Retail tycoon Mike Ashley ‘furious’ after being ‘frozen out’ of Debenhams sale November 1, 2020 Retail mogul Mike Ashley is reportedly “furious” about being “frozen out” of an auction for collapsed department store Debenhams. The Sunday Times reported that lawyers for the tycoon have spent the last week complaining to Lazards and law firm Freshfields that Ashley’s Frasers Group had been given “woefully inadequate” information on the sale. Last week [...]
Airlines plead for emergency support as international travel banned November 1, 2020 The UK aviation industry has made fresh pleas for emergency financial support from ministers after international travel was banned for the duration of the new lockdown. From 5 November to 2 December, foreign holidays have been banned – as well as overnight stays in the UK. The decision is a hammer blow to the country’s [...]
New £1.8bn TfL bailout agreed at the eleventh hour November 1, 2020 Transport for London (TfL) will receive £1.8bn in government support to see it through until March after a second bailout deal was finally agreed last night. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the capital’s transport network has seen revenue dry up amid the collapse in passenger numbers. In March TfL received £1.6bn in the [...]
Business groups welcome furlough extension as ‘survival mode’ kicks in November 1, 2020 Business groups have welcomed the extension of the furlough scheme, but warned that the new lockdown means that firms will be back in “survival mode”. Last night PM Boris Johnson announced a month-long lockdown is to begin on Thursday and last until 2 December. With just hours to go before the furlough scheme was set [...]
Waterloo and City line closure set to continue indefinitely October 30, 2020 No date has yet been set for the Waterloo and City tube line to be reopened, London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said. The route – London’s second-most intensively used after the Victoria line – has been closed since lockdown began in March. In answer to a question from Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon, Khan said that [...]
Water spending rebellion could cost households billions, says Citizens Advice October 30, 2020 Citizens Advice has waded into a row between the competition and water watchdogs over new spending rules for the country’s water companies. According to the charity, households could lose out on a combined £3.7bn across the next five years if the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) sticks with its decision to back a rebellion against [...]
Astrazeneca and Pfizer vaccines under accelerated review by drugs regulator October 30, 2020 The UK’s drugs regulator has reportedly begun an accelerated review of coronavirus vaccine candidates developed by Astrazeneca and Pfizer. Bloomberg reported that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have already commenced ongoing reviews of both vaccines. A source familiar with the trial confirmed to Bloomberg that Pfizer’s treatment was under review, although this [...]
What’s in store for the airline industry this winter? October 30, 2020 Although every industry has suffered due to the coronavirus pandemic, few have been as hard hit as the world’s airlines. At the beginning of the year, the idea of a world without global air travel was for most people a relic of a long-forgotten past, but seven months of extreme turbulence have flipped that notion [...]
Could Germany have its quarantine free travel corridor revoked today? October 29, 2020 Germany looks likely to be taken off the UK’s quarantine-free travel corridor list this afternoon after its rate of coronavirus infection doubled in the last week. The surge in cases meant that Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday announced that Europe’s biggest economy would enter a four-week lockdown from 2 November. As a result, bars, restaurants, and [...]
Oil prices plunge as second lockdown fears mount October 29, 2020 Global oil prices slumped to their lowest prices in nearly five months today as fears over new coronavirus lockdowns mounted. With numbers of new cases climbing around the world, several countries have put in place new restrictions, putting downward pressure on demand. Both Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate fell about six per cent earlier, [...]
