Tesco CEO: Movement of product is the biggest Brexit issue December 3, 2020 The movement of products across borders is the biggest issue facing supermarkets because of Brexit, not food price inflation, the chief executive of Tesco has said. Speaking on Sky News today, CEO Ken Murphy said: “The biggest challenge we face really is the movement of product between borders, the movement of product between Great Britain [...]
Exclusive: Andy Bell warns ‘we’ll all feel the pain of negative interest rates’ December 3, 2020 As the Bank of England mulls the introduction of negative interest rates AJ Bell’s chief executive has told City A.M. customers will suffer as a result. The central bank has already slashed interest rates to a record low of 0.1 per cent to support lending through the pandemic. “We’ve discussed how we’d deal and cope [...]
UK PMIs: Business activity contracts in lockdown but beats forecasts December 3, 2020 UK business activity contracted sharply last month as a result of the second national lockdown, but came in well ahead of analysts’ fears. The IHS Markit/Cips purchasing managers (PMI) index for services fell to 47.6 in November, with any score below the 50 mark indicating contraction. The reading was down considerably on October’s score of 51.4, and [...]
FTSE 100 falls back as Brexit negotiations drag on December 3, 2020 The FTSE 100 fell back this morning after the French government threatened to veto a Brexit trade deal if EU negotiators gave further concessions to the UK. London’s premier index dropped 0.4 per cent start as trading opened, while the FTSE 250 of midcap companies picked up 0.1 per cent. Brexit talks are ongoing between [...]
Aldi becomes fourth supermarket to return business rate relief December 3, 2020 Aldi has become the forth supermarket to return the full value of the business rate relief it has received during the pandemic. Aldi will pay back more than £100m to the government and devolved administrations. The decision follows pledges from Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s to do the same, which will pay back £585m, £230m and [...]
Hong Kong pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai detained following fraud charge December 3, 2020 Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy supporter, has been charged with fraud and detained until a court hearing in April next year. Lai was arrested on Wednesday night along with two other senior executives from media company Next Digital, of which Lai is the founder. The three men appeared in court the [...]
Norwegian Air plans share sale in bid to survive December 3, 2020 Embattled carrier Norwegian Air today said that it was looking to raise 4bn Norwegian krone (£340m) in order to recapitalise the struggling firm. In a statement to Oslo’s bourse, the low-cost carrier proposed a package of debt conversion, aircraft divestment and sale of new equity to get it through the coronavirus pandemic. Norwegian did not [...]
Countryside chairman to step down following pressure from activist investor December 3, 2020 Countryside Properties chairman David Howell will step down from the board in 2021, a day after its third-largest investor called for his removal. Yesterday US-based shareholder Browning West said leadership changes at the housebuilder were “immediately required”, claiming the developer had “several significant deficiencies”. The pressure from Browning West followed previous letters to the board [...]
Sainsbury’s to forgo business rates relief December 3, 2020 Sainsbury’s has decided to forgo the business rates relief on its stores granted by the government since March. Lockdown restrictions have remained in place for longer than originally expected and throughout the pandemic all Sainsbury’s stores have been deemed essential retail. Almost all have been open and trading strongly, with the exception of a small [...]
Talktalk extends Toscafund offer deadline for a second time December 3, 2020 Talktalk has extended the deadline for major shareholder Toscafund to make a solid offer for the telecoms firm for the second time. The private equity firm will now have until 17 December to table a firm bid for the troubled telecoms firm. Last month the asset manager made a 97p per share approach for Talktalk, [...]
