Your commercial news round-up: English football clubs, Tesco, Google, Chelsea

Just a few weeks to go before the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics begin but don’t let the buzz in the air distract you from improving your commercial awareness. Before we dive into our commercial news round-up, the LawCareers.Net team would like to say a huge congratulations to those who received their A-level and GCSE results this week! It’s never too early to start developing an understanding of your future sector and keeping an eye out on the trends in the legal profession. LCN’s weekly round-ups are a great place to kick off.

• The covid-19 pandemic has disrupted association football; three-quarters of English football clubs’ finances are “in need of attention” according to an annual survey report published by accountancy firm BDO. The English clubs have no choice but to rely on their principal shareholders to fund operating losses; the impact of cancelled and postponed leagues and lost football revenue has jeopardised the survival of clubs across the English leagues. Amid the uncertainty, there is still hope that “Football will rise like a phoenix.”
   
• Tesco bank has temporarily suspended account switching after flooding requests. The bank became overwhelmed with the rush of customers requesting to switch accounts following an announcement confirming that it will close all current accounts on 30 November 2021. The bank has had to temporarily ask customers not to request a switch to a new bank for the time being. Tesco bank account holders can continue to use their accounts as normal until it resumes processing new requests. Tesco decided to pull the plug on all current accounts two weeks ago following the discovery that nearly 213,000 accounts are currently open with the bank but most are being used as saving pots.
   
• Meanwhile, in tech news, Google staff in the US who opt for remote working permanently may get a pay cut, according to the BBC. The tech giant’s pay calculator tool suggests long- distance commuters could lose around 10% of their pay by choosing to work from home full-time, according to a Google employee. Since the pandemic began, there has been a rise in jobs that advertise working from home, but we are yet to see changes made to the employee pay structures. Google UK has no current plans to mirror this pay cut.
   
• Finally, some good news: Premier League side Chelsea has announced an official partnership with Parimatch Tech. Parimatch is an international sports betting company in Europe that provides technology and marketing solutions in the entertainment industry. This isn’t Parimatch’s first partnership – just last year they partnered with Juventus Football Club and earlier this year launched a global campaign with them. Commenting on its three-year partnership with Chelsea, co-CEO of Parimatch, Roman Syrotian said: “Chelsea’s unique style, determination and charisma resonate perfectly with Parimatch’s passion for sport and ambition.” Parimatch is now an official partner of the 2020/21 European Champions.

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