Thomas Cook falls into liquidation as rescue talks collapse September 23, 2019 Thomas Cook has collapsed into liquidation after failing to find the £1.1bn required to keep it afloat. Talks collapsed overnight to sink the holiday firm, leaving around 150,000 British holidaymakers stranded abroad. Read more: Thomas Cook teeters on the brink as 11th hour talks look set to fail The government will now charter dozens of [...]
Thomas Cook teeters on brink as eleventh hour talks look likely to end in failure September 22, 2019 Thomas Cook was close to collapsing into administration tonight as eleventh hour talks with its lenders looked set to end in failure. The company’s creditors and the government were tonight anticipating that the world’s oldest travel operator would announce it was ceasing trading tomorrow, Sky News reported. Big Four accountancy firm KPMG was tonight being [...]
Feeling the heat: Carluccio’s waiters rise up in row over tips September 22, 2019 Waiters at Carluccio’s are hitting back at the restaurant chain after a change in tipping policy that has allegedly left them hundreds of pounds worse off per month. Employees at the Italian eatery have joined the Unite union in a bid to scrap a new policy that siphons off a great proportion of tips to [...]
Restaurant insolvencies jump by a fifth as casual dining sector squeeze continues September 16, 2019 The number of restaurants collapsing into insolvency has risen by 20 per cent in the last year amid tough competition on the UK high street. Roughly 1,410 restaurants went insolvent in the year to the end of June, up by a fifth on the previous 12 months, according to figures compiled by accountancy firm UHY [...]
Primark store expansion plan offsets sales slump September 9, 2019 Primark is expected to report sales growth in its full-year results driven by the bargain retailer’s store expansion plan. Sales for the full-year, which will be announced in November, are expected to be four per cent up on last year, the retailer’s owner Associated British Foods (ABF) said in a trading update this morning. The [...]
Number of taxpayers falling six months behind on bills increases September 9, 2019 The number of British taxpayers who are falling well behind on their tax bills has continued to climb, according to research. About 117,000 people are now more than six months behind, according to accountancy Moore Stephens, meaning they have received the second of two penalties of five per cent of the tax they owe. This [...]
Hilco Capital circles embattled retailer Links of London September 4, 2019 Homebase-owner Hilco Capital is circling troubled jewellery retailer Links of London. The vulture fund is among a number of bidders for Links, which is trying to secure a rescue deal in the coming days, according to Sky News. Read more: Folli Follie hires advisers to weigh up Links sale A deal is likely to be [...]
British Steel division sold to French engineering firm August 29, 2019 British Steel subsidiary TSP Projects has been sold to French engineering firm Systra in a deal that will save hundreds of jobs. The deal, which will see Systra take on the firm’s £70m-plus pensions liabilities, is expected to be announced by Systra and the Official Receiver tomorrow, according to Sky News. Read more: British Steel [...]
Watchstone accuses Slater and Gordon of using ‘illicit back channel’ during disputed Quindell deal August 29, 2019 Insurance outsourcer Watchstone struck back in its High Court scrap with Slater & Gordon today after it was granted permission to file a counter-claim against the personal injury law firm. Watchstone said it recently discovered an “illicit back channel” Slater and Gordon’s corporate finance adviser Greenhill & Co allegedly used to access confidential information about [...]
Restaurant sector gloom takes a slice out of Pizza Express profit August 28, 2019 Pizza Express has fallen victim to the gloom which has enveloped the casual dining sector, with first half profits shrinking. The company blamed a drop in earnings of nearly one-tenth on “industry-wide cost pressures” in its key home market. Pizza Express, founded in 1965, runs 480 restaurants across Britain and 148 abroad in Asia and [...]