Sainsbury’s shares rocket: Investors eye supermarket’s property portfolio August 23, 2021 Sainsbury’s shares were up 15 per cent cent after reports that a private equity giant is poised to launch a bid topping £7bn. Shares in J Sainsbury rose by 15 per cent on Monday to 338.89p, after closing on 294.70p. Apollo Global Management is reportedly considering a bid for the supermarket after previously losing out [...]
Female FTSE 100 directors earn 73 per cent less than male counterparts August 23, 2021 A recent investigation has found that female FTSE 100 directors on average earn 73 per cent less than their male counterparts. Research by New Street Consulting Group found that the average pay for female directors stands at £237,000, compared to £875,900 for male directors. The data reveals that the gender pay gap at the top [...]
National Covid-19 antibody surveillance programme launched by government August 22, 2021 A nation-wide antibody surveillance programme for the public has been launched by the UK Health Security Agency to collect data to build the government’s understanding of immunity against Covid-19. The government today announced that free home antibody tests kits will be offered to adults in the UK who test positive for the virus from Tuesday. [...]
Jamie Oliver Group revenues fell 20 per cent last year amid lockdown August 21, 2021 Turnover at the Jamie Oliver Group fell by 19.7 per cent to £30m as the company felt the force of the pandemic and lockdowns, according to reports. Pre-tax profits for the group, made up of Jamie Oliver Holdings and Jamie Oliver Licensing, fell by 41.2 per cent to £4.9m according to The Times. The Holdings [...]
Tobacco staff banned from global smoking research conference for ‘unprofessional’ behaviour August 21, 2021 The Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco have banned tobacco industry employees from attending its annual conference, following complaints about the “problematic behaviour” of tabacco staff. The decision to ban tobacco company employees from the conference came after a two-year long review by the international body, according to a report in The Times. It [...]
Extinction Rebellion protests cost over £50m August 21, 2021 The cost of policing Extinction Rebellion protests are over £50m, and is expected to rise with more demonstrations planned over the next few weeks, according to reports. The Metropolitan Police’s gold commander for the demonstrations, Rachel Williams, said the figure included the response to two protests in 2019 and one in September last year, when [...]
Action Fraud was fruitless agency – its downfall should teach us the perils of letting skulduggery go unpunished August 21, 2021 At the end of July, the Government announced it would scrap Action Fraud, the national gateway for triaging and allocating fraud complaints for police investigation. The decision is long overdue. Official reports criticising Action Fraud’s performance have been practically an annual event. The repeated criticism was that Action Fraud was a toothless crime-recording body – a [...]
Treasury refuses to bankroll Michael Gove’s single government login proposal August 21, 2021 Michael Gove’s plan to give every adult a single login for online interactions with the government, could be stalled by a funding dispute with the Treasury, according to reports. The Cabinet Office’s proposed plan, dubbed “one login for Government”, would result in people logging into a single online interface to conduct a host of activities [...]
Less rush hour traffic means major commuter train services could be cut next year August 21, 2021 Train operator Govia Thameslink are considering reducing services on major commuter lines into London, in anticipation of the end of “big spikes in rush-hour commuting”, according to reports. The train company operates the Thameslink, Great Northern and Southern lines which hundreds of thousands of people commuting into London and other cities use every day. The [...]
Weekend Read: Ailing business investment will dampen the economy’s post-Covid prospects August 21, 2021 The good pandemic-related news continued to emerge last week. Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics shows output jumped 4.8 per cent in the second quarter of this year, driven by the lifting of Covid restrictions on sectors that rely on face-to-face and social contact to generate income. The services industry – which accounts [...]