More than 41,000 UK hospitality venues have outdoor space for 12 April reopening March 29, 2021 More than 41,000 pubs, bars and restaurants have some kind of outdoor space which could allow them to reopen on 12 April, according to new figures published this morning. The latest monthly Market Recovery Monitor by CGA and AlixPartners has revealed that just over 38 per cent of licensed premises in the UK say they [...]
Online play drives Ladbrokes owner Entain to profit March 29, 2021 Online gaming was the driving factor behind a profit at gambling company Entain, which owns Ladbrokes, Foxy Bingo and Party Poker. The business saw an operating profit of £530m in 2020, up two per cent on £521m, with some 89 per cent of EBITDA coming from its online presence. EMBITA grew 11 per cent [...]
Sales at Ten Entertainment plummet but leisure business remains resilient March 29, 2021 Sales at Ten Entertainment plummeted in 2020, as coronavirus restrictions left the business only able to operate as normal for a fraction of the year. The leisure company’s total sales for the year ending 27 December 2020 stood at £36.3m, down a considerable 60 per cent from £84.1m in 2019. The group made a loss [...]
Top City investor James Anderson gives Deliveroo the cold shoulder March 29, 2021 Deliveroo’s flotation has been snubbed again, this time by a leading tech investor who remains unconvinced by the platform’s model outside of London. The tech platform is targeting a market cap of almost £9bn in its upcoming London listing as demand soared during lockdown. The City has largely welcomed the blockbuster float as it tries [...]
Gambling firms hail ‘huge’ economic contribution ahead of sector reform March 29, 2021 The UK gambling sector has doubled down on its “huge contribution” to the UK economy as it braces for the biggest shake-up of betting laws in the last 15 years. Betting shops, casinos and the online gaming sector contributed £7.7bn in gross value added to the UK economy in 2019, according to figures released today. [...]
Vaccine passports could be ‘counterproductive’, government adviser warns March 27, 2021 Forcing punters to show vaccine passports to gain access to pubs could be counterproductive, a top government adviser has warned. Professor Stephen Reicher, a behavioural scientist, said the policy could make the problem of vaccine hesitancy even worse and lead to “social apartheid”. Ministers are considering the use of vaccine passports for hospitality venues such [...]
Shop ’til you drop: High street stores to stay open until 10pm after lockdown March 26, 2021 High street stores will be allowed to stay open until 10pm when they reopen next month. Non-essential retailers should be given the opportunity to extend opening hours to trade between 7am and 10pm every day except for Sunday, the government has said. The extension is intended to help reduce footfall, ease transport pressures and make [...]
Jessops files for administration with 17 stores and 120 jobs at risk March 26, 2021 Jessops, the camera retailer owned by Dragons’ Den investor Peter Jones, has filed a notice to appoint administrators after it was affected by lockdown restrictions. The company, which was bought by Mr Jones in 2013, currently employs 120 staff and runs 17 stores. It has hired insolvency specialists FRP and said it is now considering [...]
Asda loses first stage of landmark equal pay case at Supreme Court March 26, 2021 Asda has lost the first stage of its appeal in a landmark equal pay case that could cost the supermarket giant millions of pounds. The Supreme Court this morning upheld the findings of a 2016 employment tribunal and a Court of Appeal case in 2019, which ruled that roles of Asda store workers can be [...]
Retail sales recover slightly in February driven by DIY purchases March 26, 2021 Retail sales ticked up slightly in February compared to the previous month, as purchases of DIY and household goods offset a steep drop in demand for new shoes and clothing. Sales volumes increased 2.1 per cent following a 8.2 per cent drop in January, with the strongest growth seen in department stores and household goods [...]