SSP plots £475m rights issue to patch up battered balance sheet March 17, 2021 Upper Crust owner SSP today said that it would raise £475m through a rights issue to shore up its battered finances amid the ongoing pandemic. The travel food provider announced the raise as part of a suite of measures to tackle problems on its ailing balance sheet, warning that revenue would not return to pre-pandemic [...]
Laws won’t make modern slavery any more illegal, investors must put their foot down for businesses to change March 17, 2021 The first laws passed in the UK to abolish the slave trade date back to 1833. The global treaty banning slavery came into force in 1927. We are fast approaching 100 years of human history in which the trade in people has been as illegal as it could possibly be. And yet in the UK, [...]
Funeral firm Dignity swings to annual loss despite UK deaths rising 14 per cent March 17, 2021 Funeral providers Dignity today posted an annual loss of £19.6m as a sharp rise in yearly deaths were met by Covid funeral restrictions. The firm saw underlying profit plummet 12 per cent to £55.7m, while pre-tax profit dropped by more than a quarter to £30.7m. Dignity made a yearly loss before tax of £19.6m compared [...]
Serco nets new £870m support services contract in Canada March 17, 2021 Outsourcer Serco has this morning won a £870m contract to provide support services at a military base in Canada. The FTSE 250 firm has been providing non-military maintenance services at the Goose Bay in Newfoundland and Labrador province since 1998. For its initial 10 years, the deal is worth a maximum £400m, with the firm [...]
Hostelworld revenues plummet as bookings collapse March 17, 2021 Hostelworld saw its revenues collapse last year as the coronavirus pandemic put paid to booking volumes at the budget holiday firm. The company said that net bookings had fallen nearly four-fifths during the year, sinking its revenue from €80.7m to €15.4m. The fall meant the firm swung to an earnings loss of €17.3m, down from [...]
UK borrowers impacted by pandemic face rising mortgage payments, L&G warns March 17, 2021 UK borrowers who have suffered a drop in income during the pandemic could soon be paying thousands of pounds more in monthly mortgage repayments, according to the latest research. The survey by Legal & General Mortgage Club found that one in three borrowers are considering staying on their current lender’s Standard Variable Rate (SVR) once [...]
Government should crack down on Uighur forced labour in business supply chains, MPs say March 17, 2021 The government should toughen its anti-slavery measures to ensure that forced labour plays no part in the supply chains of major businesses, MPs have said. A report from the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) committee said that there was “compelling evidence” that major retail, media, and fashion companies are “complicit” in the forced labour [...]
There are 19 FTSE 100 companies without any ethnic minority board members – is this really the best UK PLC can do? March 17, 2021 There are 19 FTSE 100 companies that still don’t have anyone from an ethnic minority on their board. This comes despite a target set by the government-backed Parker Review into corporate diversity of at least one person from an ethnic minority on every board by 2021. Yes it’s true that seven all-white boards have disappeared [...]
Calorie counting gimmicks and sugar taxes won’t solve obesity crisis March 17, 2021 In the early days of the pandemic obesity was identified as a key factor behind hospitalisation rates and deaths from Covid. The Prime Minister knew this personally, from his own brush with mortality last April. This is on top of the already well-established links between obesity and other life-threatening conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, [...]
Pandemic-graduates fear diminished work prospects amid record competition March 17, 2021 A near two-thirds of graduates fear the pandemic will negatively shape their future career prospects, as 53 per cent are concerned over remote working difficulties, according to new research. Milkround data has revealed that the pandemic has pushed 11 per cent of graduates to stay in education for longer than anticipated, with 64 per cent [...]
