Letters: Travel travelling in the wrong direction June 17, 2022 [Re: Brexit not cause of travel chaos, says UK minister, June 14] The airline industry has had a rough time this year, often being unable to fully capitalise on the rolling back of travel restrictions and consumer optimism about taking to the skies. While staff cuts, perhaps a necessity due to the pandemic, have shrunk [...]
Open banking fintech Bud inks $80m funding round June 7, 2022 Open banking fintech firm Bud announced its $80m (£64m) Series B funding, led by Bellis Phantom Holdco, an indirect affiliate of investment funds managed by TDR Capital. The investment, which was also backed by existing investors including Outward VC, will be used to develop the firm’s models and allow for further international expansion. The open [...]
Service sector dealt hammer blow as cost of living crunch sinks in June 7, 2022 The UK service industry was hammered last month, posting its worst performance for more than a year, as soaring inflation weighed down consumer demand. The closely-watched IHS Markit/CIPS UK services PMI survey scored 53.4 last month, tumbling from a 58.9 reading in April. Any score above 50 shows growth in the sector. However, this represented [...]
Jubilee high street boom risks being upended by cost of living crisis June 3, 2022 The Jubilee fervour driving shoppers back to bricks-and-mortar stores is “fragile” and could be upended by the cost-of-living crisis, experts have warned. According to figures released by the British Retail Consortium (BRC), visitor numbers inched up 0.6% between April and May, but are down 12.5% since 2019. However, this is ahead of Italy, France and [...]
Post Office workers to strike over jubilee weekend in dispute over pay June 3, 2022 Post Office workers are to go on strike over the jubilee weekend in a dispute over pay. Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) at Crown Post Offices – the larger branches often sited on high streets – will walk out on Saturday and in administration and supply chain networks on Monday. The strikes follow [...]
Warning of £1.5bn funding gap to meet electric charging targets June 3, 2022 Electric car charging firm Liberty Charge has called on the sector to step in and help finance the nationwide rollout of charge points as it warned of a more than £1.5 billion shortfall in Government funding. Liberty Charge – a joint venture between Virgin Media owner Liberty Global and private equity firm Zouk Capital – [...]
Letters: Paying our way out of a crisis May 31, 2022 [Re: Sunak hits energy firms with windfall tax to pay for £15bn cost of living package, May 27] So, led by the nose…here we go again. Whenever the condescending contrickselfservative “party” find themselves in a difficult place they wave a little money in front of people’s noses to gain their support and buy their votes. [...]
Jubilee boom for small business amid inflation worries May 30, 2022 THE EXTENDED Bank Holiday to mark the Queen’s platinum jubilee will give Britain’s small firms a much needed revenue boost. The closely-watched Barclays SME Barometer suggests three in five small business owners are expecting to see revenues higher this year than last, helped by an anticipated spending spree over the coming week. But around three [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Could Musk back out of the $44bn Twitter deal May 23, 2022 What’s the most expensive mistake you’ve ever made? Booked a holiday for the wrong dates? Added an extra zero to the £260 you owed? Well, for Elon Musk, he thought it would just be $1bn to get out of the $44bn Twitter takeover. But strict merger laws, brought in after the financial crisis, could force [...]
Letters: Musk’s bot-tled Twitter takeover May 20, 2022 [Re: Musk says $44bn mega takeover of Twitter is ‘on hold’, May 14] Musk, now unsure the $44bn Twitter takeover is worthy based on the number of bots plaguing the platform, has started the debate on how tech platforms can better verify digital identity. It’s not an issue that can ever be in the hands [...]
