Glastonbury Festival cancelled due to coronavirus March 18, 2020 Glastonbury Festival has been postponed due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, the event’s organisers confirmed today. The festival, which was due to celebrate its 50th anniversary this year, said cancelling the event was its “only viable option” after the government urged people to stay at home. The world-famous music festival was scheduled for 24-28 [...]
Coronavirus: Supermarkets ramp up measures to keep shelves stocked March 18, 2020 Supermarkets have ramped up measures to keep shelves stocked amid panic buying and stockpiling during the coronavirus crisis. Tesco has reduced opening hours to allow staff more time to restock shelves and Waitrose has applied limits to some items. This morning the Waitrose website is down as it has been unable to cope with the [...]
Wagamama owner Restaurant Group warns of huge coronavirus sales hit March 18, 2020 The owner of restaurant chain Wagamama today warned the coronavirus crisis will almost halve its sales over the first six months of 2020. Restaurant Group told investors to prepare for a 45 per cent plummet in sales for the first half of the year due to UK measures to contain Covid-19. The government has warned [...]
Morrisons defers dividend over coronavirus as profit rises March 18, 2020 Morrisons has announced its fourth consecutive year of profit growth, but will defer its dividend as it deals with the “unprecedented challenges” brought on by the coronavirus outbreak. Pre-tax profit rose three per cent to £408m, while sales were down 1.1 per cent to £17.5bn. Despite an increase in sales and profit growth for the [...]
Superdry to miss 2020 targets as it braces for another difficult year March 18, 2020 Superdry does not expect its online sales to offset losses, as it predicts it will miss its 2020 targets due to the “unprecedented challenges” of the coronavirus outbreak. The retailer said the majority of Superdry’s European store estate has been affected by mandated closures, which contributes around 40 per cent of weekly sales forecasts. Currently, [...]
Sainsbury’s ramps up rationing on more items as demand rises March 18, 2020 Sainsbury’s will today ramp up the rationing of a growing number of its products in response to heightened demand from customers stockpiling items in the light of new coronavirus restrictions. As of this morning, customers will be able to buy a maximum of three of any grocery product and a maximum of two on the [...]
Coronavirus: Business rates holiday granted for all retail and leisure firms March 17, 2020 Pub, restaurants and shops will be hoping that emergency measures unveiled by the chancellor this evening, including a business rates holiday for all firms, will be enough to keep the sector afloat through the coronavirus crisis. Rishi Sunak has announced that all retail and hospitality firms will be exempt from paying business rates for 12 [...]
Coronavirus: Morrisons ramps up delivery service to cope with demand March 17, 2020 Morrisons has launched a range of measures to help customers and employees during the coronavirus pandemic, including ramping up delivery options and a hardship fund for workers. The grocer has expanded its home delivery service including extra slots, a new range of “simple to order food parcels” and a phone ordering option for those without [...]
Guinness owner Diageo launches fund to prop up pub staff wages March 17, 2020 Guinness owner Diageo has launched a £1m fund to support bar staff wages as pubs across the UK teeter on the brink of collapse due to coronavirus. The community fund will help some pubs and bars to pay a proportion of staff wages if they are forced to close as customers are urged to stay [...]
Government must ease restrictions for food production workers, says industry March 17, 2020 The chairman of leading UK food producer Finnebrogue Artisan has called on the government to relax self-isolation restrictions for workers in the food industry or risk “serious food shortages”. According to Denis Lynn, forcing any one who lives with someone showing symptoms of coronavirus to self-isolate for 14 days could “wreak havoc on our capacity [...]