Samsung heir back in prison for bribery scandal January 18, 2021 Samsung heir Lee Jae Yong has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison by a high court in South Korea on Monday. Lee, 52, was found guilty of bribing an associate of former president Park Geun-hye and jailed for five years in 2017 but was released after 12 months. The Supreme Court [...]
Covid mutations: what we know so far January 15, 2021 A Brazilian variant of coronavirus has arrived in Britain, one of the UK’s leading scientists announced this morning. Speaking during a Science and Media Centre briefing, Professor Wendy Barclay said: “There are two different types of Brazilian variant and one of them has been detected in the UK.” Transport secretary Grant Shapps this morning insisted [...]
Minister insists vaccine works against Brazilian Covid variant as travel ban begins January 15, 2021 A Brazilian variant of the coronavirus is concerning enough to justify stopping flights from South America, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said today. Shapps insists that the decision, which came into force at 4am this morning, was precautionary and does not mean vaccines would not work against the variant. “As with the variant that we saw [...]
UK set for double-dip recession as GDP plummets 2.6 per cent January 15, 2021 The UK economy shrank by 2.6 per cent in November as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold of multiple sectors across the country, according to new figures published this morning. The Bank of England estimates Britain’s economy shrank by just over 1 per cent over the final three months of 2020. With a new lockdown in [...]
EBRD invests record €11bn to combat Covid-19 pandemic January 14, 2021 The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development invested last year a record €11bn in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2020 spending was administered through 411 projects which addressed the urgent needs of the 38 economies where it invests, according to a report released earlier today. The EBRD said it also supported a record of [...]
Real estate giant Savills reports ‘extraordinary rebound’ for markets outside London January 14, 2021 Savills reported this morning an “extraordinary rebound” since May as regional markets outside London delivered its strongest performance since the 2008 financial crisis. The estate agent said profits topped expectations in 2020 but the firm hesitated to give guidance for the new year amid Covid-19 uncertainty. Against the backdrop of the pandemic, the group delivered [...]
Card Factory suffers loss as closures rip through festive sales January 14, 2021 Closed stores over the Christmas period meant Card Factory suffered significant losses, sending its shares down 4.1 per cent this morning. Card Factory experienced a year-on-year decline of over 38 per cent, where forced store closures prohibited openings for 37 per cent of available trading days. Sales over the eleven-month period fell from almost £425m [...]
Food packaging giant Hilton thrives as pandemic changes eating habits January 14, 2021 Hilton Food Group has surpassed expectations with a continuation of strong sales and volume growth, according to a trading update released today. The group’s success was driven by their own expansion as well as the shift to home consumption throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Hilton made strong progress across several European markets, benefitting from people eating [...]
Christine Lagarde backs economic outlook despite Covid-19 resurgence in Europe January 13, 2021 The eurozone economy will rebound this year provided lockdown measures curb the Covid-19 pandemic, according to European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde. Speaking earlier today, Lagarde highlighted the importance of easing lockdown restrictions and delivering successful vaccination programmes, conceding that early rollouts had posed challenges. Last month, the ECB predicted economic growth of 3.9 per [...]
Morrisons to be first UK supermarket to pay staff at least £10 an hour January 13, 2021 Morrisons will pay its supermarket staff at least £10 an hour, becoming the first major UK supermarket to reach that milestone. The new deal will start in April and represents a significant pay increase for nearly 96,000 colleagues, the majority of which will see a nine per cent rise. Staff had pushed for an increase [...]