The Works swings to a loss but hails strong post-lockdown trading August 27, 2020 The Works swung to a loss in the last financial year due to the impact of the coronavirus crisis, but the retailer said trading had been well ahead of expectations after stores reopened. The figures The Works posted a loss of £18m for the year ended 26 April, down from a profit of 2.3m the [...]
Diageo to acquire Ryan Reynolds’ gin brand through Davos Brands deal August 17, 2020 The world’s largest spirits maker Diageo has announced it will buy Ryan Reynolds’ gin brand Aviation American Gin. The company will buy Aviation American Gin, which is co-owned by the Hollywood star, through the acquisition of Aviation Gin and Davos Brands for up to $610m. It will be funded through existing cash and is expected [...]
Debenhams draws up contingency plans for liquidation August 16, 2020 Debenhams’ owners have begun drawing up plans for the liquidation of the department store, which could threaten thousands of jobs. The retailer is understood to have appointed Hilco Capital, which specialises in restructuring and refinancing firms, as a contingency plan. Hilco’s appointment was first reported by Sky News and was described over the weekend as [...]
Rishi Sunak says ‘hard times are here’ as UK plunges into worst recession on record August 12, 2020 Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak today warned that “hard times are here” after the UK’s GDP contracted by 20.4 per cent in the last three months, plunging it into the worst recession on record. Speaking to Sky News, Sunak warned that “many more people” would lose their jobs as a result of the recession, [...]
Making it work: Why we need to start talking about who gets access to a coronavirus vaccine August 12, 2020 There is an unprecedented international scientific effort underway to develop an effective vaccine for SARS CoV-2 — the cause of Covid-19 — and we are all desperate for some good news. I have spent my life fighting infectious diseases around the world, from HIV to SARS to Ebola. Unfortunately, our collective track record for speedy [...]
Police use of facial recognition tech ruled unlawful by UK court August 11, 2020 The use of automatic facial recognition (AFR) technology by a UK police force has been ruled unlawful by the Court of Appeal, following a legal challenge in south Wales. The court found South Wales Police’s use of facial recognition technology breaches privacy rights, data protection laws and equality laws, bringing a long-running trial of the [...]
This pandemic has not spared our children — we face a youth mental health catastrophe July 31, 2020 The coronavirus crisis has changed us all. Whether through bereavement, job losses, isolation, or drastic changes to work and schooling, 2020 has radically altered the world as we know it. We are yet to know how long we will have to live with Covid-19 — the government oscillates between telling us things will be back [...]
Argos scraps catalogue after 50 years as shoppers move online July 30, 2020 Argos will stop printing its iconic catalogue after almost 50 years due to the increasing shift to online shopping. The retailer said it would stop producing the catalogue due to changing customer shopping habits. The bi-annual catalogue will no longer be regularly printed by the end of January 2021, according to reports. Argos first launched [...]
Astrazeneca secures $6bn cancer drug deal with Japan’s Daiichi July 27, 2020 Astrazeneca is set to pay up to $6bn (£4.7bn) to Japanese firm Daiichi Sankyo to develop and market a cancer treatment, marking the second multi-billion dollar cancer drug deal between the two companies. London-listed Astrazeneca today said it will pay Daiichi an upfront payment pf $1bn for an antibody drug conjugate — a class of treatments [...]
Johnson calls anti-vaxxers ‘nuts’ as fears mount over second wave of coronavirus July 24, 2020 Boris Johnson has described vaccine opponents as “nuts”, as the Prime Minister warned that coronavirus “could come back again” in the winter. “There’s all these anti-vaxxers now,” Boris Johnson told nurses at GP surgery in London today. “They are nuts, they are nuts.” Speaking on the first anniversary of his premiership, the PM said he believes that [...]