Ted Baker upgrades London HQ to Gorgeous Brown Building in Fitzrovia July 23, 2021 Ted Baker has traded in its Ugly Brown Building headquarters after 20 years for what will be called the Gorgeous Brown Building in Fitzrovia. The lifestyle and fashion brand had previously owned the Ugly Brown Building in King’s Cross which was sold to British Airways Pension Trustees for £78.8m last year. Shares opened higher in [...]
The UK and France mulling Covid ‘wallet’ app for safe foreign travel July 23, 2021 The UK and France are in talks to roll out a digital “wallet” with all necessary Covid-19 documentation needed for safe foreign travel. The travel app seeks to end paper-based bureaucracy which adds another tally to the list of things to forget at home as a holiday-goer. Transport secretary Grant Shapps met with his French [...]
Hotel Chocolat raises £40m in bid to become ‘digital-led’ chocolatier July 23, 2021 Hotel Chocolat has raised £40m in its latest share placement, in what its boss said will help it become a ‘digital-led chocolate brand’. The British chocolatier’s placing, which was led by Peel Hunt and Liberum Capital, was oversubscribed. “The £40m growth capital raised today will be invested in our fast-growing business, furthering our aim of [...]
Shapps: Government to review £27bn roads plan after Covid-19 reshaped travel July 22, 2021 The government is set to review its £27bn roads investment plan after Covid-19 reshaped travel, the transport secretary said today. Lockdown measures like working from home and online shopping have had permanent impacts on the UK’s travel routines. “In the last eighteen months, fundamental changes have occurred in commuting, shopping, and business travel, which before [...]
Autonomy founder and billionaire Mike Lynch can be extradited to the US, court rules July 22, 2021 British tech billionaire and Autonomy founder Mike Lynch has lost an attempt to block extradition to the US on fraud charges, a court ruled today. Lynch faces decades in prison if found guilty over the £7.1bn sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard in 2011 and will go to California to answer criminal charges. [...]
Robinsons owner Britvic sees revenues rocket as UK restrictions ease July 22, 2021 Britvic, which owns Robinsons and Tango, has seen its revenues surge since restrictions eased as the soft drinks retailer was hit hard by hospitality closures. Revenue at the company shot up 22.8 per cent to £384.8m in its third-quarter trading, as it said revenue has grown across all its units. In total, however, the company’s [...]
Unilever hit by rising commodity prices despite positive sales growth July 22, 2021 Consumer goods giant Unilever has drawn back its full-year operating margin forecast as commodity costs have surged in the past six months. The group, which owns Dove and Hellmann’s, turned over €25.8bn in its half-year results – just 0.3 per cent more than last year. However, the group has already raked in a further €13.5bn [...]
Centrica profits lift as British Gas strike turns down the heat July 22, 2021 Centrica has taken home some £1bn in operating profits in the past six months, as industrial actions at subsidiary British Gas tones down. The group swung from a £338m statutory profit loss last year, it said in its result for the six months to 30 June. Shares sank 2.1 per cent in its afternoon trading, [...]
Restore shares soar after shooting down Marlowe’s ‘unsolicited’ £743m bid July 22, 2021 Data management services firm Restore had its shares sent flying today after it rejected a £743m ‘unsolicited’ bid from business services and software company Marlowe. Restore rejected the offer almost immediately, adding that it is the second “unsolicited, highly conditional, non-binding” offer in just a few weeks. Shares in the data management firm rocketed 14.2 [...]
China locks down city the size of London after 17 Covid cases found July 22, 2021 China has locked down a city of some 9.3m people, a similar population to that of London, after just 17 cases of Covid-19 were found. It comes as China reported its highest daily number of new cases since January on Tuesday and shot down plans to investigate the Covid-19’s origin. A senior Chinese health official [...]
