Pfizer and Moderna vaccine supply limits pace of jab rollout June 30, 2021 There are not enough Pfizer and Moderna vaccines being supplied to reduce the eight week interval between doses, according to analysts. “It appears from the data available that Pfizer and Moderna supplies are the pace-limiting factor,” Matt Linley, an analyst at Airfinity, a data company tracking the vaccine rollout, told The Times. Last month, the [...]
Topps Tiles boosted by Brits craving home improvement after lockdown June 30, 2021 Topps Tiles reported a surge in sales in the first three months since stores have been allowed to reopen, after lockdown restrictions at the beginning of the year heavily impacted the group’s performance. On a two year basis compared with 2019 before the pandemic, retail like-for-like sales increased by 12.9 per cent over the third [...]
Serco profits set to rise 50 per cent, bolstered by Covid contracts demand June 30, 2021 Outsourcing giant Serco today said it expects profit to reach up to £125m in the first half of the year – up more than 50 per cent from the first half of 2020. Serco, which has outperformed the wider UK outsourcing space, said in a trading update this morning that it expects stronger demand for [...]
Top Morrisons investor says CD&R should up its bid to £6.5bn June 30, 2021 A top Morrisons shareholder said that New York bidder Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) must pay “a fair price” for the supermarket. One of Morrison’s top 10 investors J O Hambro has said that any potential bidder for the supermarket should raise its offer to £6.5bn if it wants the takeover to succeed. Shares in [...]
Health minister defends use of private email for government business June 29, 2021 Health minister Lord Bethell has rejected the idea that it is wrong for ministers to use a personal email address for government business, after it was revealed that he and former health secretary Matt Hancock used theirs “routinely”. The fresh allegations against the former health secretary and his junior minister were revealed in minutes from [...]
Gresham House completes acquisition of €350m Irish asset manager June 29, 2021 Gresham House has fully acquired Irish fund manager Appian Asset Management in a deal that gives the firm a European presence. The asset manager today announced the completed acquisition of Appian, which manages €350m in assets, following regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Ireland. Gresham House said the acquisition accelerates the firm’s five-year growth [...]
Finance boss at Countryside leaves housebuilder to head to rival Barratt June 29, 2021 Mike Scott has resigned from housebuilder Countryside in order to take up the role of chief financial officer (CFO) at UK rival Barratt Developments. Both UK housebuilders simultaneously announced the move this morning, which sees Scott end a seven-year stint at Countryside, in which he oversaw the group’s IPO in 2016 and acquisition of Westleigh [...]
800,000 London jobs could be done elsewhere post-Covid June 29, 2021 Around two out of five people living and working in inner London could continue their roles remotely after the pandemic, according to new research. London risks losing more than 835,000 jobs as the pandemic sparks a permanent shift to more flexible working patterns, and city dwellers are able to move out of the capital to [...]
Irish govt throws weight behind home working June 28, 2021 Ireland must avoid a “drift back to the office” following the pandemic, according to the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. His comments came as he launched #MakingRemoteWork, the Irish government’s new campaign for home working, in Dublin on Monday. Varadkar’s Department for Enterprise, Trade and Employment has encouraged employers in Ireland to examine their policies for remote [...]
Boris Johnson says full easing of Covid restrictions on July 19 is ‘very likely’ June 28, 2021 Lockdown restrictions are “very likely” to be lifted as planned on July 19 according to the PM, as new health secretary Sajid Javid said the decision will be “irreversible”. Speaking on a campaign visit on Monday, the prime minister said that the government and its scientific advisers are “very likely be in a position on [...]