Barclays teams up with rugby ref Nigel Owens to launch £250m agri-tech fund October 7, 2020 Barclays has teamed up with world-renowned rugby referee Nigel Owens to launch a £250m fund to help farmers make their businesses carbon neutral. The new funding comes as research showed that 83 per cent of UK farmers said they could achieve net zero by 2035, five years before the deadline set by the farming union. [...]
Greene King to close pubs as 10pm curfew cripples sales October 7, 2020 Pub chain Greene King is preparing to permanently close 26 sites, putting hundreds of jobs at risk of redundancy, due to a sharp drop in sales exacerbated by the 10pm curfew on hospitality venues. It has launched a consultation process with 800 employees over the potential job cuts, Sky News reported. The company is seeking [...]
Get the Keirs in? Starmer calls for review of 10pm curfew October 7, 2020 Sir Keir Starmer has called for the government to review its 10pm curfew on pubs, restaurants and bars if it cannot provide any scientific evidence for its effectiveness. The Labour leader said at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) today that parliament and the public “deserves to know” if there is a scientific basis for the restriction [...]
UK house prices jump again in September as market defies gravity October 7, 2020 UK house prices rose at the fastest pace in four years in September despite the raging coronavirus pandemic as people working from home sought more space, according to the Halifax house price index. Yet the lender said it is “unlikely” that the British housing market will “remain immune” to the historic economic slowdown. House prices [...]
Frasers Group launches charm offensive to boost reputation over treatment of staff October 7, 2020 Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group today launched a charm offensive against shareholders and the City over the firm’s treatment of workers, which has previously been the subject of intense scrutiny. Speaking at this morning’s annual general meeting, non-executive chairman David Daly said the firm’s elevation strategy, which has seen it target a high-end retail reputation, also [...]
New: More than HALF of UK’s event companies expect bankruptcy by spring October 7, 2020 Stark new figures suggest that some 61 per cent of the UK’s events businesses expect to shut up shop within the next six months. The polling further suggests that 400,000 jobs will be lost in the industry by the end of 2020 without further government support. The survey was carried out by Feast It, the [...]
Prepare for Libor’s demise, City regulator tells markets October 7, 2020 Financial markets need to prepare themselves for regulatory announcements about the Libor benchmark interest rate ceasing at the end of next year, the City watchdog said. “Market participants need to be ready for announcements later this year setting out what will happen at the end of 2021,” the FCA’s director of markets, Edwin Schooling Latter, [...]
Liz Truss warns of the dangers of another England lockdown October 7, 2020 International trade secretary Liz Truss has said that another national lockdown would “set us back hugely” as the government weighs up imposing new Covid restrictions. Cases continue to spike in parts of the North, including Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle, with some media outlets speculating that hospitality venues could be closed except for takeaways in these [...]
Heathrow boss: PM told me airport testing will be in place ‘in October’ October 7, 2020 Boris Johnson has told the chief executive of Heathrow Airport that the UK will begin airport testing for coronavirus in two weeks time. Speaking to Travel Weekly, John Holland-Kaye confirmed that the Prime Minister said that ministers were planning to begin trials in the second half of this month. “It would take a couple of [...]
G4S hits back at Gardaworld over ‘misleading’ pension scheme claims October 7, 2020 Outsourcing giant G4S has hit back at Gardaworld after the Canadian firm stepped up its attempts to take over its larger rival. In a statement this morning, the FTSE 250 firm blasted the company over claims it made regarding the viability of G4S’ pension schemes. Having had multiple offers to take over the firm rejected [...]
