Boris Johnson: England on track to lift Covid restrictions on 21 June ‘as things stand’ May 18, 2021 Boris Johnson has said today that England is still on track to lift Covid restrictions on 21 June “as things stand”, but cautioned there will be a more conclusive answer in a few days’ time. He said there was “nothing conclusive in the data” on the spread of the Indian Covid variant “to say we [...]
Used car firm Cazoo sees revenue surge fivefold May 18, 2021 Used car firm Cazoo today said that its revenue grew nearly fivefold in the first quarter as the online dealership continues its rapid expansion. The company, which was set up in 2018, said that revenue in the first period was £113.9m, compared with £19.6m last year. The increase is the result of the firm selling [...]
City of London celebrates the return of indoor hospitality and culture as Government continues to ease lockdown restrictions May 18, 2021 The City of London Corporation has today (17 May) announced a further series of events to mark the reopening of its indoor hospitality, cultural and heritage institutions based across the Square Mile. As the Government’s roadmap to ease lockdown restrictions in England reaches its third step, Lord Mayor of London William Russell and Policy Chair of the [...]
Topps Tiles reports mixed six months after lockdown closed stores May 18, 2021 In the six months to 27 March, Topps Tiles produced a profit before tax of £4m, after lockdown restrictions in the first three months of the calendar year heavily impacted the group’s performance. The retailer reported a half year of contrast this morning, with retail like-for-like sales up nearly 20 per cent in the first [...]
Land Securities losses widen with work-from-home measures May 18, 2021 Commercial property firm Land Securities has seen its full-year loss widened this morning, as its London-centric office portfolio crumbled under work-from-home measures. The FTSE 100 firm has reported a loss before tax of £1.39bn for the 12 months ending 31 March, compared with a loss of £837m the year before. The pandemic pushed many companies [...]
Wall Street slips as banking stocks and stronger pound weigh on FTSE 100 May 17, 2021 Wall Street opened lower this afternoon, reversing a strong recovery late last week as investors turned their attention back to inflation worries. The Dow Jones slipped 0.02 per cent and the S&P 500 opened lower by 0.09 per cent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 0.46 per cent at the opening bell. It came after London’s [...]
Droves of shoppers return to Central London high streets May 17, 2021 Footfall in Central London grew by 4.2 per cent last week, according to data from Springboard, suggesting shoppers have started to feel sufficiently confident to make trips to the capital. But despite the week’s jump in footfall, London has a long way to go before it reaches pre-pandemic levels of busy. Footfall in London is [...]
Weekend Read: Foreign investors flee Myanmar as regime strengthens grip May 16, 2021 Businesses have continued to bow out of Myanmar after the bloody coup has killed more than 750 people and seen over 5,000 arrested for protesting the military’s forced reign. Companies began to flee Myanmar in March, like Japanese beverage group Kirin which had a $1.7bn stake in Myanmar Economic Holdings Public Company Limited, a company [...]
FTSE 100 rebounds from five-week low while Wall Street extends recovery May 14, 2021 London’s FTSE 100 rebounded this afternoon as heavyweight financials stocks lifted the index after hitting a five-week low yesterday. The blue-chip index rose one per cent during afternoon trading, with software firm Sage adding 3.4 per cent after forecasting a year of growth towards the top end of its range. Read more: IPO: London commodities [...]
Amazon to create 10,000 UK jobs this year May 14, 2021 Amazon today announced that it would create 10,000 new jobs in the UK in 2021 as the online giant expands its workforce in the country. It said that it would also invest £10m over three years to train up 5,000 of its staff using its “Career Choice” programme. The firm has partnered with the British [...]