New car sales edge up after torrid year October 4, 2019 New car sales climbed in the 12 months to September, as manufacturers recovered slightly following a turbulent spell of trading last year. According to SMMT new car sales rose 1.3 per cent year-on-year to September, marking the first rise since February. However, 2019 was the second weakest September – after 2018 – for new car [...]
Sun, sea and skint Spaniards: Spain plans up €300m tourism rescue package after Thomas Cook collapse October 3, 2019 Spain is preparing a $300m rescue package for its tourism industry, after the collapse of Thomas Cook is said to have left bars deserted and beaches empty at its holiday hotspots. The country’s tourism minister said the cash would be split across 13 different measures, including a credit line for companies struggling to cope. Read [...]
Thomas Cook’s Belgian operations announce bankruptcy October 1, 2019 Thomas Cook’s operations in Belgium have officially been declared bankrupt, putting 500 jobs at risk. A commercial court today ruled that Thomas Cook Retail Belgium – the largest Belgian subsidiary of the collapsed travel giant – had collapsed into administration. Read more: FRC watchdog probes EY audit of Thomas Cook accounts The retail arm had [...]
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary says package holiday market ‘is over,’ weeks after Thomas Cook collapse October 1, 2019 Ryanair’s chief executive has taken a swipe at the package holiday industry, weeks after the firm that effectively founded it, Thomas Cook, went bust. Michael O’Leary, the budget airliner’s longstanding and often outspoken boss, said the market “is screwed, it’s over”. Read more: FRC watchdog probes EY audit of Thomas Cook accounts Ryanair cut its [...]
Job losses mount as no-deal Brexit fears hit UK manufacturing output October 1, 2019 The UK manufacturing sector could be sliding into recession as output remained in the red and job losses piled up in September, according to a closely-followed industry measure. Factory activity hit 48.3 on IHS Markit’s UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) last month, data revealed today. Read more: ‘Grim’ reading: Eurozone manufacturing sector hits seven-year [...]
FRC watchdog probes EY audit of Thomas Cook accounts October 1, 2019 The UK’s financial watchdog has launched an investigation into EY’s audit of Thomas Cook’s last set of financial results. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has started its probe into EY’s audit of the collapsed tour operator’s financial year ending 30 September 2018. Read more: DEBATE: Is Thomas Cook’s boss right to defend his high pay? [...]
UK consumer credit growth slows to five-year low September 30, 2019 British customers increased their borrowing at the slowest rate since 2014 in August, official statistics showed today, in a sign that Brexit uncertainty is weighing on consumer confidence. Read more: Pound staggers as Bank of England hints at interest rate cut The annual growth rate of lending to British consumers continued to slow in August, [...]
More heat than light in Thomas Cook debate September 29, 2019 One Thomas Cook was bailed out last week. Thanks to the generosity of friends, family and the Linden Princess Hotel in Rhodes, Thomas Cook’s wedding to Amelia Binch went ahead last Friday. The couple feared all was lost after the travel operator, with whom they had booked a wedding package, collapsed in spectacular style. More [...]
Thomas Cook: MPs launch inquiry into ‘corporate greed’ at collapsed holiday giant September 26, 2019 Thomas Cook bigwigs will be hauled in front of MPs in the coming months and forced to explain the firm’s catastrophic collapse, which left 150,000 Brits stranded abroad and forced the biggest peacetime repatriation in history by the British government. After meeting this afternoon, the Commons’ business select committee agreed to launch a wide-ranging inquiry [...]
Thomas Cook collapse: Regulators and business groups clamour for answers September 24, 2019 Regulators and business groups today lined up to demand answers over the collapse of holiday giant Thomas Cook. Accounting watchdog the Financial Reporting Council said it is mulling a full-scale probe into whether it breached accounting standards. A spokesman said it is considering the case “as a matter of urgency”. Read more: Thomas Cook collapse [...]