Morrisons to be first UK supermarket to pay staff at least £10 an hour January 13, 2021 Morrisons will pay its supermarket staff at least £10 an hour, becoming the first major UK supermarket to reach that milestone. The new deal will start in April and represents a significant pay increase for nearly 96,000 colleagues, the majority of which will see a nine per cent rise. Staff had pushed for an increase [...]
Pink goes offline as Covid takes the shirt off its back January 13, 2021 Pink Shirtmaker, the fashion retailer that became famous trading under the name Thomas Pink, has been shuttered by owner LVMH. Covid appears to have seen off the shirtmaker, which had been struggling for years and closed its Jermyn Street flagship in December. All traces of its social media channels, online store and links on the [...]
Telegraph owner Sir David Barclay dies age 86 January 13, 2021 David Barclay, the billionaire co-owner of the Daily Telegraph, has died aged 86 after a short illness. Late last night the newspaper announced that Barclay, who took over the Telegraph with his brother Frederick in 2004, had died. The twin brothers built up a business empire encompassing hotel ownership, shipping, and retail. They moved into [...]
FTSE 100 slides again but Wall Street edges up January 12, 2021 The FTSE 100 dropped again today after Chancellor Rishi Sunak warned that the economy would get worse before it got better. Across the Atlantic, Wall Street’s main markets crept upwards as traders looked for details of a new stimulus package for the distressed economy. London’s premier index was up 0.1 per cent at the opening [...]
Landlords suffer slump in retail and hospitality rent collection in December January 12, 2021 Commercial landlords struggled to collect rent owed by retail and hospitality tenants in December, as the sectors continued to be hit by the impact of lockdown restrictions on trading. Landsec – the UK’s largest commercial property development and investment firm – collected just 65 per cent of the £112m due in December, compared to a [...]
Checkout.com valuation reaches $15bn after latest fundraising round January 12, 2021 London payments firm Checkout.com has tripled its valuation to $15bn following a $450m Series C fundraising round. The round, which makes Checkout the fourth largest fintech globally, was led by New York-based Tiger Global Management, joined by Greenoaks Capital and existing investors including Insight Partners and DST Global. Payments has been one of the leading [...]
Hut Group outperforms expectations as questions are raised about boss’s income January 12, 2021 The Hut Group (THG) had a good Q4 2020, enjoying revenue growth of 51 per cent year-on-year, outperforming previous guidance of 40-45 per cent. THG, which owns a range of online beauty and nutrition brands like MyProtein and Lookfantastic, delivered Q4 2020 group revenue of £558.7m, versus £370.0m in Q4 2019. Revenue was boosted by [...]
Keir Starmer calls for 24/7 Covid vaccine programme January 11, 2021 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for the government to “put families first” during this Covid lockdown by extending paid flexible furlough to all working parents, while also calling for the UK’s weekly vaccine target to be doubled to 4m. The Labour leader called for a round the clock vaccine programme, which would see [...]
British Land ‘bruised but not broken’ despite collecting less than half of rent from UK retailers January 11, 2021 British Land will emerge from the pandemic intact despite collecting less than half the rent it is owed for December, according to a City analyst.
Ocado sounds alarm on product availability as supermarket shelves stand empty January 11, 2021 Ocado has warned that the availability of some products is being impacted by coronavirus-related staff absences in its supply chain. With more staff off sick or forced to isolate some grocery suppliers are having to consolidate their lines. “Staff absences across the supply chain may lead to an increase in product substitutions for a small [...]