Could Germany have its quarantine free travel corridor revoked today? October 29, 2020 Germany looks likely to be taken off the UK’s quarantine-free travel corridor list this afternoon after its rate of coronavirus infection doubled in the last week. The surge in cases meant that Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday announced that Europe’s biggest economy would enter a four-week lockdown from 2 November. As a result, bars, restaurants, and [...]
Pret distances itself from founder Julian Metcalfe’s lockdown comments October 29, 2020 Pret a Manger has distanced itself from its founder Julian Metcalfe and criticised his opposition to a second coronavirus lockdown. Metcalfe, who also founded sushi chain Itsu, said young people would pay the economic price of the lockdown, saying it would only save the lives of a “a few thousand” old or vulnerable people. Pret [...]
AB InBev scraps dividend as home drinking pushes up costs October 29, 2020 AB InBev, the world’s largest brewer, has scrapped its interim dividend as it announced this morning that quarterly profit dipped as the shift to drinking at home increased its costs. The firm, which owns Budweiser and Stella Artois, reported a surprise jump in sales as people drank more at home during the coronavirus pandemic. Overall [...]
London Tories slam Mayor Sadiq Khan over housing pledge and say he’ll miss home completion targets October 29, 2020 New figures reveal less than a third of the homes London's mayor started building in his first term have been completed.
Model railway brand Hornby returns to profit on lockdown boom October 29, 2020 Model railway company Hornby has returned to a profit for the first time in nearly a decade after an upsurge in interest for its products during lockdown. The group reported a 33 per cent increase in revenue to £21.1m in the first half of the year, up from £15.9m in 2019. And the Margate-based Hornby [...]
Death of the middleman? The myth of selling straight to the customer October 29, 2020 This pandemic has driven consumers online at a pace no one could predict, with Covid-19 forecast to generate an additional £4.5bn of UK online sales in 2020. Social distancing has set in motion a dramatic shift in how we shop — our business alone saw a more than 230 per cent growth rate in online [...]
Covid-19 ‘doughnut effect’ creates retail opportunities in outer London, experts say October 28, 2020 Outer London boroughs have recovered faster from the coronavirus restrictions than the city centre, creating a “doughnut effect”, which could provide new opportunities for retailers and landlords, experts have said. Research by estate agent Savills showed that in the six weeks to 23 October footfall in the City and Westminster was down 72 per cent [...]
John Lewis to convert almost half of Oxford Street store into offices October 28, 2020 John Lewis has been given the green light to convert almost half of its flagship Oxford Street department store into office space amid turmoil for the UK’s retail sector. Westminster City Council last night granted the high street store conditional planning permission to transform three to eight floors into dual-use space. The local authority voted [...]
Next hikes profit forecast after stronger than expected sales October 28, 2020 Next has hiked its profit forecast for the year after sales in the third quarter were stronger than expected. The high street retailer said full-year profit before tax is now expected to be £365m, £65m higher than the forecast given in September. Full price sales in the three months ended 24 October increased 2.8 per [...]
Octopus Ventures leads seed funding round in pet-tech firm Katkin October 28, 2020 London-based pet food company Katkin has secured £4.5m of funding in a seed round led by venture capital firm Octopus Ventures. Katkin was set up by siblings Brett and Nikki O’Farrell to produce healthy cat food after realising the options available didn’t provide cats with the nutrition they needed. The wet food contains 95 per [...]