Future Fund bailout scheme for startups extended to firms moved abroad June 30, 2020 Britain is to expand a coronavirus bail-out scheme for startups to include those that had previously been blocked after moving overseas to tap foreign investors. In a roll-out to be announced by chancellor Rishi Sunak today, the government will have stakes in dozens of UK startups through its Future Fund scheme. The programme, initially announced [...]
Burger chain Byron heads for administration with 1,200 jobs on the line June 29, 2020 Burger chain Byron is scrambling to find a buyer who can stave off impending financial collapse, save 1,200 jobs, and reopen its 52 restaurants in the UK by mid-next month. The company has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators, in an attempt to protect it from creditors during talks with potential buyers. Sources [...]
Coty picks up $200m stake in Kim Kardashian West’s beauty brand KKW June 29, 2020 Coty is to buy a 20 per cent stake in Kim Kardashian West’s make-up brand KKW, valuing the reality TV star’s business at $1bn (£810m). The deal, which will see cosmetics giant put $200m into the celebrity’s beauty line, sent Coty’s shares skyrocketing 17 per cent in pre-market US trading. It means that West’s beauty [...]
Exclusive: London firms revolt over business rates payments during lockdown June 29, 2020 Tens of thousands of London companies are believed to be mutinying against the taxman by refusing to pay business rates for the three months of the coronavirus lockdown. In light of the pandemic, the government has handed firms in the retail and tourism sectors a year-long holiday on the tax, which is applied to companies’ [...]
Retailers pay less than 15 per cent of rent for June quarter as property crisis deepens June 25, 2020 Britain’s retailers paid just 13.8 per cent of their rent for the last quarter, in a sign of how hard the coronavirus pandemic has hit the sector. Rent receipts on 24 June, the day commercial tenants’ payments were due for the quarter, were even lower than those three months ago, according to commercial property management [...]
US jobless claims: 1.48m more file for benefits as total hits 47m June 25, 2020 More than three months into the coronavirus crisis, millions more Americans are still filing for unemployment benefits each week. According to the US labour department, 1.48m people filed claims last week, marking a slowdown from the previous week’s figure of 1.54m. Economists had predicted a bigger drop to around 1.3m. While it marks the twelfth [...]
BAE Systems warns of drop in first half profit amid coronavirus disruption June 25, 2020 BAE Systems first-half profit will be about one-sixth down on last year, after the coronavirus pandemic hit the defence giant. The company said that it still enjoyed strong demand for its defence products which make up the vast majority of its business. However, its manufacturing lines have faced disruption amid the lockdown, it said this [...]
Builders urge government to target 30,000 new houses for elderly a year in pandemic recovery June 25, 2020 The three largest retirement home providers have warned Boris Johnson that Britain’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic will be “running on empty” if he does not urgently build new houses for older people. The chief executives of McCarthy & Stone, Churchill Retirement, and Lifestory Group have written to the Prime Minister urging him to [...]
Small tech firms rake in record £4bn investment in 2019 – and deals continue despite coronavirus June 25, 2020 Equity investment in the UK’s smaller tech businesses soared to £4bn last year, the highest figure on record – and despite a coronavirus-induced slowdown, deals are still being done. The highest investment total ever meant that Britain’s tech companies enjoyed 27 per cent more funding than the previous year, according to the British Business Bank’s [...]
CMA clears Amazon’s £442m Deliveroo stake despite delivery firm’s coronavirus turnaround June 24, 2020 Britain’s competition watchdog has provisionally cleared Amazon’s £442m investment in Deliveroo, saying that it is “not likely to result in a substantial lessening of competition”. The Competition and Markets Authority has been looking into whether the deal would damage competition in either restaurant delivery or online convenience grocery delivery. The decision to let the investment [...]
