UK hotel insolvencies hit five-year high in 2019 January 6, 2020 UK hotel insolvencies hit their highest levels in five years in 2019, rising 60 per cent year on year to hit 144. According to accountants UHY Hacker Young, the slowing UK economy is to blame for the rise, as businesses have been forced to cut back on conferences and corporate away days, a key source [...]
Steel industry urges government not to shelve HS2 December 29, 2019 The UK’s steelmakers have urged the government to complete HS2 to boost the struggling sector. The rail project – which would link London, the Midlands and the north – is expected to use 2m tonnes of steel if it goes ahead. Read more: Election 2019: Boris Johnson raises red flag over Heathrow expansion and HS2 [...]
Watchdog extends Thomas Cook probe December 19, 2019 The UK’s accounting watchdog is extending its investigation into the collapse of travel operator Thomas Cook. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) announced a probe into EY’s audit of Thomas Cook’s financial statements for the year ended 30 September 2018 following the company’s collapse earlier this year. Read more: Thomas Cook went bust with liabilities of [...]
Book closes on bargain retailer amid fierce competition December 17, 2019 The Book People, one of the UK’s largest booksellers, has been forced into administration in the run up to Christmas. PwC has been appointed to manage the insolvency process, Sky News reported. Read more: Amazon’s Deliveroo investment raises competition concerns, watchdog finds The accountancy firm was handling an auction for the bookseller, as its private [...]
Why high street discounts are a dangerous drug December 17, 2019 Retailers love to brag about breaking records, but one they won’t be cheering this Christmas is the prediction that price cuts could potentially top 50 per cent for the first time ever. Amid a fierce fight to woo last-minute shoppers into their stores, high street chains are once again turning to a festive sales bonanza [...]
Revealed: Thomas Cook went bust with liabilities of £9bn December 16, 2019 Thomas Cook collapsed with total liabilities of £9bn, it has emerged this morning, making the immediate financial toll of the company going bust even greater than that of Carillion in early 2018. In a report on the failure released this morning, it has emerged the travel operator owed £585m to customers and £45m to employees [...]
Has-beans? What Chilango’s CVA tells us about the struggling casual dining sector December 11, 2019 Mexican chain Chilango offers its customers a choice between three different types of salsa: mild, medium, or hot. Faced with those options, who chooses the middle one? This is – in a way – the conundrum facing the increasingly polarised casual dining sector. Nowadays, customers either want fast, cheap fuel, or they want a quality [...]
Online retailer Koovs on brink of administration after failing to secure £6.5m funding December 10, 2019 India-focused online retailer Koovs announced it has applied for administration this afternoon after its biggest shareholder Future Lifestyle Fashions refused to invest an additional £6.5m into the company. London-listed Koovs saw its shares suspended today after it announced had been unable to secure alternative funding. Read more: Koovs hangs hopes on 2020 growth despite drop [...]
Insolvency firm Begbies Traynor’s boss says retail carnage expected to continue December 10, 2019 The executive chairman of restructuring and insolvency specialist Begbies Traynor said today that there was no sign of the carnage on the High Street ending as the growth in e-retailing and shaky consumer confidence continued to take their toll. “Headwinds in terms of consumer demand with uncertainty over what the future will hold and structural [...]
Investors gear up for Park First legal battle December 8, 2019 Investors in an alleged £230m parking space scam are due to meet this week to plot a legal battle against the founders of the collapsed firm in a bid to seize control over its administration. According to a report in The Sunday Times, investors in the unregulated scheme, many of who are pensioners, are meeting [...]