Tesco completes £8bn Malaysia and Thailand business sale prompting £5bn shareholder windfall December 18, 2020 Tesco has completed the £8bn sale of its Thailand and Malaysia businesses and is gearing up to pay a £5bn special dividend to shareholders. The supermarket announced this morning that the division’s have been acquired by C.P. Retail Development Company, which is backed by Charoen Pokphand Group, CP All Public Company and Charoen Pokphand Foods. [...]
Accountants BDO to pay back millions in furlough cash after payout outcry December 13, 2020 Accountants BDO will return £4.1m in furlough cash after being subject to a barrage of criticism for paying out hefty profits to its partners. The Sunday Times reported that the company, which is one of the UK’s biggest accounting firms, would give back the money after paying its partners an average of £500,000. Managing partner [...]
Honda looks to restart production at Swindon plant on Monday December 10, 2020 Japanese carmaker Honda said that it would try to restart production at its Swindon plant on Monday after a shortage of parts forced it suspend activities. In a statement, the auto giant said: “Production is not running today or Friday with a view to restarting on Monday.” Output was halted yesterday after transport delays at [...]
Supermarkets supplying N. Ireland to get three month grace period after transition period December 9, 2020 Supermarkets selling into Northern Ireland will have a grace period to adapt their supply systems to the post-Brexit trading reality, Michael Gove said today. When the Brexit transition period ends at the end of the year, Northern Ireland will remain aligned to the EU’s single market and goods arriving in Northern Ireland will be subject [...]
Tesco to complete £8bn sale of Thai and Malaysian units this month December 9, 2020 Tesco is set to complete the sale of its Thailand and Malaysia businesses later this month after all conditions for the deal were satisfied. The UK supermarket giant announced in March that it was going to sell the two Asian businesses to Thai conglomerate CP Group. The deal is worth £8bn. Tesco is seeking to [...]
Mike Ashley’s firm should pay its debts to pensioners and taxpayers before it tries to buy Debenhams December 8, 2020 We are living in extraordinary times. At all levels of society people are being asked to make sacrifices — and this includes businesses. This week, news broke that Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group is making a last-minute bid to purchase Debenhams. His company — of Sports Direct fame — has been thriving throughout the crisis, and [...]
Kingfisher joins supermarkets in returning business rates relief December 7, 2020 DIY retailer Kingfisher has joined a list of retailers announcing plans to repay millions in business rates relief it received at the start of the pandemic. The FTSE 100 firm has announced it will pay back £130m in tax relief, pointing to strong sales since it reopened its UK stores in April amid high demand [...]
Are supermarkets right to return their business rates relief to the Treasury? December 7, 2020 Are the big supermarkets right to return their business rates relief to the Treasury? Josh Williams, speechwriter and managing director at The Draft, says YES. Doing well in a crisis is a risky business. There is a thin line between those who turn a profit and those who profiteer. The supermarkets have had a good [...]
Lidl pays back £100m in business rates relief December 4, 2020 Budget supermarket Lidl has joined the Covid repayment train in announcing it will pay back millions in business rates relief it received at the start of the pandemic. In March, the supermarket sector along with other retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England, was granted a business rates holiday for 12 months. Lidl today said [...]
Supermarket heavyweights the Co-op and Waitrose face mounting pressure to return business rates relief December 4, 2020 High street titans the Co-op Group and Waitrose are facing mounting pressure to follow their peers and hand back millions of pounds of business rates relief dished out to keep the companies afloat during the pandemic. The Co-op is facing growing disquiet from members after refusing to emulate rivals Tesco, Morrisons, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Aldi, [...]