Pizza Express orders up £55m in extra dough Business Pizza Express has secured a boost worth £55m after agreeing a refinancing deal which will significantly cut its debt. The restaurant chain has negotiated a £55m par debt paydown which will see its debt position reduced to £280m. As part of the deal, shareholders including Bain Capital Special Situations will inject £20m equity into the [...]
Steven Bartlett’s first Dragons’ Den investment rescued after administration collapse Retail The first company that Steven Bartlett invested in when he joined hit BBC One show Dragons’ Den has been rescued after collapsing into administration. Artisan cheese retailer Cheesegeek has been snapped up by Scotland-based Albex Group for an undisclosed sum. The news, which was first reported by The Grocer, comes after Steven Bartlett bought a [...]
Mark Kleinman: Bonfire of the regulators just beginning Business Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City Editor and the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his weekly City AM column. This week, he tackles churn at the regulators, bankers’ bonuses and dilemmas at Deliveroo. Bonfire of the regulators is just beginning For Marcus Bokkerink, read Abby Thomas? The chief executive of the Financial Ombudsman Service last [...]
Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett quits Huel board February 4, 2025 Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett has stepped down as a director of nutrition brand Huel, it has been revealed. The celebrity entrepreneur, who has been a long-time investor in the company, had held the role since early 2021. However, a new filing with Companies House has confirmed the Diary of a CEO podcast host has [...]
Badenoch claims Reeves’s Budget was designed to ‘milk private sector’ November 13, 2024 The Labour government’s “ideological” Budget was “designed to milk the private sector”, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has claimed. Quizzing Sir Keir Starmer during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) today, the Conservative leader accused the Labour leader of “having nothing to offer but platitudes”. She said: “Their ideological Budget was designed to milk the private sector and [...]
Employer National Insurance hike a ‘significant burden’ and will impact working people, warns Thwaites November 12, 2024 The hike in employer National Insurance contribution (NICs), which was revealed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her Budget, will place a “significant burden” on historic brewer, pub and hotel owner, Daniel Thwaites, the company has said. The Lancashire-headquartered group added that the increase, together with the rise in the National Living Wage, “make it less [...]
Business Budget backlash builds as hospitality giants write to Chancellor November 11, 2024 The government is under increasing pressure to revisit its hikes to employer national insurance contributions and the minimum wage after a number of the UK’s largest employers voiced concerns about the impact of the changes on their costs and operations. Over 200 of the UK’s biggest hospitality businesses signed a letter to the Chancellor yesterday [...]
Why now is the summer of sake: Where to drink this amazing wine July 23, 2024 This is the summer of sake in London – and about time too. I had been under the misguided impression that all sake was rough and intensely boozy, the type of drink one hocks back as a dare. However, despite a fairly high alcohol percentage, sake is relatively low in acidity and has a graceful [...]
Frankie & Benny’s: Why this failing chain still holds a place in my heart June 4, 2024 Frankie & Benny's may be crap but my childhood self remains sitting in one of those booths, smile stained red
Coffee Wars: Inside the race to become London’s number one chain June 1, 2024 Coffee has played a vital role in reviving Brits for centuries. Despite feeling like a relatively new phenomenon, the first record of a coffee house in England dates back to 1652 and was said to be opened by a Turkish Man named Jacob in Oxfordshire.