Convenience chain McColl’s battles administration fears February 26, 2022 Convenience store chain McColl’s Retail Group is gearing up to find a buyer as the struggling company nears collapse. As first reported by Mark Kleinman for Sky News, the group have called in advisers to help find a bidder, and are exploring third party options, who may be willing to invest further capital. McColl’s trades from [...]
UK and Australia sign new defence and security agreement February 16, 2022 The UK and Australia have signed a new defence, security and trade agreement as a part of the government’s efforts to strengthen its foothold in the Indo-Pacific. Boris Johnson and Scott Morrison spoke at 8.30pm this evening to formalise the pact, which will see the UK agree to spend £25m for “regional projects [in the [...]
Pinsent Masons cuts desk space in Edinburgh after moving to new offices February 15, 2022 Pinsent Mason’s has cut the number of desks available to staff in its Edinburgh offices, after moving in to new premises, in a bid to free up space and adapt to the future of hybrid working. The London headquartered law firm is set to cut its desk space by 20 per cent, in seeking to [...]
Morrisons’ owners look to ease fears of a shift away from traditional business model February 13, 2022 The private equity owners of Morrisons have looked to ease investors’ fears that they would renege on commitments to the firm’s traditional business model, as they face a mounting interest bill from loans.
Blinken’s unmistakable warning to China: US will fight aggression and defend rules-based system February 11, 2022 America and its allies must stand up for a rules-based system threatened by Chinese aggression, US secretary of state Antony Blinken has warned although he stressed a confrontation with China is not inevitable. Blinken spoke shortly before a meeting with the foreign ministers of Australia, India and Japan in Melbourne. The four nations form the [...]
Little Moons set to fetch £100m in private equity bidding war February 10, 2022 An ice cream business that boomed in popularity via TikTok is the focus of a private equity bidding war that could value it at above £100m. Little Moons, which creates Japanese mochi ice cream balls, has surged in popularity thanks to a viral TikTok video and now has five private equity firms readying a bid, [...]
Amazon Prime fees could soon rise to over £90 for 15m Brits despite record UK sales of £23.6bn February 9, 2022 Amazon’s UK revenue jumped over 20 per cent last year. That won’t halt a rise of at least 17 per cent in the cost of Prime membership, if it follows the lead of Amazon US. Even though Amazon has just announced record sales of £23.6bn here in the UK, it’s unlikely that will stop a [...]
M&S remains UK’s fastest growing supermarket catching up with Big Four grocers February 8, 2022 Marks & Spencer has maintained its position as UK’s fastest growing food retailer, market researcher NielsenIQ said today, indicating its turnaround plan is gaining momentum. It said M&S’s sales rose 12.3 per cent in the 12 weeks to January 29 year-on-year, giving it a market share of 3.6 per cent, up 0.4 percentage points on [...]
New data reveals the top 10 dealmakers of 2021 February 6, 2022 New data, shared with City A.M. has revealed the UK’s top dealmakers of 2021. The figures come on the back of a record year for mergers & acquisitions, which saw the completion of more than $5 trillion worth of deals. JP Morgan’s James Robinson ranked as the UK’s top investment banker, after topping MergerLink’s charts [...]
A four day week relies on a near universal acceptance of a transformed workforce February 3, 2022 It is easy to forget how recent the five-day working week is. In fact, it was first piloted in the US in 1908 and not widespread until the late 1920s, so it is under a century old. But so ingrained is it that recent news that 30 companies – including Canon’s UK arm – are [...]