UK aims to sign free trade deal with New Zealand in August June 18, 2021 The UK is aiming to strike a new free trade deal with New Zealand in August after the latest round of talks between the two countries concluded. Fresh from the recent deal with Australia, international trade secretary Liz Truss met with her Antipodean counterpart Damien O’Connor yesterday. In a joint statement, the two sides said: [...]
Italy imposes mandatory five-day quarantine on Brits June 18, 2021 Brits who travel to Italy will be forced to quarantine for five days upon arrival, the Italian health minister has announced today. Writing on Facebook, Roberto Speranza said he had signed an order to “introduce a five-day quarantine with swab obligation for those from Great Britain.” It comes amid growing concerns over the rising number [...]
Inchcape set to beat profit forecasts but chip shortage looms June 18, 2021 FTSE 250 car dealer Inchcape said that its first half performance had exceeded expectations but warned of growing uncertainty for the rest of the year due to the ongoing semiconductor shortage. The positive performance sent the London-headquartered firm’s shares up 3.1 per cent by lunchtime on Friday. Inchcape said that it was on track to [...]
BP Lightsource snaps up Spanish solar assets for £400m June 18, 2021 BP subsidiary Lightsource will invest €475m (£407.6m) in three solar power projects in Spain, which it today announced it had acquired from Grupo Jorge. The Aragon-based assets, which could support 1000 jobs, take the firm’s pipeline of solar generating power in the country to 3 gigawatts. That’s about 15 per cent of Lightsource’s total global [...]
UK-EU food and drink exports halve in first quarter June 18, 2021 The UK exported more food and drink to countries outside the EU than to the bloc in the first three months after Brexit, a first for the sector. However, that is because exports to the EU dropped by nearly half – 47 per cent – compared to the first quarter of 2020. Exports to non-EU [...]
When Warner takes over: David Guetta sells back catalogue June 17, 2021 French DJ David Guetta has sold his back catalogue to Warner in a deal worth a reported $100m (£72m), it was announced today. The producer, who has 50m record sales and more than 14bn streams to his name to date, is the latest in a string of artists to sell off their songs. The label [...]
Sunak: Existing help for businesses hit by lockdown extension generous enough June 17, 2021 Rishi Sunak has tonight ruled out any extra financial support for businesses hit by the four-week long extension to lockdown. In an interview with the FT, the Chancellor said that the existing schemes had “erred on the side of generosity” in order to “accommodate delays to the roadmap”. Although the Treasury yesterday announced an extension [...]
Nvidia to put $100m into Cambridge supercomputer amid Arm probe June 17, 2021 Nvidia’s chief executive today said the company will spend at least $100m on a supercomputer in Cambridge as it seeks to demonstrate its commitment to the UK. The US tech firm is in the process of buying UK chipmaker Arm for $40bn, but regulators are currently examining the deal. Both the Competition and Markets Authority [...]
Crossrail under renewed scrutiny as further delays loom June 17, 2021 London politicians have today called for more transparency over the progress of the Crossrail line after a new report into the project suggested further delays could be “difficult to avoid”. The Elizabeth line, which is now scheduled to open in the first half of 2022, has recently begun the trial running of services. But the [...]
Rolls-Royce lays out plans to be net zero by 2050 June 17, 2021 Engine-maker Rolls-Royce has today said that it will reach net zero emissions by 2050 as it looks to boost investment into carbon dioxide-free technologies. The FTSE blue chip said that it would lift the percentage of its yearly research and development spend – which was about £1bn a year before the pandemic – that it [...]
