Commodity inflation hits China after pandemic delays and recovery demand June 7, 2021 Despite its imports growing at their fastest pace in a decade in May, pandemic delays and recovery demand have spelled rising commodity inflation in China. Surging demand for raw materials stoked the country’s import growth, despite exports climbing less than expected due to pandemic disruptions and Covid cases at key ports. Imports increased 51.1 per [...]
Travelodge opens seven new hotels ahead of domestic summer travel boom June 7, 2021 Travelodge, what is thought to be the UK’s first budget hotel chain, have opened the doors to seven new hotels today following a £70m injection. The seven properties, which form part of 17 hotels that are expected to open later this year, are set to create around 150 jobs. Dotted across St Albans, Boston, Faringdon, [...]
Empiric Student Property sees rentals rise even with lockdown learning June 7, 2021 Empiric Student Property, which owns and operates student accommodation, has seen rentals rise despite the impacts of the pandemic on students, while applications from Chinese students have spiked. Applications for the upcoming academic year show encouraging growth, the company said this morning, as Chinese applications grew by 21 per cent, despite the ongoing tension between [...]
Cough up £10m to keep 15th century statuette of Saint Christopher in London June 4, 2021 A 15th century German statuette of Saint Christopher will be shipped out of the UK unless a buyer willing to spend £10m on it can be found. The late Gothic statuette was a gift to the Monastery of Kaiserheim in South Germany in 1493 and shows the Saint wading through a river, holding a staff [...]
Brussels to break down Northern Ireland barrier to UK medicines, sources say June 4, 2021 Brussels is eyeing Northern Ireland’s barriers to British medicine supplies, looking to remove them in a bid to ease Brexit border negotiations, according to reports. The Northern Ireland Protocol has been wreaking havoc on negotiations, but the European Union is expected to offer an ‘olive branch’ in London on Wednesday, The Telegraph first reported. [...]
Post-Brexit: UK inks £21bn trade deal with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein June 4, 2021 The UK has inked a new trade deal with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, which will see some tariffs on British exports, which were as high as 277 per cent, slashed. The deal is the first the three European countries have dedicated chapters to digital trade and small businesses. “Today’s deal will be a major boost [...]
Metro Bank bolsters UK call centre operations with new Bristol branch June 4, 2021 Metro Bank has launched a new customer call centre above its Bristol store this week, another bank bolstering its call centre operations in the UK. Delayed slightly due to Covid-19, the opening of the new centre, called AMAZE Direct, has created over 100 jobs. The challenger bank’s shares lifted 2.2 per cent this morning, taking [...]
ONS: ‘Long Covid’ has hit around 1m Brits, with effects lasting a year June 4, 2021 “Long Covid” has struck around 1m people in private households in the UK, in the four weeks to 2 May, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Of the 1m long covid sufferers, an estimated 869,000 said they first had Covid-19 or thought they had the virus at least 12 weeks [...]
Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible pauses UK filming after crew Covid cases June 4, 2021 UK-based production of Tom Cruise’s latest Mission: Impossible film has been stopped for two weeks after people tested positive for Covid-19, studio giant Paramount said today. While it is unclear how many tested positive for the virus, which has prolonged releases since March last year, the blockbuster action sequel will resume shooting on 14 June, [...]
Survey: Skimpy pay packets stop most Londoners from buying dream home June 4, 2021 Skimpy pay packets were the most likely reason Londoners could not get their dream home, according to a survey today, as the average budget for a capital property has swelled to £384,130. Earnings stopped 33.05 per cent of those surveyed by Money, while deposit building and mortgage availability were the next two big worries for [...]
