Toyota drives operating profit up to record $9.2bn as sales make strong recovery August 4, 2021 Toyota posted a record Q1 operating profit of 997.49bn yen, or $9.15bn (£6.5bn), on Wednesday but did not alter its annual forecast, as sales recovered from pandemic lows but the carmaker cited “uncertainties” ahead. The Japanese carmaker weathered the global chip supply shortage better than many rivals, and sprinted past analysts’ average expectations of a [...]
The Office: Time for Government to offer certainty and direction August 4, 2021 Life has changed immeasurably over the past eighteen months, and the world of work is no different. Many office workers have now been working from home for over a year and habits have changed. Is hybrid working the future? There are certainly plenty of advocates suggesting that sofas, laptops and 8:59 alarm clocks are the [...]
Mike Ashley ‘set to step down’ as chief exec of Frasers Group August 3, 2021 Mike Ashley is reportedly set to hand control of his retail empire to his prospective son-in-laww after nearly 40 years in charge of Sports Direct. The Telegraph reported that the Frasers Group chief executive could confirm the decision alongside the firm’s results on Thursday. It is expected that he will become the deputy chairman of [...]
Foreign Office ‘urgently investigating’ hijacking in the Gulf of Oman August 3, 2021 The Foreign Office is “urgently investigating” a potential hijacking off the coast of the UAE, a spokesperson said this evening. Earlier today the UK’s maritime trade authority issued a warning over the incident, which took place near Fujairah in the Gulf of Oman. Later it upgraded the incident to a “potential hijacking” and warned other [...]
McLaren ‘to sell off Applied Technologies division to Greybull’ August 3, 2021 McLaren has reportedly struck a deal to sell off its Applied Technologies division to Greybull Capital as the supercar maker continues to streamline its operations. According to Sky News, the deal could be announced as early as tomorrow, although details of the size of the deal were as yet unclear. It comes just weeks after [...]
UK weighs up blocking £29bn Arm takeover by Nvidia due to potential risks to national security August 3, 2021 The UK is considering blocking US chip company Nvidia buying tech darling Arm for £29bn due to potential risks to national security, according to reports. According to Bloomberg, a Government-ordered report into the sale, delivered in late July from the CMA, contains worrying implications for national security and now Number 10 is currently inclined to reject [...]
Irn-Bru maker facing ‘increased challenges’ with lorry driver shortages August 3, 2021 AG Barr has said it faces “increased challenges” with its haulage fleet while expecting to report a revenue of some £134m for the first half of the financial year. Bosses have warned August will be a pinch point for the shortage of qualified HGV drivers, which was exacerbated by Brexit and the pandemic, as supermarkets [...]
Travel chaos as Heathrow’s computer system crashes and staff forced to isolate August 3, 2021 Passengers arriving at Heathrow are being forced to queue in lines as long as a quarter of a mile due to a combination of isolating staff and the repeated failure of a new £372m computer system. An outbreak of coronavirus cases among Border Force staff meant that more than one in four of them was [...]
Ever Given docks in Felixstowe after blocking Suez Canal August 3, 2021 Ever Given finally docked at the Port of Felixstowe on Tuesday after blocking the Suez Canal earlier this year. The ship was stuck for six days in the major shipping lane in Egypt, causing mass disruption to the global supply chains in April. Ever Given’s mooring at the Port of Felixstowe today has attracted dozens [...]
Covid app update ‘pretty pathetic’, says boss of Mr Fogg’s amid pingdemic staff shortages August 3, 2021 A modification to the NHS Covid 19 app has been dubbed “pretty pathetic” by one of the co-founders of Inception Group, who said isolation alerts had “changed the playing field” for London hospitality. Fewer Covid contacts are to be notified to self-isolate with individuals now notified if they have been in contact with someone in [...]
