Uber Eats orders skyrocket 160 per cent in lockdown June 29, 2020 Orders on Uber Eats have jumped significantly since lockdown began, rising by over 160 per cent as the UK turned to food delivery apps to replace the high street. The number of new restaurants on Uber Eats’ UK platform has almost doubled in the last four months to a total of 17,000, as smaller independent [...]
Virgin Media down: Broadband outage hits thousands working from home June 25, 2020 Virgin Media appeared to suffer an outage this morning, leaving thousands of customers working remotely without broadband. The broadband operator had not acknowledged the issue by 10.15am on Twitter despite a flood of angry complaints from customers. Downdetector, a website that records outages by tracking social media mentions, registered a surge of complaints of Virgin [...]
Staycation nation: Johnson urges public to take a UK holiday June 23, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson today gave the green light for hotels, B&Bs and campsites in the UK to reopen from 4 July, and urged the public to revitalise the hospitality industry by taking a “staycation” within the UK. In a major easing of social distancing rules, the PM today provided a lifeline for the hospitality [...]
Competition watchdog moves closer to green light on Amazon and Deliveroo deal June 23, 2020 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is set to make the first step in giving the tie-up between Amazon and Deliveroo the green light. The announcement, which could be made this afternoon, would reissue a provisional approval of Amazon’s £442m deal to buy a 16 per cent stake in Deliveroo, Sky News reported. The watchdog [...]
Johanna Kyrklund: Is retail investor surge cause for caution? June 15, 2020 With a combination of resurgent markets, seemingly ebullient retail investors and a bleak economic outlook, it may be prudent to tread carefully. It’s an old investment cliché that when your taxi driver starts giving you share tips, it’s time to sell. As someone who has been on the receiving end of cabbie investment advice during [...]
Shorter hours and portable loos: How London’s West End is reopening shops after lockdown June 15, 2020 The West End was one of the first areas of London to suffer the economic damage wrought by coronavirus, even before lockdown. By mid-February, people were already avoiding the usually bustling restaurants of Chinatown, following false reports that the disease could be caught more easily there. Now, after months of lockdown-induced hibernation, businesses across the [...]
Pearson shares rocket as Cevian Capital snaps up stake June 12, 2020 Pearson shares surged almost 10 per cent this morning after activist investor Cevian Capital unmasked a 5.4 per cent stake in the firm. A regulatory filing in the US yesterday showed Stockholm-based investor Cevian Capital has taken a stake of 40.6m shares in Pearson. Shares in the educational publisher were up 9.7 per cent to [...]
Just Eat shares pop on $7.3bn deal for Grubhub June 11, 2020 Shares in European fast food giant Just Eat Takeaway are rising as investors take stock of its latest move to buy US rival Grubhub for $7.3bn (£5.8bn). If completed, the all-stock deal would create the world’s largest food delivery provider outside of China. Just Eat’s share price rose 3.4 per cent before midday today, hitting [...]
Just Eat Takeaway confirms ‘advanced talks’ to buy Grubhub June 10, 2020 Delivery giant Just Eat Takeaway today confirmed it is in advanced talks to buy Grubhub, in a bid to establish itself as a major rival to Uber in the US. Netherlands-based Just Eat Takeaway said it is “advanced discussions with Grubhub” for an all stock-purchase of the company. Grubhub, a US food delivery startup with [...]
Which cafes and restaurants are reopening as the coronavirus lockdown lifts? June 10, 2020 After two months of coronavirus lockdown, Britain’s high streets are waking up again. From Pret to Pizza Express, cafes and restaurants across the country are working out how to restart their businesses. So what chains can customers expect to open up again on Monday, when so-called non-essential businesses are allowed to make their long-awaited return? [...]