Brexit: Chance of no-deal exit ‘underpriced’, says Number 10 November 29, 2020 There is still a reasonably good chance the UK will leave the post-Brexit transition period on a no-deal basis, according to Downing Street. The UK will leave the EU’s single market and customs union with or without a trade deal on 31 December. A no-deal exit would mean that trade barriers between the EU and [...]
Tiering it down: Boris Johnson backtracks on Covid restrictions November 29, 2020 Boris Johnson has bent to the demands of Tory backbench MPs by softening England’s future Covid restrictions regime. Johnson wrote to MPs telling them that people stuck in the strictest Covid restrictions will have them downgraded next month, while also promising that the tier system will end earlier than expected. Millions of people put into [...]
Soho House founder: ‘If we were desperate for cash we’d let in our 50,000 waiting list’ November 29, 2020 Nick Jones, founder of Soho House, has said if the business needed more money post-pandemic, it would let in its “huge” waiting list of 50,000 people. Speaking in an interview with the Telegraph, Jones was confident Soho House customers would return to the private members club when they could, and if the business needed extra [...]
Brexit: Intensive UK-EU trade talks entering ‘last week’, says Dominic Raab November 29, 2020 Post-Brexit trade negotiations between the UK and EU are set to enter the “last week or so” of “substantive” talks, according to foreign secretary Dominic Raab. The UK is set to leave the EU’s single market and customs union on 31 December, leaving little time to close a Brexit trade deal and get it ratified [...]
HSBC mulls exit from US retail banking November 29, 2020 HSBC is considering a total exit from retail banking in the US after narrowing the options for how to improve performance at its struggling North America business. Senior management at HSBC aim to present the plan to the bank’s board in the coming weeks, as HSBC seeks to move resources from the US and toward [...]
Philip Green’s Arcadia collapse to push Debenhams to the brink November 29, 2020 The imminent collapse of retail group Arcadia will push Debenhams to the brink of liquidation, as potential buyer JD Sports considers backing out of the deal. JD’s board was supposed to decide whether to go through with the Debenhams acquisition by the end of last week, but has had second thoughts after learning that Arcadia [...]
Starling says IPO ‘in our sights’ amid reported big-bank interest November 28, 2020 Challenger bank Starling has said it has its sights set on an IPO after a report said City giants Lloyds and JP Morgan were interested in the company. JP Morgan has talked about snapping up Starling, while Lloyds is interested in its technology, The Times reported. However, Starling today said: “An IPO is still in [...]
Mike Ashley ‘offers Arcadia £50m’ as crows circle retail group November 28, 2020 Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group is suggesting a £50m loan to keep Arcadia Group in business as the crows circle around the failing retail giant. Plans for the emergency loan come as Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia prepares to call in administrators, according to Sky News. It would be one of the biggest corporate victims of the [...]
A sea apart: UK dismisses EU Brexit fishing offer as ‘derisory’ November 28, 2020 A post-Brexit trade deal appeared to be a way off this weekend after the UK reportedly labelled the EU’s offer on fishing rights “derisory”. EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier is back in London today for the latest round of talks. Face-to-face negotiations had to be postponed just over a week ago when a member of [...]
Boris Johnson appoints new minister for UK coronavirus vaccine rollout November 28, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson has made Nadhim Zahawi the minister responsible for overseeing the rollout of coronavirus vaccines at the health department, in the latest sign that the government is laying the groundwork for the jabs to become widely available. Zahawi – who has been the Tory MP for Stratford-on-Avon for a decade – will [...]
