Housebuilders concerned over rising material costs November 8, 2021 Housebuilders are wrangling with supply chain disruption and rising material costs with the delivery of new homes under threat. 61 per cent of builders said these factors were the biggest obstacles adding pressure to their bottom line, in a survey of more than 50 English housebuilders by property consultancy Knight Frank. Concerns are also mounting [...]
JD Sports defends Footasylum boss car park meeting as CMA investigates November 8, 2021 JD Sports has defended reports that its executive chairman met with Footasylum boss amid an ongoing competition watchdog review. The footwear giant’s executive chairman Peter Cowgill met with Footasylum chief Barry Bown, in a car park near Bury in Greater Manchester, this summer, in footage seen by the Sunday Times. JD Sports said in a [...]
Business output growth drops once more as firms face rising costs November 8, 2021 Business output growth has fallen for the sixth month in a row as businesses face labour shortages and soaring energy prices. Output growth has hit the lowest level since March, when the country was in the depths of lockdown, according to accountancy firm BDO’s latest output index. The index, which looks at the manufacturing and [...]
Soaring travel agent insolvencies just ‘the tip of the iceberg’ November 7, 2021 Insolvencies of UK travel agents and tour operators have leaped in the last year. Audit and tax firm Mazars said insolvencies jumped 17 per cent from 59 to 69. In July, sector insolvencies rose from one to nine. Experts have pointed to the end of furlough as something that could place additional pressure on the [...]
LV boss defends selling to private equity November 7, 2021 LV boss Mark Hartigan has hit back after criticism over plans to sell the mutual to US private equity Bain. Customers will receive £100 each if they agree to the deal, plus an extra 0.1 per cent return for every year they have held a with-profits policy since 1996. Speaking to the Mail On Sunday, [...]
John Lewis scraps land sell-off after villagers’ displeasure November 7, 2021 John Lewis has been forced to ditch plans to sell off land for homes after Hampshire residents rebelled against the plans. The department store retailer had planned to sell off land for 12 new homes in Longstock, near Andover. However, it ditched the plans, citing “a significant level of opposition to the scheme,” to the [...]
Under half of public willing to pay costs for greener homes November 7, 2021 Less than half of the population have said they would pay huge costs to improve their homes, in a blow to the government’s net zero ambitions. The public were asked their opinions on policies to slash emissions, before and after hearing the estimated costs, in a survey from think tank Onward and pollster JL Partners. [...]
Ministers mull two-year BBC licence fee freeze November 7, 2021 Ministers are weighing up freezing the BBC licence fee at £159 for up to two years as the cost of living soars. With households facing increasing energy, fuel and food prices, ministers and the BBC are in talks over freezing the fee, according to the Sunday Telegraph. Insiders told the newspaper that talks between the [...]
Shoppers are flocking back to UK high streets faster than EU rivals, footfall data shows November 5, 2021 UK retail destinations have reported footfall recovering to near-pre-Covid levels faster than those in major EU economies. Total UK footfall was down 13.7 per cent in October compared to 2019, the pre-Covid comparative. There was a 3.2 percentage point improvement from September. This was ahead of Spain (-19.8 per cent), Germany (-26.1 per cent), Italy [...]
Ex-Channel 5 owner Desmond lawyers up over Wikipedia ‘pornographer’ bio November 5, 2021 A billionaire former owner of adult magazines has hired lawyers to remove the descriptor ‘pornographer’ from his Wikipedia page. Richard Desmond, who used to own adult TV channels and magazines including Asian Babes and Readers’ Wives, is reportedly fixated with his biography on the website. An account acting on behalf of the former Daily Express [...]
