Wetherspoons slams government for ‘behaving like Monty Python’s Dennis Moore’ over VAT rates July 7, 2021 Wetherspoons has hit out at the government for what is believes are unfair VAT rates on hospitality businesses, which could make the sector less competitive post-Covid. The pub chain has accused the government of “unfairness” and of ‘robbing the poor to help the rich’ by levying a higher VAT rate on food bought in pub [...]
Foxtons’ chair steps down in wake of ‘impaired’ trading performance July 7, 2021 Chairman Ian Barlow has announced his intention to step down from Foxtons’ board later this year, after the estate agent’s share price plummeted during the Covid pandemic. Barlow will step down no later than 31 December 2021 after nearly nine years on the board. Foxtons has had a tough year fending off criticism from [...]
Philip Green’s wife Tina paid £50m by Topshop administrators July 7, 2021 Tina Green, the wife of former retail tycoon Philip Green, received £50m in May from Topshop’s administration. The £50m was lent to Topshop as part of an emergency restructuring in 2019 and secured against a warehouse in Northamptonshire. In the wake of the collapse of parent company Arcadia, the space was sold for £83m, the [...]
Euro 2020: Over 9m pints expected to be sold in lead up to England’s semi-final July 7, 2021 Football fans are predicted to buy 6.8m pints during England’s Euro 2020 semi-final against Denmark tonight, with 9.7m expected to be sold throughout the day overall. The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) said it expects today’s game to draw more crowds into pubs than England’s previous quarter-final match against Ukraine. Pint half empty While [...]
UK small businesses rack up £3.5bn in Amazon export sales July 7, 2021 Small and medium-sized British businesses selling on Amazon recorded over £3.5bn in export sales last year, according to figures released by the tech giant. Amazon said more than 14,000 UK SMEs surpassed £100,000 in sales in 2020, while over 1,000 reached £1m in sales for the first time. The top five categories in which customers [...]
Former Sainsbury’s boss backs Ellie Goulding’s hard seltzer brand July 6, 2021 Former Sainsbury’s chief executive Justin King has made a “significant” investment in Ellie Goulding’s hard seltzer drinks brand and joined the board as a senior adviser. Served, which was founded by brothers Dean and Ryan Ginsberg last year, has seen its revenue surge in recent months and was valued at £13.6m after a funding round [...]
Soho House eyes $3.2bn valuation ahead of New York listing July 6, 2021 The parent company of the Soho House members club said it is targeting a valuation of about $3.2bn (£2.3bn) as it prepares to list on the New York Stock Exchange. The group, which filed for the initial public offering (IPO) under the name ‘Membership Collective Group’ in June, said it plans to raise as much [...]
Driver shortages leave gaps on Sainsbury’s shelves July 6, 2021 The boss of Sainsbury’s has admitted the supermarket has struggle to source all of its usual products in wake of a serious lorry driver shortage that has affected multiple sectors. Speaking today following Sainsbury’s quarterly results, CEO Simon Roberts said the supermarket giant had been unable to stock all its usual products because of driver [...]
High streets may never recover to pre-pandemic levels, minister warns July 6, 2021 The number of shoppers on the high street may never again hit pre-Covid levels, as a combination of working from home and shopping online could permanently change consumer habits. Speaking to MPs on the Communities Select Committee, Luke Hall, minister for regional growth and local government, suggested a full recovery for the high street could [...]
Wembley windfall: Major events ‘worth £600m’ to London every year July 6, 2021 While footie fans will only be worried about the result when England storm into the Euros semi-final tomorrow night, for London the historic showdown also means a major economic boost. As Wembley prepares to welcome 60,000 fans at both the semi-final and final, a major new report has revealed that major sporting and cultural events [...]