Housebuilder stocks soar as property prices climb another £3,000 to new record high June 7, 2021 House prices in the UK rose again last month by around £3,000, bringing the average property price up to a record high of £261,743. May’s 1.3 per cent price increase means the average home in the UK has increased by more than £22,000 – or 9.5 per cent – in the last 12 months, according [...]
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, [...]
G7: Building back better will need a truly global approach to finance June 7, 2021 Over the weekend G7 finance ministers and financial leaders from across the world came together in London for arguably their most important meeting since the 2008 financial crisis. Top of their packed agenda was of course the recovery from COVID, against the backdrop of environmental issues and the challenges of reaching net zero emissions. Much [...]
Tesco and Carrefour end three-year partnership June 7, 2021 Tesco and French retailer Carrefour will not extend their purchasing alliance beyond the three-year framework agreed in 2018. The deal between the two giants will formally end on 31 December 2021. Over the last three years, Tesco and Carrefour have enjoyed a number of joint buying opportunities across food and general merchandise, giving them each [...]
Sirius Real Estate posts profit jump as rental rates increase despite Covid June 7, 2021 Sirius Real Estate has seen its annual pre-tax profit soar by 47 per cent to €163.7m as rental rates increased despite Covid restrictions. The FTSE 250 property firm, which invests in German business parks, said its like-for-like rental rates rose 3.5 per cent to €6.17 per sqm. It raised its total shareholder accounting return to [...]
Reckitt to see £2.5bn loss from sale of baby formula business June 7, 2021 Reckitt Benckiser will incur a net loss of £2.5bn on the sale of its baby formula business in China to private equity group Primavera Capital Group. The consumer goods maker said taking into account all costs, including goodwill, it will lose £2.5bn with the sale. Reckitt is selling its infant formula and child nutrition (IFCN) [...]
Extended lockdown weighs on IWG but strong recovery predicted June 7, 2021 Office space provider IWG today said that occupancy levels are improving but the prolonged impact of Covid-19 has delayed its recovery. While the company has seen positive occupancy momentum in the US, the improvement across the group has been slower-than-expected. This is largely down to continuing lockdown restrictions and the emergence of new variants in [...]
UK holidaymakers warned of summer essentials shortage June 7, 2021 Summer essentials like garden furniture, picnic baskets and outdoor toys could be in short supply this year, with many British suppliers experiencing import delays this month. Around 60 per cent of British suppliers have experienced import delays, the BBC reported, with the Suez Canal blockage earlier this year partly to blame. Increasing global demand for [...]
Business confidence soars to seven-year high amid vaccine rollout success June 7, 2021 Business confidence in May hit its highest point since June 2014, driven by the rollout of the vaccine programme and further easing of lockdown restrictions. The BDO Optimism Index, which quizzes businesses to calculate optimism, jumped from 99.85 in April to 109.71 the following month, above the long-term average of 100. May’s optimism marked the [...]
UK ranks second in Europe for foreign direct investment June 7, 2021 The UK is ranked second in Europe for total inbound foreign direct investment (FDI), and is still expanding its share of the market. In 2020 the UK secured 975 projects from FDI, down 12 per cent from 2019’s 1,109 despite the pandemic, according to data from EY. France narrowly outranked the UK, securing 985 projects, [...]
