Credit disagreement: the future of the high street depends on how we handle retailers’ Covid debt July 19, 2021 It is a commonplace that the pandemic has devastated the economy. The prospects of recovery may be rosier than we had dared imagine, but businesses have suffered grievously, especially those for whom in-person custom, footfall, is vital. One sector which has been hit particularly hard is independent retail. The death of the high street has [...]
Revolution Beauty shares run rouge in London junior market debut July 19, 2021 Revolution Beauty, which debuted a £300m placing on London’s junior market today, has seen its shares plummet over four per cent. With its ordinary shares listed at 160p per piece, the company’s valuation is around $495m. The British beauty group began trading at 08:00 under the ticker REVB after an oversubscribed fundraiser last week. Revolution, [...]
Oil prices plummet after Opec+ end deadlock July 19, 2021 Oil prices plummeted on Monday after Opec+ broke through a deadlock to reach an agreement on oil production. Brent Crude and WTI Crude both fell sharply on the news, down 2.41 per cent at and 2.55 per cent respectively. Opec+ agreed to increase oil production by 400,000 barrels a day on Sunday. As part of [...]
Pegasus spyware investigation reveals scale of surveillance July 19, 2021 Human rights activists, journalists and lawyers have been targeted by spyware sold to authoritarian governments by the Israeli technology firm NSO Group, according to media reports. An investigation into a data leak by human rights group Amnesty International and NGO Forbidden Stories revealed a list of more than 50,000 phone numbers that may have been [...]
Table service to remain in ‘most’ pubs post-Freedom Day, Shepherd Neame boss says July 19, 2021 Table service is to remain in most Shepherd Neame pubs, with only “some sites” having bar service reintroduced after England eases most restrictions today. Pub group boss Jonathan Neame welcomed the easing of restrictions and larger groups of people regardless of households to his pub estate in a statement. “While restrictions have been lifted, and [...]
HSBC reopens all branches and offices in England from today July 19, 2021 HSBC said this morning it has reopened all of its bank branches and offices in England today as the government lifts the remainder of Covid-19 restrictions. HSBC will also increase its building capacity to around 50 per cent of staff over the next few months. “I know many colleagues will be hugely excited to get [...]
Ocado: Thousands of orders cancelled as robots cause fire July 19, 2021 A fire at an Ocado fulfillment centre in south-east London on Friday has caused the online grocer to cancel thousands of orders. The blaze occurred when three of the robots that help pick groceries collided at the Erith site. About 800 staff members had to be evacuated and firefighters worked through the night to stop [...]
Pingdemic: UK supermarkets brace themselves for chaotic Freedom Day July 19, 2021 Supermarkets warned they will shorten opening hours or close their shops amid a rising number of their workers having to self-isolate. There are fears of goods shortages in supermarkets and cuts in production at factories because of the number of workers being pinged by the NHS Test and Trace app. Last week, over 500,000 alerts [...]
US shareholders in Grenfell Tower cladding firm Arconic given go ahead to sue own company July 19, 2021 US shareholders of the Grenfell Tower cladding firm Arconic have been given the green light to proceed with a lawsuit against the company, US District court in Manhattan has ruled. According to witness statements, the company did go ahead and use the controversial cladding material even though managers were aware that the material that was [...]
Bill Ackman remixes Universal Music deal after SPAC plan questioned July 19, 2021 Billionaire investor Bill Ackman has been forced to rejig a $4bn deal to buy a 10 per cent stake in Vivendi’s Universal Music Group, after investors and regulators criticised his original SPAC plan. Pershing had agreed last month to buy 10 per cent of the world’s largest music company through a blank-cheque company called Pershing [...]
