Upper Crust owner SSP to slash 5,000 jobs as coronavirus knocks travel sector July 1, 2020 Upper Crust owner SSP has announced up to 5,000 job cuts as it attempts to survive a sector-wide coronavirus downturn in the travel industry. The job cuts will largely affect SSP’s UK head office and UK operations, the company said today, at a cost of between £8m and £10m. SSP said coronavirus has forced it [...]
Lookers shares suspended as results delayed by accounting probe July 1, 2020 Car dealership firm Lookers today had its shares suspended from trading after failing to publish its final results due to an ongoing accounting probe. On Monday, the company said it had identified a £19m hole in its accounts after a number of years of overstated profitability. As a result, Lookers was unable to publish its [...]
Electric scooters zoom onto UK roads as government fast-tracks trials June 30, 2020 Brits will finally be allowed to zoom around on rented electric scooters from Saturday, as part of a bid to promote socially-distanced transport. The Department for Transport (DfT) said the first rentable e-scooters could be available next week, as it published guidance for e-scooter-for-hire firms. It comes as the government tries to ease the pressure on [...]
Third of Easyjet pilot roles in UK at risk of redundancy June 30, 2020 Up to a third of Easyjet’s pilot roles are at risk of redundancy as the low-budget carrier seeks to cut costs after the coronavirus pandemic. The airline revealed today that it had begun consultation with pilots’ union Balpa over the plan to reduce its staff headcount by 30 per cent. The union said the cuts, [...]
Industry reacts as Boris Johnson lays out ‘New Deal’ recovery plan June 30, 2020 Boris Johnson has today laid out his vision for rebuilding the UK after the coronavirus pandemic, pledging to “build build build” to get Britain back on its feet. Citing US president Franklin D Roosevelt’s “New Deal” as a model for the plan, the prime minister unveiled £5bn in infrastructure investment and promised to “scythe through [...]
Geneva Motor Show 2021 cancelled and conference sold June 30, 2020 The organisers of the Geneva Motor Show have said that next year’s event will also be cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The show, which was due to run between 4 and 14 March 2021, will no longer go ahead until 2022, the Salon International de l’Automobile said in a statement. Instead, organisers will now [...]
Tui UK boss calls on ministers to give clarity over ‘air bridges’ June 30, 2020 The UK boss of Europe’s largest holiday company has called on the government to provide certainty on “air bridges” this week to allow Brits to go on holiday. Ministers are expected to provide further details of the plan this week, which will lift blanket 14-day quarantine measures for European countries such as France, Spain and [...]
Exclusive: UK unhappy with treatment from EU in Airbus-Boeing dispute June 29, 2020 Trade secretary Liz Truss has complained to the EU Commission that the UK is being unfairly represented by Brussels in a long-running trade dispute between Boeing and Airbus. EU sources told City A.M. that Truss set up meetings with high-level figures from the Commission to complain that the other three European countries involved in the [...]
Lookers reveals £19m hole in suspected fraud probe June 29, 2020 Troubled car dealership firm Lookers today said that it would make a £19m adjustment to its accounts in order “to correct overstatements in profitability over several years”. The dealership chain is having its accounts reviewed by Grant Thornton and Deloitte after identifying “potentially fraudulent transitions” this year. As a result of the probe, Lookers has [...]
McLaren seals £150m in funding from Bahraini bank June 29, 2020 Supercar firm McLaren has arranged a new £150m financing facility with Bahrain’s national bank, the lender announced today. The auto company has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, announcing that it would make 1,200 job cuts across its businesses last month. In a regulatory filing, the National Bank of Bahrain confirmed the new funding [...]