Q&A with Stefan Allesch-Taylor: How entrepreneurs can respond to coronavirus June 1, 2020 Professor Stefan Allesch-Taylor CBE is a broadcaster, philanthropist, Professor of the Practice of Entrepreneurship and Fellow at King’s College London. How do you think the pandemic will affect entrepreneurs? Is it a crisis or an opportunity? It’s tough to avoid the obvious here. For some a crisis, for others an opportunity. But unlike most economic [...]
City urges government to hand coronavirus loans to firms hit by EU state aid rules June 1, 2020 UK business groups have urged the government to find a way around EU state aid rules that have stopped British businesses from receiving coronavirus loans. The CBI, British Retail Consortium and UK Hospitality have written to economic secretary John Glen urging him to extend the coronavirus loans scheme to firms that have failed to secure [...]
Ted Baker seeks £95m coronavirus rescue raise as it books £80m loss June 1, 2020 Fashion retailer Ted Baker today set out plans to raise £95m in rescue cash to fund its escape from the coronavirus crisis, as it revealed losses amounted to almost £80m last year. Ted Baker, which was hit by a scandal in 2019 after its founder quit over allegations of misconduct, is selling cut-price shares to [...]
UK and Italy seek to further ease lockdowns as scientists urge caution June 1, 2020 European countries like the UK and Italy are readying themselves to ease lockdown measures further despite scientists urging caution as coronavirus cases continue to rise. The UK is still seeing a steady rise in coronavirus infections but governments face pressure to restart their economies after Europe’s lockdowns triggered the biggest peacetime downturn on record. The [...]
Markets live: FTSE 100 and US stocks slip on rising Hong Kong tensions May 22, 2020 The FTSE 100 closed in the red and US stocks fell as investors weighed up rising US-China tensions in the wake of Beijing’s move to assert its authority in Hong Kong. The UK’s blue-chip index fell around two per cent this morning but pared some of its losses throughout the day. It finished 0.3 per [...]
Marston’s and Carlsberg to unite brewing operations in £780m joint venture May 22, 2020 UK pub chain Marston’s share price skyrocketed today as it announced a plan to merge its brewing business with Carlsberg’s UK division in a £780m deal. The joint venture will value Marton’s Brewing Business at up to £580m and Carlsberg’s at £200m. But despite Marston’s superior valuation, the pub chain will only own 40 per [...]
Government borrowing hits record £62bn in April over coronavirus measures May 22, 2020 UK government borrowing rose by a record £62.1bn in April alone as the government paid people’s wages and loaned businesses cash to survive the coronavirus lockdown, statistics showed today. Coronavirus measures like the job retention scheme to pay people’s wages and coronavirus loans for businesses pushed UK borrowing to the all-time high last month. The [...]
UK retail sales crash a record 18.1 per cent in April lockdown May 22, 2020 UK retail sales plunged by a record 18.1 per cent during April’s lockdown, data showed today, with clothing sales halving compared to March. Sales of clothes crashed 50.2 per cent compared to March, while retail sales fell almost four times as badly as March’s 5.2 per cent fall, Office for National Statistics (ONS) data found. [...]
Coronavirus measures force UK borrowing up £62bn in April May 22, 2020 UK borrowing rose by £62.1bn in April alone as the government paid people’s wages and loaned businesses cash to survive the coronavirus lockdown, statistics showed today. Coronavirus measures like the job retention scheme to pay people’s wages, and coronavirus loans for businesses of all sizes, pushed UK borrowing to an all-time high last month. The [...]
Facebook Workplace takes on Zoom with video call rival during lockdown May 21, 2020 Caught out by the sudden success of Zoom as the world entered coronavirus lockdown, Facebook has introduced its own video conferencing tool on Workplace. The social network’s B2B business has seen its own jump in user numbers this year, as paid customers rose from 3m six months ago to 5m in March. By then coronavirus [...]
