Staff shortages could hamper UK recovery, IoD warns October 6, 2021 Staff shortages at British businesses could hamper the country’s recovery from the pandemic and stoke inflationary pressures, the Institute of Directors (IoD) has warned. A survey of more than 700 bosses showed that 44 per cent of businesses are currently experiencing staff shortages. Of those affected, 65 per cent said the problem was caused by [...]
UK to deploy 600 troops to Afghanistan as Brits evacuate October 6, 2021 The UK is deploying roughly 600 soldiers to Afghanistan to help evacuate British nationals as the Taliban continues its rapid advance through the country. Defence secretary Ben Wallace this evening announced the troops will be deployed on a short-term basis “in light of the increasing violence and rapidly deteriorating security environment in the country”. The [...]
Agriculture giant Olam looking to raise £2bn in London food ingredients IPO October 6, 2021 Olam International, the global agricultural commodity trading giant, is considering raising £2bn through the IPO of its London-based food ingredients unit next year, the firm has announced this morning. Five global banks have been appointed to work on the IPO, which would likely rank among the biggest offerings in London over the last few years. [...]
Biggest shipping companies navigate plan for net-zero by 2050 October 6, 2021 The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), which represent the world’s biggest shipping companies, has recently set out its plan to achieve net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050, doubling the current pledge of getting to 50 per cent less CO2 emissions. ICS members have also stated that the industry cannot reach such ambitious targets by itself but [...]
Babcock sells engineering business to KBR for £293m October 6, 2021 Defence giant Babcock has today announced that it will sell engineering subsidiary Frazer-Nash Consultancy to fellow infrastructure player KBR for £293m. The sale is the first step in a plan to cull £400m worth of contracts over the next 12 months to fix the FTSE 100 firm’s battered balance sheet. Shares in the London-headquartered firm [...]
Precious £336m: Amazon shifts Lord of the Rings series production from New Zealand to UK October 6, 2021 Amazon’s TV and film division is set to shift its Lord of the Rings series production to the UK from New Zealand in a major boost for the country’s booming creative sector. The move marks an upbeat investment in the UK’s television industry, with Amazon Studios having already injected around $465m (£336m) into the first [...]
SMG soars despite tough advertising market October 6, 2021 Scottish Media Group (SMG), home of Virgin Radio, exceeded market expectations in the first half but warned the behaviour of the advertising markets was “short term and erratic”. The Glasgow-based group said pre-tax profit, before exceptional, climbed 68 per cent to £6.7m in the six months to 30 June on sales of £94.9m. The performance [...]
Thousands of Brits stuck at Heathrow as e-gates fail again October 6, 2021 Thousands of people were stuck queuing today at Heathrow airport after the e-gate system encountered issues for the second time in two weeks. The Times reported that bottlenecks lasted up to four hours, with passengers saying that more than 3,000 people were queuing, because e-gates were not functioning properly and there were insufficient members of [...]
Mass pig culling inevitable if abattoir labour shortage persists, vets warn October 6, 2021 Vets working to tackle pigs’ overcrowding in farms have said Prime Minister Boris Johnson is not taking the abattoir labour shortage seriously, and soon ‘mass culling’ would be the only option left to farmers. Duncan Berkshire, a vet in charge of liasing with the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs to manage the pigs’ overcrowding, [...]
Emirates boss: Covid will be ‘history’ by end of next year and aviation will recover October 6, 2021 Emirates president Sir Tim Clark has said that the aviation sector is months away from going back to normal and will not suffer a long recovery, which was initially predicted by industry stakeholders during the peak of the pandemic. Clark, who has run the Dubai-based airline since 2003, told the Telegraph the aviation sector will [...]
