Online sales drive another tasty six months for Hotel Chocolat March 2, 2021 Revenue and profit before tax were up at Hotel Chocolat in the six months ended 27 December, with online growth offsetting the physical reduction in retail caused by the Covid-19 restrictions. Revenue at the chocolate retailer was up 11 per cent to £101.9m and profit before tax stood at £15.5m, an increase of three per [...]
Before the Bell: Europe pointing to lower start as bulls take a breather March 2, 2021 Equity markets started off the new month on the front foot yesterday as lower bond yields combined with stimulus hopes from the US boosted sentiment. Last week, stocks saw some selling pressure as increases in government bond yields acted as an excuse for dealers to reduce their equity positions, indices were coming from a relatively [...]
Labour’s Anneliese Dodds hints at support for online sales tax on tech giants March 1, 2021 Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds has called for the government to level the taxation playing field between digital and bricks and mortar retail in a potential call for new online taxes. Dodds said at a pre-Budget address on Bloomberg that there was a “big gulf on how businesses based in bricks and businesses based on clicks [...]
Halfords on track for £100m profit as cycling division keeps the wheels turning March 1, 2021 Halfords this morning said that it was on track to post full year profit of £90m to £100m as a pandemic-inspired cycling boom continued. That’s after paying back £10.7m in furlough income, as the firm announced that it would do this morning. The firm’s shares rose 17 per cent on the back of the announcement. [...]
300 McColl’s convenience stores to be converted into Morrisons Daily’s March 1, 2021 300 McColl’s convenience stores are set to be converted into Morissons Daily’s over the next three years, as the companies’ said this morning they have extended their wholesale supply partnership. The upcoming rollout follows over 30 conversions in recent months, with all stores continuing to be owned and operated by McColl’s. Offering the Morrisons [...]
The Week Ahead: March kicks off with the Budget, Aviva, Zoom and Vroom March 1, 2021 March has arrived and City A.M. looks at what the first week of this month has in store. First of all, of course, there is the Budget this Wednesday. It’s the most important week of the year for Chancellor Rishi Sunak as he outlines the outlook for the UK economy over the next few months. He [...]
US regulator approves Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot vaccine March 1, 2021 The Johnson & Johnson single-shot coronavirus jab has been given the green light by US regulators. It is the third vaccine the US Food and Drug Administration has approved, after Pfizer and Moderna, but the first to require only one shot. Before the Open newsletter: Start your day with the City View podcast and key [...]
BDO: Sunak faces all sorts of challenges February 28, 2021 In many ways the first Budget of 2021, which is set to take place on Wednesday, feels like a significant one. It’s against a backdrop of an ambitious roadmap recently unveiled by the Prime Minister to take us out of lockdown, while at the same time the deficit is the highest seen in the post-war [...]
Budget 2021: Sunak eyes tax on online deliveries and freelance workers February 28, 2021 Rishi Sunak is reportedly preparing to announce new taxes on online deliveries and freelance workers in Wednesday’s Budget to help pay off the UK’s Covid spending. The tax would likely target online firms like Amazon and Asos who have seen profits soar over the past year, after people spent much of 2020 in lockdown. It [...]
Hospitality redundancies: How many restaurant and pub jobs have been lost during the pandemic? February 27, 2021 How many restaurant and pub jobs have been lost during the pandemic?