Budget 2020: Hospitality sector calls for business rates and apprenticeship levy reform February 17, 2020 The new chancellor is facing pressure from the UK hospitality industry to include plans to reform business rates and the apprenticeship levy in the upcoming budget. The industry’s trade body has urged Rishi Sunak – who was appointed as chancellor after Sajid Javid stepped down in last week’s cabinet reshuffle – to cut the business [...]
Coronavirus: F1 owner braces for £33m hit as Shanghai Grand Prix stalls February 16, 2020 Formula One has revealed that it risks losing its estimated $33m hosting fee for the Chinese Grand Prix if the authorities in Shanghai give the red light to the race over the coronavirus outbreak. The Chinese Grand Prix was due to take place in Shanghai in April but was postponed by F1 last week at the request [...]
Laura Ashley owners battle with lenders in race to save high street chain February 16, 2020 The owner of high street chain Laura Ashley is in talks to secure a fresh draw down from one of its lenders to keep the struggling brand trading. A dispute between Laura Ashley and lender Wells Fargo over the retailer’s access to a £20m funding line has pushed the fashion firm’s Malaysian owner MUI Group [...]
Tesco ‘unlawfully’ blocked rivals from opening nearby stores, CMA finds February 14, 2020 Tesco has been told to stop illegally blocking rival supermarkets from buying its land or leasing nearby sites by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). An investigation from the competition regulator found that Tesco had blocked access to rivals using restrictive contracts on 23 occasions. The UK’s biggest supermarket chain has agreed to take action [...]
CMA approves £1.2bn Stonegate pub merger deal February 14, 2020 The owner of Slug & Lettuce has today been cleared to takeover Ei Group in a move that would make it the UK’s largest pub company. Last year the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched a probe into Stonegate’s £1.2bn deal to buy Ei’s assets over fears that it could damage competition in 51 local [...]
Mike Ashley calls for business rate relief to help high street on ‘life support’ February 14, 2020 Sports Direct billionaire Mike Ashley urged the Treasury to take action on business rates today, saying steep payments have helped put the British high street on “life support”. The retail tycoon has said that the current system is a “significant contributor to the dire straits the high street currently finds itself in.” Formerly called Sports [...]
Is Valentine’s Day just a marketing gimmick? February 14, 2020 Is Valentine’s Day just a marketing gimmick? Nicholas Mazzei, a corporate social responsibility adviser, says YES. Love is a commodity in much demand, and there is little enough of it to go around. The decline in the amount of sex men in the US are having has been linked to the rise of popularism and [...]
Alibaba beats estimates but coronavirus uncertainty lingers February 13, 2020 Alibaba beat analyst estimates in its fourth quarter results, driven by record sales during Singles’ Day in November. Despite this the company sounded a warning about the start of 2020 because of the coronavirus and said that it was doing all it can to help Chinese consumers. “In response to the coronavirus, we mobilised Alibaba [...]
Gambling stocks fall as watchdog mulls capping online slots bets February 13, 2020 Shares in gambling firms fell today after the industry watchdog told MPs that it was considering capping the amount punters can bet online. FTSE 250 betting firms William Hill dropped 6.2 per cent today, and GVC Holdings fell 5.7 per cent. 888 Holdings also fell 1.5 per cent, but Rank Group however bucked the trend, [...]
Conservative MPs call for a cut in beer duty February 13, 2020 Conservative MPs have signed a letter imploring the Chancellor Sajid Javid to cut beer duty. Chairman of the All-Parliamentary Beer Group, Mike Wood and Sheryll Murray, MP for South East Cornwall delivered a letter to the Treasury yesterday. The letter, signed by 85 Conservative MPs calls for a cut in the duty in the Chancellor’s [...]