Debenhams secures extra £50m funding for Christmas period October 10, 2019 Debenhams has secured an extra £50m from its lenders to support the struggling department store through the crucial Christmas trading period. Last month the retailer approached its investor consortium – which bought the company out of administration – for the additional financing, on top of the £200m secured in March this year. Read more: Debenhams [...]
No-deal Brexit tariffs would jeopardise our Europe business model, says Nissan October 10, 2019 Tariffs introduced in the wake of a no-deal Brexit would make Nissan’s business model in Europe unsustainable and put the future of its Sunderland plant in jeopardy, the carmaker has warned. Nissan’s European chairman, Gianluca de Ficchy, said the imposition of WTO tariffs of 10 per cent on vehicles would threaten “the entire business model [...]
Dyson pulls plug on electric car project October 10, 2019 Sir James Dyson has abandoned his £1bn electric vehicle project after deciding the scheme is not commercially viable. Patents for the electric car, which the company hoped would compete with the likes of Tesla, were unveiled earlier this year. Read more: First details of Dyson electric car released At the time Dyson said the car would [...]
Business rates and Brexit eat up Pret a Manger profits October 10, 2019 Sandwich chain Pret a Manger suffered a slump in profit last year due to business rate increases and the threat of a no-deal Brexit. Turnover increased from £636.9m to £710m, but operating profit dropped from £57.9m to £19.6m in 2018. Earnings slumped to £91.38m from £97.79m. Read more: Parliament sees law to prevent allergy deaths [...]
Tui Airways adds extra flights by hiring Thomas Cook cabin and crew October 10, 2019 Europe’s largest travel company will fly up to two million more passengers in 2020 with the help of former Thomas Cook staff. Tui Airways has announced it will add an extra 10,000 flights next year by hiring former Thomas Cook pilots and cabin crew. Read more: Will buyout of Thomas Cook’s 555 high street stores [...]
Barclays execs feared jail over plan to pay hidden fees to Qatar, fraud trial hears October 10, 2019 Senior Barclays bankers discussed their fears of going to jail as they scrambled to create a mechanism to pay extra fees to Qatar during a £2bn fundraising in 2008, a court heard today. Roger Jenkins, Richard Boath and Thomas Kalaris are standing trial at the Old Bailey, accused of conspiracy to commit fraud by false [...]
Brexit: Johnson and Varadkar see ‘pathway to possible deal’ October 10, 2019 Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar have issued a joint statement saying they both see “a pathway to a possible deal”. The two will now consult with their respective negotiating teams, including the EU’s Taskforce 50, ahead of further talks. Sterling climbed 0.5 per cent to $1.2267 on the back of the [...]
Dialling down: A quarter of mobile phone users make fewer than five calls a month October 10, 2019 A quarter of mobile phone users in the UK make fewer than five calls per month, while six per cent made no calls at all, new figures have revealed. Moreover, around 60 per cent of those people who did pick up the phone ended the call in under 90 seconds. Read more: Mobile shopping platform [...]
Government criticised for refusal to extend financial watchdog’s remit October 10, 2019 The government has been criticised for refusing to back a policy that would allow the financial regulator to recommend changes to its remit after the chair of the watchdog warned that regulatory loopholes were being exploited by “bad people”. In a report released in August, the Treasury Select Committee (TSC) had recommended the Financial Conduct [...]
Donald Trump turns against longtime ally Fox News, saying impeachment poll ‘sucks’ October 10, 2019 President Donald Trump may have to expand his definition of the “lamestream media” after falling out with his longtime favourite news station, Fox News. The broadcaster published a poll today showing a majority of US voters want the President to be impeached. Read more: Trump says Fed reserve ‘don’t have a clue’ But Trump did [...]