Sports Direct and Intu strike deal to save four House of Fraser sites January 22, 2019 Four House of Fraser stores have been brought back from the brink of closure following a deal struck between Sports Direct and shopping centre landlord Intu. Last-minute talks between Mike Ashley’s sportswear firm and Intu Properties has led to department stores in Norwich, Thurrock, Gateshead and Nottingham being saved, having previously been earmarked for closure. More [...]
Davos: Investec banking chief warns stopping Brexit would ‘corrupt democracy’ January 22, 2019 Stopping Brexit would “corrupt democracy”, the chief of banking giant Investec has warned. Hendrik du Toit, joint chief executive of the UK-listed bank, insisted Britain must leave the EU regardless of what people in the financial sector think about the decision. Read more: At Davos, Huawei calls for speedy resolution to case of detained CFO [...]
Three-quarters of trade could collapse in no-deal Brexit, report warns January 22, 2019 Around three quarters of trade between Dover and Calais could grind to a halt if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, a leaked report has warned. A UK Border Force report leaked to Sky News estimates that between 75 per cent and 87 per cent of cross-Channel freight trade could collapse for up to [...]
Theresa May feels the heat as MPs table plans to alter Brexit process January 22, 2019 Former attorney general and Tory rebel Dominic Grieve has tabled his motion to allow MPs time to debate various Brexit options in the run-up to the UK's exit from the EU. Grieve was originally planning to table a motion that would have allowed 300 MPs from the five parties to be debated and voted on by [...]
DEBATE: Is there any point to the annual WEF summit in Davos? January 22, 2019 Is there any point to the annual WEF summit in Davos? Bill Michael, chairman and senior partner of KPMG in the UK, says YES. Elements of the World Economic Forum (WEF) do raise an eyebrow. From the setting in the Swiss Alps to the A-listers in attendance, it can seem like the last bastion of global [...]
Think you know how Britain feels about Brexit? Think again January 22, 2019 Having seen her Brexit proposals rejected in the largest defeat for a sitting government in British parliamentary history, the Prime Minister returned to the House of Commons on Monday with a plan B that looks startling like plan A. Yes, there have been some tweaks around the edges, such as scrapping the fee for EU [...]
Theresa May waives £65 registration fee for EU citizens living in the UK January 21, 2019 EU citizens will no longer be hit by a £65 charge to register to stay in the UK after Brexit, Theresa May has announced in a bid to win support from MPs. Speaking in the Commons, the Prime Minister announced the fee will be waived after lobbying by parliamentarians from across the Commons during talks [...]
Poland breaks ranks with EU to propose five-year time limit on Brexit backstop January 21, 2019 The EU’s chief negotiator today insisted the Brexit deal negotiated with Theresa May is set in stone, as Poland broke ranks to suggest a key change to the agreement. Michel Barnier told Irish broadcaster RTE that “the withdrawal agreement with all its dimensions, including the backstop, is the best deal possible” this afternoon. Read more: [...]
House of Fraser suffers 60 per cent sales drop in run-up to Christmas January 21, 2019 House of Fraser has reportedly suffered a dive in sales over the crucial Christmas trading season, in a fresh sign of the woes facing the beleaguered department store chain. Year-on-year sales plunged 60 per cent in the 12 weeks to 18 December, according to Kantar Worldpanel figures reported in The Sunday Telegraph. It is the [...]
Public trust in Putin falls to new low as disposable income falls, new figures show January 21, 2019 Public trust in President Vladimir Putin has fallen to its lowest level in 13 years as Russians contend with new taxes and a sluggish economy. Confidence in Putin fell to 33.4 per cent last week, down more than 30 percentage points since its high in 2015 after the annexation of Crimea, according to state-owned polling [...]