Kingfisher profit jumps as online sales rise during lockdown September 22, 2020 B&Q-owner Kingfisher increased its pre-tax profit by 62.4 per cent in the first half of the year as a strong second quarter and online sales growth boosted the retail group. The FTSE 100 firm also said it had seen “an encouraging start to the second half of the year”. It said like-for-like sales were up [...]
Private equity firm Lone Star quits race to buy Asda September 22, 2020 US private equity firm Lone Star Funds has abandoned the bidding war over British supermarket giant Asda, leaving rival asset manager Apollo as its likely suitor. The two private equity firms entered a showdown for the UK’s third-biggest grocery chain last month, after US owner Walmart opened bidding for a majority stake in Asda. The [...]
JD Wetherspoon to cut 450 jobs at airport pubs September 22, 2020 JD Wetherspoon today said it will cut roughly 450 jobs from six of its airport pubs due to the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The job cuts will impact staff at the chain’s pubs at Gatwick, Heathrow, Stansted, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports. In a letter to staff, seen by PA, the budget boozer [...]
Coronavirus: Premier Inn owner Whitbread to axe up to 6,000 jobs September 22, 2020 The owner of hotel chain Premier Inn has announced plans to cut up to 6,000 jobs as the coronavirus outbreak continues to ravage the hospitality industry. Whitbread, which also owns the Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurant chains, said the figure represents 18 per cent of its total workforce. The FTSE 100-listed firm said the cuts [...]
Debate: Has pandemic-induced online shopping killed the high street for good? September 22, 2020 The coronavirus lockdown in March forced the vast majority of high street shops to close their doors, at least temporarily. In turn, online shopping became the new normal for UK consumers. And even as the country eased out of lockdown, many have stuck with the habit. In fact, a recent survey found that two in [...]
Pubs to shut at 10pm under new restrictions September 21, 2020 Boris Johnson will tomorrow announce that pubs in England will have to shut at 10pm in an attempt to limit the spread of coronavirus, it was reported this afternoon. The new restrictions are set to be introduced amid warnings that there could be as many as 50,000 cases a day in the UK by mid [...]
Unilever’s Dutch shareholders approve London unification plan September 21, 2020 Unilever shareholders in the Netherlands have approved plans to unify its London and Dutch headquarters, ending the company’s dual structure to create a single entity. It now needs to pass a vote by its British investors, which will take place on 12 October. The move was voted on by 99.39 per cent of shares, after [...]
Superdry loss widens as pandemic hits turnaround plan September 21, 2020 Superdry today reported deepening losses for the full year as the outbreak of coronavirus took its toll on the fashion chain’s turnaround strategy. The figures Superdry posted revenue of £704.4m in the 52 weeks to 25 April, down 19.2 per cent. Statutory loss before tax widened from £89.3m to £166.9m. Net cash ticked up 2.2 [...]
Restaurant sales buoyed by Eat Out to Help Out legacy September 18, 2020 Restaurants continued to enjoy some of the benefits of the Eat Out to Help Out scheme this month as customers felt more comfortable going out for a meal. Diners spent 14 per cent more in restaurants in the first week of September than they did the same week last year after August’s discount scheme gave [...]
UK small business recovery stalls as firms adapt to Covid September 18, 2020 The recovery among UK small businesses slowed in August as demand for services dropped, according to a new survey, in a worrying sign that the economic rebound is running out of steam. Natwest, who produced the survey, said there was a “widening gap” between big businesses and smaller firms, the latter of which employ the [...]