Last orders: US private equity giant calls time on bid to buy pub chain Marston’s February 11, 2021 Platinum Equity Advisors today announced its intention to pull out of its bid to buy British brewer and pub chain owner Marston’s. Marston’s, which runs around 1,400 pubs, rejected a £690m takeover offer from the US private equity firm last month, claiming that the bid undervalued the company. The British Hobgoblin brewer has seen shares [...]
AstraZeneca gets vaccine boost as sales jump to nearly $26bn February 11, 2021 Product sales at AstraZeneca jumped 10 per cent in 2020, up to nearly $26bn, in a year that made the at pharmaceutical company a household name. Total revenue at the business stood at $2.6bn, up nine per cent from 2019. Globally, new medicines represented 52 per cent of total revenue for the year. AstraZeneca’s share [...]
Superdry poaches new finance chief from Marks & Spencer’s clothing division February 11, 2021 Fashion retailer Superdry has poached a senior Marks & Spencer director to be its new chief financial officer. Shaun Wills, who has served as the finance director of M&S’s beleaguered clothing and home division since 2018, will join Superdry at the end of April. Wills, who has worked in the retail sector for 30 years, [...]
Royal Mail reports busiest Christmas on record as parcel revenue soars February 11, 2021 More than 496 million parcels were delivered by Royal Mail during the third quarter, the busiest period in its history. The postal service distributed 11.7 million parcels during its toughest 24 hours, 32 per cent more than the busiest day throughout the first national lockdown. Covid-19 restrictions prompted a surge in demand, leading to Royal [...]
Brexit crowns Amsterdam Europe’s top trading hub, ousting The City February 11, 2021 Amsterdam surpassed London as Europe’s largest share trading centre last month, as Brexit led London to lose business. Some €9.2bn shares a day were traded on Euronext Amsterdam and the Dutch arms of CBOE and Turquoise, the London Stock Exchange’s platform, last month – a more than fourfold increase from December, the Financial Times reported. [...]
Ted Baker races to improve ecommerce offering as online sales disappoint February 11, 2021 Fashion retailer Ted Baker said it is racing to improve its digital shopping platform as it reported disappointing online sales in the fourth quarter, which were unable to offset the impact of store closures on revenue. The firm also revealed that it will take a £5m Brexit-related hit in its full-year results, reflecting extra duty [...]
Kent variant could become ‘world’s dominant strain’ February 11, 2021 The Kent variant of the coronavirus could become the “world’s dominant strain”, the head of the UK’s genetic surveillance said this morning. The variant has been detected across Britain and in more than 50 countries around the world. “It’s going to sweep the world, in all probability,” professor Sharon Peacock told BBC news this [...]
Government support brings scale-up investment to record high February 11, 2021 The government’s Future Fund scheme helped British scale-ups secure a record number of investments, according to new research. There were 2,928 announced deals for high-growth companies last year according to Beauhurst research. While deal volume grew 48 per cent year-on-year the total investment volume dropped eight per cent to £10.8bn. Venture capital activity remained fairly [...]
‘Buy Now Pay Later’ regulation must be matched by genuine action February 11, 2021 Few payment methods have experienced such exponential growth as ‘buy now pay later’. In a year that has kept us at home, the convenience and flexibility it offers consumers has more than trebled demand. Five million of us have spent £2.7 billion using the service since the pandemic began. But with ease and flexibility, comes [...]
Exclusive: Hong Kong refugee activists on the UK’s new visa scheme February 11, 2021 The UK’s visa program for British national overseas passport holders is generally seen in Hong Kong as a “last resort” for those who wish to flee Beijing’s new National Security Law, but the program should be extended to youngsters, multiple activists in exile have told City A.M. Baggio Leung, a former Hong Kong legislator and [...]
