Brewdog boss calls for emergency tax relief as pubs stare down ‘existential threat’ of high bills September 5, 2022 Brewdog CEO James Watt has called for emergency tax relief for the hospitality industry as pubs battle the “genuinely existential threat” of rising energy bills. Last week, the Scottish brewer and bar group announced it would be closing six outlets across the UK, including three in London, due to elevated headwinds. The situation facing pubs [...]
Vistry swoops in with £1.25bn bid for rival Countryside September 5, 2022 Housebuilders Vistry and Countryside are expected to push ahead with a £1.25bn merger, the boards of both companies said today. The cash and shares offer is based upon Vistry’s closing share price of 741p as of 2 September, and represents a more than nine per cent premium on Countryside’s closing price of 228p on the [...]
Property franchise the Belvoir group has uptick in revenue built on lettings September 5, 2022 Property franchise the Belvoir group’s revenue was up 12 per cent in the first half of the year driven by the continued high demand for lettings. The firm, which also runs financial services, made £15.4m up until June, up from £13.8m in the same period last year. Its gross profits was dominated by 60 per [...]
Britain is being failed by a lumbering digital state September 5, 2022 If you’re struggling to heat your home, how would you feel if you just missed out on £1,467 because of a computer glitch? In May this year, Rishi Sunak was blocked from raising benefits in line with inflation. The culprit? A 40-year-old IT system unable to process more than one benefit rise a year. Ineffective [...]
Please, end the political pass the parcel and build up our energy infrastructure September 5, 2022 Today the Conservative Party announces its new leader, drawing the curtain down on three years of Boris Johnson’s inimitable premiership. It is the third internal change of leader in six years, and we might hope as a nation that we are now given a little respite. Choosing a lowlight of the campaign is not easy. [...]
Economic fraudsters are shapeshifters who adapt their crime to fit the tech or the crisis September 5, 2022 Later today we will know who has won the Conservative Party leadership election and, in turn, welcome a new prime minister. Immediately there will be many priorities the new administration will have to address as the UK faces major economic, social and environmental challenges. Amid this bulging in-tray, one thing that should not be forgotten [...]
‘Brexit’s biggest rewards’: New data bill makes way through parliament September 5, 2022 New data reforms, which digital secretary Nadine Dorries reckons will be “one of Brexit’s biggest rewards”, is set to be debated in parliament today. Under the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, firms will be given the flexibility to protect personal data in more proportionate ways rather than forcing them to follow the same processes [...]
Letters: Failure at the high street bank September 5, 2022 [Re: Fintech lenders have failed to educate FCA on financial crime, August 23] The knowledge gap between financial regulators and digital banks is no surprise. Traditional financial institutions’ largely ineffective financial crime protections make mutual understandings between regulators and providers a rare occurrence. So, when digital banks are called out for their lack of transparency, [...]
UK in the running for £7bn lithium battery gigafactory among European peers September 5, 2022 The UK is in the running for an $8bn (£6.9bn) lithium battery gigafactory, squaring up to European peers in the race to cultivate healthy electric vehicle industries locally. The global energy transition has prompted countries, such as the UK, the US and Germany, to double down on their support for domestic electric vehicle markets. The [...]
Brits ditch the loungewear and head back to the office: John Lewis September 5, 2022 Non-wired bras, velour tracksuits, jigsaws and wall-mounted desks have fallen out of favour with British shoppers as they put the lockdown lifestyle behind them, annual John Lewis sales figures suggest. The retailer’s annual How We Shop, Live And Look report suggests customers are “casting off the trappings of a life in lockdown” with sales of [...]
