Champagne toasts record year thanks to post-pandemic buzz and US sparkle February 14, 2022 Champagne sales reached an all-time high last year, thanks to the post-pandemic boom and a United States surge. While French producers already said last year they expected a sales record, they now confirmed 2021 sales hit $5.7bn (£4.2bn), 14 per cent above the pre-pandemic high. Exports reached 180 million 0.75 litre bottles, up 37 per [...]
Government to crack down on developers trying to dodge cladding contributions with new powers for courts February 14, 2022 The government has announced amendments to its building safety bill which will allow cladding companies to be sued for defective products. The amendments also confirm the government’s intentions to block firms from the market if they do not financially contribute to remediations on buildings with unsafe cladding. The department for levelling up, housing and communities [...]
Young workers cooped up in flats have budgets squeezed by home working February 14, 2022 Young renters cooped up in small flats amid working from home orders during the pandemic have had their budgets squeezed, revealed official figures released today. Almost every person in the UK living in rented housing was hit with higher energy bills, according to research by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Younger workers just starting [...]
Central London footfall growth behind other regional cities February 14, 2022 Central London footfall has lagged behind the recovery of other regional cities last week. According to the latest data from Springboard, footfall rose in all types of town centres in the UK last week. However, while regional cities outside of London saw the largest boost, up 7.1 per cent, Central London growth was only 3.3 [...]
Government rejects less than one per cent of nearly 3m expenses February 14, 2022 The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has rejected just one claim out of more than 18,000 in the year to March 2021, which has raised eyebrows over at spend management firm Emburse. Across all government departments, rejected expense claims make up just 0.07 per cent of the total 2.95m submitted between 2019 [...]
EU deepens investigation into Gazprom’s European business amid supply concerns February 14, 2022 EU antitrust regulators will intensify information gathering on Gazprom's European business, amid the continent's growing supply crisis.
Activist investor Bluebell lays out plans for Glencore coal spin-off February 14, 2022 Activist investor Bluebell Capital has outlined plans for mining conglomerate Glencore to spin off its thermal coal business while retaining control of the new entity, a letter has revealed.
Bank of England to send rates to decade-high by this summer February 14, 2022 The Bank of England will raise interest rates to their highest level in over a decade by the summer, City experts are forecasting. Soaring inflation will prompt the Bank to ignore the potential hit to the economic recovery from a sharp reduction in Brits’ spending power and send rates to 1.25 per cent by August, [...]
BBC Studio names Rebecca Glashow as head of global distribution showing commitment to US growth February 14, 2022 BBC Studios has named Rebecca Glashow, currently president of BBC Studios Americas, to head its global distribution from New York, underlining its commitment to the US. Glashow will lead on global distribution outside of the UK and Ireland, encompassing content sales, direct-to-consumer services, international channels, co-productions and licensing, BBC Studios said. The commercial arm of [...]
Intel new crypto mining chip ‘1000 times’ better than alternatives February 14, 2022 Intel Corp has launched a new chip for blockchain applications such as Bitcoin mining and minting NFTs to cash in on the crypto boom.
