business,
and therefore our investment case.”
Karim still expects a pre-tax profit of
about A$35.5 million (£19.1 million) in
its current financial year, which runs
until the end of June.
Efforts to contact Rowles-Davies for
comment were unsuccessful.A boom in takeovers and stock market
flotations this year has given the invest-
ment bankers, lawyers and accountants
who earn big fees for working on deals
plenty to celebrate as 2021 comes to a
close.
Yet instead of buzzing with Christmas
parties, London’s financial districts —
the Square Mile and Canary Wharf —
are unusually quiet. The government’s
new advice that people in England
should work from home if they can —
as the threat posed by the Omicron cor-
onavirus variant mounts — has swiftly
sucked the festive spirit from the City.
For many company management
teams, even those that have embraced
flexible operating models as a result of
the pandemic, the switch back to re-
mote working from December 13 has
been something of a blow.
Ross Mitchinson, co-chief executive
of Numis, the investment bank that has
enjoyed a record year thanks to the
surge in deal-making, said it was dispir-
iting “at a human and personal level”. It
was only in September that Numis
moved into new premises in the City.
“We’d enjoyed having lots of people
back in the office, it’s definitely good for
teamwork and collaboration and there
was a good buzz and energy on the
floors,” he said. “So it’s disappointing
that that’s gone but understandable.”
The government has not imposed a
lockdown, as has been the case previ-
ously during the pandemic when
people were told that everyone
must work from home un-
less they were unable to
do so. The looser nature
of the guidance meant
some businesses, at
least at first, appeared
to push back against a
widespread shift to
working from home
when Boris Johnson
issued the advice last
week.
Future, the
London-listed
magazine pub-
lisher, initially
told employ-
ees in a
memo that it
would “ideal-1
MPs are to launch an inquiry
into the government’s new
trade deal with Australia,
warning that the economic
benefits could be less than has
been claimed by ministers. It was
formally agreed on Thursday
night after months of haggling
over details of the pact that was
agreed in principle this summer.
Ministers said it would unlock
£10.4 billion of extra trade between
the two countries. Page 22
HSBC has been fined
£63.9 million by the FCA for
multiple failings over eight
years that may have led to
terrorist financiers, modern-day
slavers and fraudsters going
undetected. Pages 59, 653
KPMG, one of the Big Four
accountancy groups, has ruled
itself out of running for
lucrative government contracts
while it tries to get its house in
order. Page 594
Vertical Aerospace, a British
electric flying taxi start-up,
was formally welcomed to
Wall Street as the New York Stock
Exchange rang the opening bell in
its honour at the start of trading.
Page 595
A boom in takeovers and
stock market flotations has
given the investment bankers,
lawyers and accountants who
work on deals plenty to celebrate.
Yet days before Christmas,
London’s financial districts are
eerily quiet. The government’s
new Covid advice for people in
England to work from home if
they can has sucked the festive
spirit from the City.6
The Bank of England will
need to raise interest rates
further if inflation persists,
Huw Pill, its chief economist, has
said a day after the Bank increased
borrowing costs for the first time
in more than three years. Page 627
Johnson Matthey, a FTSE 100
former star of the advanced
chemicals sector, has
continued its clearout of unwanted
businesses with a loss-making exit
from the drugs industry. The
group has sold its unit helping to
make the active ingredients for
generic drugs including treatments
for opioid addiction in a deal with
US private equity that values the
operation at £325 million. Page 638
Farmdrop, an upmarket
online fresh food grocer that
was started by a former
Morgan Stanley stockbroker, has
closed, leaving its 10,000
customers short of turkey and
other Christmas products. Page 649
The quality of company audits
improved slightly during the
pandemic but nearly a quarter
are still not up to scratch, the
Institute of Chartered
Accountants in England and
Wales said. Page 6510
Simon Roberts, chief
executive of Sainsbury’s,
believes the supermarket’s
online sales will increase. But he
wonders if more customers will
shop online than in store. “We still
think the range of products and
the convenience means more
customers will shop physically in
the store than online,” he says.
The Manifesto, page 67Need to know
While some firms are
embracing WFH, others
are frustrated that staff
have left the office once
more, Ben Martin writes
Return of remote working
A senior board director at Litigation
Capital Management has been fired for
claiming on expenses for items he was
allegedly not entitled to.
Nick Rowles-Davies, 51, has been
removed from his position as the litiga-
tion funder’s executive vice-chairman
with immediate effect.
His exit pushed LCM’s shares down
24p, or 23.1 per cent, to 80p, valuing the
business at £95 million.
LCM was founded in Australia in
1998, since when it has provided
financing for businesses involved in
legal disputes. Funding court cases can
be expensive so LCM agrees to foot the
bill in return for a cut of any winnings.
It is perhaps best known for financing
a claim against KPMG, auditors of the
failed construction company Carillion,Tom HowardDirector fired after expenses breach Wagner set
for $2 billion
Nasdaq listing
Alex RalphA start-up founded by Dan Wagner, the
entrepreneur behind the collapsed
Powa Technologies, has joined the Spac
craze, striking a deal that it says values
the mobile commerce company at
about $2 billion.
Rezolve is combining with Armada
Acquisition, a US special-purpose
acquisition company listed on Nasdaq,
and said it would raise up to $190 mil-
lion through the merger. It includes
$40 million of investment from Betsy
Cohen, a serial Spac creator, and
Christian Angermayer, an existing