Starbucks UK plummets to £41m loss after year of Covid restrictions June 18, 2021 Starbucks has recorded a loss of £41m in the year to September 2020, after Covid restrictions forced it to shut branches and limit typical trading activity. The coffee chain saw revenues fall to £243m, according to a Companies House report, down 32.7 per cent, largely due to heavy restrictions imposed on the business throughout much [...]
CBI: UK economy to grow 8.2 per cent this year in return to pre-Covid level June 18, 2021 Britain’s economy will bounce back to its pre-Covid level by the end of the year, despite a delay to the end of lockdown restrictions, economists said today. The CBI has upgraded its latest forecast for the UK economy, predicting GDP growth of 8.2 per cent this year, up from a previous forecast of 6 per cent. [...]
Sunak: Existing help for businesses hit by lockdown extension generous enough June 17, 2021 Rishi Sunak has tonight ruled out any extra financial support for businesses hit by the four-week long extension to lockdown. In an interview with the FT, the Chancellor said that the existing schemes had “erred on the side of generosity” in order to “accommodate delays to the roadmap”. Although the Treasury yesterday announced an extension [...]
Exclusive: As Aviva sacks its fund managers, how to communicate such changes to shareholders? June 17, 2021 In this 2-part series, City A.M. zooms in on the relationship between investment boards, asset managers and shareholders. In the first instalment, a number of Square Mile-based investment managers discussed why and when investors come to realise the asset managers needs to be replaced, and how such decisions come about. Today, the City insiders debate [...]
Terrific Thursday for London IPO market as Wise, Victorian Plumbing, Seraphine, Poolbeg and Voyager Life confirm plans to float June 17, 2021 Fintech firm Wise, bathroom retailer Victorian Plumbing; high end maternity retailer Seraphine, favoured by the Duchess of Cambridge; Dublin-based drug maker Poolbeg and cannabidiol products supplier Voyager Life all revealed plans to float today. Money transfer firm Wise said this morning to join the London Stock Exchange in what could be the biggest UK listing [...]
Pandemic crash: Almost 200,000 UK travel jobs lost or at risk due to Covid crisis June 17, 2021 Around 195,000 people working in the UK travel industry have either lost their job or are at risk of losing their job due to the Covid-19 crisis. The sector employs around 526,000 people across the UK in ordinary times, meaning that more than a third (37 per cent) of all jobs in the sector face [...]
Storage firm Safestore posts jump in profit, driven by UK June 17, 2021 Safestore, the self-storage firm, this morning reported strong growth in profit for the first half of the year, and forecasts full-year earnings at the top end of the guidance range. Group revenue was up 11.1 per cent and like-for-like sales were up 8.3 per cent, with a 13.9 per cent surge in UK sales. [...]
Toyota Mirai 2021 review: the hydrogen car comes of age June 17, 2021 The new Toyota Mirai is the UK’s only hydrogen fuel-cell car. Is it a dead-end street, asks Tim Pitt, or a glimpse of the future?
Politicians have learnt the lessons of 2008 but we should still fear inflation June 17, 2021 Forecasting inflation is like forecasting exchange rates. In both cases, economists must go out on a limb. Given the number of factors that come into play, making predictions about inflation and exchange rates leads more often to fiasco than to kudos. Let’s consider a recent, telling example. High inflation expectations were rife in the months [...]
‘We keep getting crushed’ – hospitality reacts to Covid news June 16, 2021 News this week that Covid restrictions will not fully end on 21 June as previously planned has come as a fresh blow to the embattled hospitality industry. While bar and restaurant owners were hoping to capitalise on the combination of the good weather and Euros, they are now they are back in survival mode. We [...]