Spotlight on Pizza Express as debt pile sparks fears for chain’s future October 13, 2019 Speculation over the future of Pizza Express mounted over the weekend amid reports of potential store closures and debt restructuring talks. The pizza chain, which is looking to slash its £1.1bn debt pile, has denied suggestions that it is mulling mass closures after a tough spell of trading. Read more: Twitter is scared Pizza Express [...]
Property giant Land Securities eyes £650m sale to fund real estate expansion October 13, 2019 Property giant Land Securities is reportedly close to selling a £650m stake in a leisure portfolio to private equity property investor CIT Partners. Land Securities is understood to have agreed to sell its 95 per cent share of the X-Leisure Unit Trust – which is behind developments including Xscape Milton Keynes and Brighton Marina – [...]
Rail franchising model set to be scrapped by Boris Johnson October 13, 2019 The UK’s rail franchising system is set to be drastically overhauled as early as next year. Plans will be announced in tomorrow’s Queen’s Speech to scrap the current rail franchising model – where contracts are awarded to private companies to run commercial rail services – and replace it with a system based on “performance and [...]
Rees-Mogg urges Brexiteers to trust Boris Johnson on Brexit negotiations October 13, 2019 Arch-Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg has said compromises over Brexit “are inevitable” as he seeks to get leavers to trust Boris Johnson. Rees-Mogg wrote in The Telegraph today that Brexiteers must get behind any deal the prime minister strikes with the European Union in a message aimed at members of the Eurosceptic European Research Group (ERG). Read [...]
Corbyn leans toward a general election before a second Brexit referendum October 13, 2019 Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn has hinted Labour is more likely to back a general election before a second Brexit referendum. Opinion is mixed within the party whether Labour should agree to a general election if the government is forced to seek a Brexit extension past 31 October. Read more: PM to wave through Corbyn’s election [...]
Revolut in bid to raise £1.2bn and become Europe’s most valuable fintech firm October 12, 2019 Fintech firm Revolut is seeking to raise £1.2bn from its investors in the coming months. The British-Based payment firm has hired investment bank JP Morgan to arrange a £395m equity raise and issuance of a £790m convertible loan, according to Sky News. Read more: Martin Gilbert to step down from Stand Life and join Revolut [...]
UK awards no-deal Brexit ferry contracts worth £87m October 12, 2019 The government has awarded contracts to several ferry companies to transport medicines in the even of a no-deal Brexit. Brittany Ferries, DFDS, P&O and Stena Line are those in line to deliver supplies from 31 October after being awarded contracts worth £86.6m. Read more: Brexit tunnel talks: What you need to know The contracts will [...]
Brexit tunnel talks: What you need to know October 12, 2019 When Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Irish counterpart Leo Varadkar said there was a “pathway” to a deal last week, people thought this might be the light at the end of a very long Brexit tunnel. Now it turns out we weren’t even in the tunnel at the time – in fact, we’re just [...]
Mastercard and Visa join Paypal and others in abandoning Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency project October 12, 2019 Mastercard, Visa, eBay and Stripe have all pulled out of Facebook’s cryptocurrency project, Libra. It comes a week Paypal announced they were withdrawing from Libra and is a huge blow to the social network’s plans to launch what it envisioned as a global currency. Read more: Paypal become first firm to drop out of Facebook’s [...]
Collapsed airlines to fly passengers home under new government proposal October 12, 2019 Under a new government proposal, aeroplanes owned by collapsed airlines could be used to repatriate passengers to the UK, instead of being grounded. The proposed legislation comes in the wake of Thomas Cook’s collapse, which required the Civil Aviation Authority to find 150 aircraft and operate almost 700 flights at a total cost of £100m. [...]