Topps Tiles swings to a loss and announces plan to reopen all stores next month May 19, 2020 Topps Tiles has outlined plans to reopen all of its stores by the end of next month, as the retailer announced it swung to a loss in the first half of the year. The tile retailer reported a loss before tax of £4m in the 26 weeks to 28 March, compared to a profit of [...]
Bank of England to name recipients of coronavirus loans May 19, 2020 The Bank of England has said it will start naming the companies that use its coronavirus lending facility in a bid to increase transparency about which firms are being bailed out. Firms using the Bank’s covid corporate financing facility (CCFF) will also be expected to start “showing restraint” on dividend payments, share buy-backs and senior [...]
UK jobless claims soar by a record 856,000 to 2.1m in April May 19, 2020 UK jobless claims soared 69.1 per cent – or by 856,000 – to 2.1m in April, unemployment data showed today to illustrate the staggering impact of coronavirus on the economy. And the UK unemployment number increased by 50,000 to 1.35m as lockdown started in March, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ONS [...]
N Brown shares soar as retailer secures £50m coronavirus loan May 19, 2020 Shares in N Brown soared more than 10 per cent this morning as the plus-size clothing retailer said it has secured £50m through the government’s Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS). The firm, which owns Simply Be and Jacamo, also said that trading had improved over the last six weeks since the “sudden and [...]
Ovo Energy to cut 2,600 jobs following SSE deal May 19, 2020 The UK’s second largest energy supplier, Ovo Energy, is planning to cut 2,600 jobs following its merger with SSE, blaming coronavirus for some of the cuts. Ovo, which closed a £500m deal for SSE’s retail arm this year, said the coronavirus pandemic had accelerated its integration plans for the businesses. “We are seeing a rapid [...]
Coronavirus loan cap increased to £200m for mid-sized firms May 19, 2020 The Treasury has raised the amount mid-sized companies can borrow through the coronavirus loan scheme to £200m, up from £50m. The changes to the coronavirus large business interruption loan scheme (CLBILS) come into force next week, ministers said. The CLBILS scheme is targeted at mid-sized companies that do not qualify for the Bank of England’s [...]
J.K. Rowling Twitter Storm shows the Crypto Ecosystem Needs to Mature May 19, 2020 As more evidence of impressive institutionally compliant behaviour shows itself in the crypto world, it’s more juvenile side is exposed as J.K.Rowling inadvertently starts a crypto Twitter storm. Price Watch Bitcoin (BTC) trading volume hit a new high for 2020 with an average (on the top ten exchanges only) of US$2-3bn per day through May, [...]
Two sides of the same coin May 19, 2020 Among the many questions we have concerning the future of our society, I doubt that anyone would ask if technology will be less or more present in our lives tomorrow. I believe we all know the answer: our lives and the key structures of our society will continue to rely more and more on technology. [...]
Blockchain Patents are Pointless May 19, 2020 Many technology companies – both enterprises and startups – are rushing to file new blockchain patents. Many patents are only “a little bit blockchain”. Others are not blockchain at all. And most illustrate a failure to grasp the core principles of blockchain: openness and collaboration. There have been hundreds of patents filed in the blockchain [...]
