Tesco to complete £8bn sale of Thai and Malaysian units this month December 9, 2020 Tesco is set to complete the sale of its Thailand and Malaysia businesses later this month after all conditions for the deal were satisfied. The UK supermarket giant announced in March that it was going to sell the two Asian businesses to Thai conglomerate CP Group. The deal is worth £8bn. Tesco is seeking to [...]
Stagecoach profits plunge 91 per cent on lockdown restrictions December 9, 2020 Bus operator Stagecoach has taken a significant hit to its first-half profits as the pandemic continues to restrict its regional bus services. The company’s profits fell to £5.4m in the six months to 31 October compared to £65.9m in the same period last year. This came after revenue from £800.2m to £454.6m in the first [...]
Aberdeen Standard to buy 60 per cent of logistics property investor Tritax December 9, 2020 Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) will acquire 60 per cent of logistics real estate manager Tritax for an undisclosed sum, the two companies announced today, as it seeks to benefit from the boom in online shopping. Tritax is a fund manager that focuses on investing in logistics real estate such as warehouses in the UK and [...]
Brexit: Boris Johnson to meet EU chief Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels TODAY December 9, 2020 Boris Johnson will meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen this evening in Brussels for showdown Brexit talks. The pair will be briefed by their respective chief negotiators tonight about the outstanding issues holding up a trade agreement, before trying to hammer out a last minute deal one-on-one. Last night von der Leyen [...]
Use furlough scheme to help sick employees isolate, says think tank December 9, 2020 The government should use the furlough scheme to encourage more workers to self-isolate at home, as the current statutory sick pay regime does not go far enough. Self-isolating has continued to be a major factor used to control the spread of the Covid-19 virus throughout the pandemic, with all those with coronavirus symptoms urged to [...]
Brexit: City of London lobby slams EU for damaging confidence in UK financial services sector December 9, 2020 The City of London’s most influential lobby group has hit out at the EU for politicising decisions on the UK’s financial services sector’s access to Europe post-Brexit. The CityUK chief executive Miles Celic told a Westminster committee today that Brussels has created uncertainty for Square Mile firms through the “regrettable politiicsation” of the equivalence assessment [...]
Give our events industry the tools to save itself from Covid December 9, 2020 More than 1.5 million people are employed in the UK’s events industry and we all have one thing in common: we are problem solvers. That is what we do, day in, day out. We are logistics experts, known the world over for our technical and creative talents. We are ready to get back to work, [...]
Four in 10 Londoners to switch jobs due to declining sector opportunities December 9, 2020 More than four in 10 (42%) Londoners are leaving their current jobs and sectors for fear there are declining job opportunities in their current line of work. Londoners are seeking job opportunities that are more stable and will not be impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, with nearly half (49%) of those polled moving sector for [...]
Stephan Shakespeare: Could Mike Ashley bring in customers to save Debenhams? December 9, 2020 Customers of Mike Ashley’s Fraser’s Group are typically more likely to consider buying from struggling department store Debenhams, YouGov research has revealed. It has been a tough year for retail but Debenhams has been hit particularly hard, with several of its stores closing their doors in May. Now, liquidators have been brought in to start [...]
UK firms worry about readiness as Brexit deadline approaches December 9, 2020 UK firms are increasingly anxious about Brexit, with more than half of those affected saying their ability to adequately prepare hinges on the ongoing trade talks, according to a new survey. The Institute of Directors (IoD) business lobby group which carried out the survey called on the government to “pull out the stops to land [...]
