Pret a Manger set for crucial rent talks with landlords May 31, 2020 Fast food chain Pret a Manger is preparing for rent talks with its landlords in a bid to stave off closing some stores due to the coronavirus crisis. The chain, a favourite of office workers around the UK, is preparing for a shift in footfall in city centres as working patterns shift due to the [...]
UK hiring plummets as Covid-19 crisis hits low-income workers May 28, 2020 UK job vacancies crashed almost 60 per cent this month as the coronavirus pandemic sparked the country’s fastest rise in unemployment since 1947, new data has revealed. Live job vacancies have dropped from 820,000 at the beginning of April to just 373,000 in May as fears of a protracted economic downturn grow. The figures, released [...]
UK grocery sales surge at record level after two months of lockdown May 27, 2020 UK grocery sales rose 14.3 per cent during the 12 weeks to 17 May, the fastest rate since comparable records began in 1994, as Britons adapted to the national lockdown, data from market researcher Kantar showed today. The UK has been in lockdown since 23 March though restrictions are being gradually eased. Of Britain’s big [...]
CBILs failings are leading us to catastrophe May 26, 2020 Ranald Macdonald is a restaurateur and Managing Director of Boisdale Group The UK is sleepwalking into a financial disaster of biblical proportions that will exacerbate the economic effects of Covid many times over. Other leading nations, like Germany, the US and France, will avoid this calamity as they have been far more successful in ensuring [...]
Coronavirus: Pizza Express could permanently close some restaurants May 24, 2020 Pizza Express could be forced to permanently close some of its 470 UK restaurants after the coronavirus crisis heaped pressure on the debt-laden firm. The casual dining chain, which is owned by Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital, is reportedly mulling a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), which would allow it to shutter some or all [...]
Which south London pubs are serving pints this weekend? A non-exhaustive list May 22, 2020 The pint. The perfect measure; not too big, not too small. And now available in takeaway milk cartons in a host of pubs across south London. Here’s City A.M.’s very much non-exhaustive list of pubs south of the river that will allow you to have something cold, fizzy and poured by somebody else over this [...]
Premier Inn owner Whitbread taps investors for £1bn May 21, 2020 Premier Inn owner Whitbread will tap investors for £1bn to help it weather the coronavirus crisis while its hotels and restaurants are closed. Whitbread, which also owns Beefeater and pub chain Brewers Fayre, said the rights issue would help strengthen its balance sheet as the firm expects £80m of cash outflows a month while its [...]
Pizza Express to reopen 13 London restaurants for delivery May 19, 2020 Casual dining chain Pizza Express will reopen 13 of its London sites for delivery from next week. The Italian restaurant chain is preparing to reopen sites across the capital including in Balham, Fulham and Notting Hill where it has typically seen high customer demand. Pizza Express will launch with a “slightly edited” menu and with [...]
Rishi Sunak warns swift economic recovery ‘not obvious’ May 19, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has poured cold water on hopes that the UK economy will make a rapid recovery from the sharp economic downturn caused by Covid-19. Speaking in front of the Lords economic committee today, Sunak warned it was “not obvious that there will be an immediate bounce back”. “It takes time to get back [...]
FTSE 100 breaks 6,000 barrier as vaccine hopes and Fed pledge boost markets May 18, 2020 The FTSE 100 broke through the 6,000-point milestone in a positive start to the week’s trading today, buoyed by hopes of a vaccine and more Federal Reserve stimulus. Easing lockdowns and lower infection rates in Europe infection hotspots Italy, the UK and Spain also boosted London’s blue-chip index. The FTSE 100 closed 4.5 per cent [...]