London homeowners face ‘grim’ mortgage cost hike of £7,300 if Bank raises rates again June 12, 2023 London homeowners looking to renegotiate their mortgage this year face a whopping £7,300 rise in annual costs as experts warn of the “grim reality” of rising interest rates. The Bank of England is predicted to hike interest rates for the 13th consecutive time this year to 5.5 per cent in efforts to cool soaring inflation, [...]
Lights out: F1 Arcade secures tens of millions for global expansion June 12, 2023 A Formula 1 competitive gaming chain, founded by hospitality heavyweight Adam Breeden, has secured £30m in funding from investors to fuel its expansion globally. The concept, F1 Arcade, launched last year in St Paul’s, London and merges simulator racing with cocktails and food. The sport has grown in popularity in recent years, largely made popular [...]
Travelodge owners eye £1.2bn price tag for budget hotel chain June 11, 2023 Budget hotel chain Travelodge will be put up for sale with a price tag of over £1bn as its owners look to cash in the recovery of the travel sector post-pandemic. Its owner of nearly a decade, American asset management firm Goldentree is said to be in talks with investment banks to explore a potential [...]
THG set for battle with shareholders over return of non-executive director June 11, 2023 E-commerce platform THG could face a shareholder rebellion at its upcoming annual general meeting this month over concerns surrounding the return of a non-executive director.
Tesco prepares its quarterly results as UK competition regulator circles supermarket June 11, 2023 Tesco is set to report its first quarter trading results on Friday as the UK’s competition regulator circles the country’s largest supermarket chain over concerns about its pricing strategies. Last week, it emerged that consumer goods champion Which? had reported Tesco to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over claims that it does not display [...]
Online shopping sales slump to lowest levels since before pandemic June 9, 2023 The cost of living crisis has hindered the online shopping sales boom with digital sales falling to their lowest levels since before the pandemic. The number of online sales fell by 3.3 per cent during May as punters, under the cosh, have had to cut down on the number of goods they buy from digital [...]
Google cracks down on hybrid working – and will track staff attendance June 8, 2023 Google is reportedly cracking down on its hybrid-working policy with the tech giant to begin tracking staff office attendance and including employees’ frequency in the office in performance reviews. Fiona Cicconi, Google’s chief people officer, is said to have written an email to employees on Wednesday, according to reports in CNBC, noting that there is [...]
Sharon White: John Lewis will be profitable in three years June 8, 2023 John Lewis boss Sharon White has reportedly not ruled out tapping up outside investment to bring the struggling upmarket retailer back to profitably by 2026, however vowed that the would remain business employee owned. White told members of the Employee Owned Association – which represents UK organisations which are employee owned- that the plan to [...]
Capita to offload software businesses in efforts to strengthen its balance sheet June 8, 2023 Outsourcing firm Capita has agreed to sell its five software businesses for an enterprise value of £33m, as the group looks to strengthen its balance sheet and focus on its two core public service and experience divisions. The London listed firm said it hopes to receive cash proceeds of £44m on completion of the sale [...]
Sales surge for Zara owner Inditex as shoppers update summer wardrobe June 7, 2023 Zara owner Inditex reported a 16 per cent uptick in sales in its spring and summer collection, as the fashion giant’s new trends continue to lure in shoppers despite the cost of living crisis. Inditex, which is the world’s biggest fashion retailer, racked in €1.2bn (£1.03bn) in net profit in the first quarter of the [...]