Screenshot: How Amazon set up shop on cloud nine February 5, 2021 This week **Media Moment of the Week: Parish the thought **How Amazon set up shop on cloud nine **Will BT look to the stars? Media Moment of the Week: Parish the thought Anyone who thinks local politics is boring has clearly never attended a meeting of the Handforth Parish Council Planning and Environment Committee. Or [...]
Covid-19 variants: could mutations prolong the pandemic? February 5, 2021 The end is in sight. Isn’t it? The cautious optimism of vaccination programmes made the final curtain of the Covid-19 pandemic visible for the first time. Concern is growing, however, after Public Health England announced it is investigating cases with “worrying” new genetic changes found in regions of the UK. Cases in Liverpool and Bristol [...]
Cadbury returns to Birmingham in post-Brexit production shift February 5, 2021 The owner of Cadbury, Mondelez International, is planning to shift more Dairy Milk production back to its historic Bournville factory in Birmingham. The company announced a £15m investment at the Birmingham site, and from 2022 125m more Dairy Milk bars are to be manufactured there. Mondelez’ UK managing director Louise Stigant said Bournville is still [...]
Energy bills rise could see customers trapped in ‘vicious circle of debt’ February 5, 2021 April’s price cap increase could plunge consumers into debt that suppliers have been unable to recover during the pandemic, according to Uswitch.com. Industry observers have responded to Ofgem’s announcement today that energy bills will rise by £93 to pre-pandemic levels from 1 April. The price cap, which will affect 11 million default tariff customers, has [...]
Blockchain will bring trust back into capital markets February 5, 2021 If recent events have revealed anything, it’s that trust in the traditional financial infrastructure powering our global capital markets has been eroding – especially among retail investors. The GameStop (GME) short-squeeze¹, driven by individuals who came together online, is a testament to what can happen when power is pushed to the edges. Huge volumes, unexpected [...]
Retailers ‘desperate’ for roadmap out of lockdown as sales continue to fall February 5, 2021 Retailers “desperately” need the government to provide details on a roadmap out of lockdown in order to plan for recovery after the pandemic, experts said as sales continued to fall. The Prime Minister has previously said the government will publish plans to lift lockdown restrictions in the week of 22 February, with easing not expected [...]
UK house prices dip in January as market boom begins to ‘run out of steam’ February 5, 2021 UK house prices dipped last month, the latest data showed, in the first indication that the property market boom could be running out of steam. Average house prices across the UK fell 0.3 per cent in January compared to December, dropping to £251,968. Experts said the month-on-month drop – the steepest since the first lockdown [...]
French Connection in talks with two potential buyers after challenging year February 5, 2021 French Connection is in discussion with two potential buyers, the company confirmed this morning. French Connection is in early stage talks with Spotlight, owned by Gordon Brothers International, and Go Global, owned by HMJ International Services. The two businesses are in separate talks, and are not acting together. The two businesses interested in French Connection [...]
Corporate collapse and pre-pack wave February 5, 2021 The pandemic has wrought massive damage to many business. A dramatic drop in trading has left many firms unable to pay their debts. The normal assumption is that this would trigger a wave of corporate failures. However, the official figures to Q3 2020 is that the number of corporate insolvencies is lower than the previous [...]
GameStop and the ethics of short sellers February 5, 2021 The global media has recently been entranced by a battle between retail traders and hedge funds over the US computer game store, GameStop. It has also shone a light on a practice that makes many people feel uneasy: “short selling”. So much so that lots of members of the Reddit community which spearheaded the attack [...]
