Private equity firm buys Gü pudding brand May 17, 2021 Private equity firm Exponent has secured a deal to buy dessert brand Gü from Noble Foods for an undisclosed fee. Gü said the deal will provide investment for the business to expand its current UK production site. Sky News reported last week that Exponent had offered £150m to buy the pudding brand. The company was [...]
Droves of shoppers return to Central London high streets May 17, 2021 Footfall in Central London grew by 4.2 per cent last week, according to data from Springboard, suggesting shoppers have started to feel sufficiently confident to make trips to the capital. But despite the week’s jump in footfall, London has a long way to go before it reaches pre-pandemic levels of busy. Footfall in London is [...]
Stump up the dough: Warburtons to spend millions on new bagel and crumpet factories May 17, 2021 Warburtons is spending £56m on new plants and depots after shoppers swapped slice bread for crumpets and bagels during the lockdown. The company will spend £28m on developing three new distribution depots and creating 150 new jobs, the Telegraph first reported. The baker will also plough £26m into building two new bakery plants; one factory [...]
London offices get facelift in lockdown despite pandemic May 17, 2021 New construction starts in London have jumped by one-fifth in the six months to March 2021, despite the pandemic and changing working practices, research by Deloitte has found. New office starts are up to 3.1 million square feet, Deloitte found, with 32 new schemes breaking ground during the six months. More than half (56%) of [...]
Protestors gather outside Lloyd’s of London over coal mine insurance May 17, 2021 Protests took place today outside Lloyd’s of London in the City and in 12 other locations around the UK over insurance-related environmental concerns. People gathered to demand Lloyd’s stops insuring all coal mines immediately. The protest was designed to coincide with the reopening of Lloyd’s underwriting room. According to pressure group Coal Action Network, Lloyd’s [...]
BDO becomes latest auditor to tell staff to work where they like May 17, 2021 BDO has told staff to decide where they would like to work post-pandemic, in a move that adopts a more flexible model than some of its rivals. The challenger audit firm will ask staff to work wherever is most productive, depending upon the task they are doing. For most people this will likely mean a [...]
Top shareholders offer support to GSK following activist hedge fund investment May 17, 2021 Several of GlaxoSmithKline’s top shareholders have contacted its chairman to offer support, following concerns activist hedge fund Elliott Management is preparing to push for a shake-up at the group. Shareholders including BlackRock, Dodge & Cox and Royal London are said to have given their support, the Times first reported. The pharma giant has come under [...]
Sanofi and Glaxo see up to 100 per cent efficacy in latest Covid vaccine trial May 17, 2021 The Sanofi and Glaxosmithkline Covid-19 vaccine has shown between 95 and 100 per cent efficacy in phase two of a clinical trial, with a phase three trial expected to start in the coming weeks. The 95 to 100 per cent seroconversion – meaning the transition from the point of viral infection to when antibodies of [...]
Miner Petropavlovsk strikes gold despite challenges at the top May 17, 2021 Petropavlovsk produced 548.1koz of gold last year, a six per cent increase on the previous year, despite a difficult period that saw a bloody boardroom battle and new CEO. The miner saw an 18 per cent decline to 385.6koz of own gold produced, but a 256 per cent increase to 162.5koz of gold produced from [...]
Industrial parts supplier Diploma eyes more deals following growth May 17, 2021 Diploma saw hefty revenue and profit growth in the six months to 31 March, and as a result expects its full year results to be “significantly ahead of our previous expectations”. The industrial firm, which provides specialist products to the life sciences sector, saw revenue of £365.2m in the first half of its financial year, [...]
