Icelandic carrier Wow Air faces headwinds as it extends deadline for rescue deal March 4, 2019 Iceland’s Wow Air is the latest low cost airline facing severe turbulence, after it has been forced to ask lenders for an extension to negotiate a rescue deal. The carrier, which has faced months of financial difficulties, confirmed it has asked for an extra month to negotiate a rescue deal with US investment company Indigo [...]
Emoov founder rejects investor funding claims March 3, 2019 The founder of Emoov has hit back at claims that investors might not have been provided with accurate information regarding a £2m fundraising effort which came months before the online estate agency collapsed. According to The Sunday Times this morning, documents aimed at prospective investors found Emoov, which raised £1.8m from more than 1,000 investors [...]
New solutions needed for defined benefit pension schemes March 1, 2019 The Cass Pensions Institute says new solutions are needed in stressed defined benefit pension schemes to prevent intergenerational inequities. The Institute has responded to the Department of Work and Pensions Green Paper, Security and Sustainability in Defined Benefit Pension Schemes. The Greatest Good 2 paper follows up and reconfirms the findings of an 2015 Pensions [...]
LK Bennett lines up administrator with 500 jobs ‘at risk’ March 1, 2019 Fashion chain LK Bennett has filed for administration as it attempts to find a way to stay afloat. The retailer has selected EY as an administrator for the business, Sky News first reported, which will oversee its insolvency if no new investment can be found. Read more: Revolution Bars issues profit warning amid 'challenging' conditions [...]
Top Interserve shareholder threatens to sue outsourcer over ‘terrible’ rescue deal February 27, 2019 Interserve's hopes of appeasing rebel shareholder Coltrane Asset Management with an amended rescue deal have been dashed, with the hedge fund instead threatening to start legal proceedings against the firm. As it announced its full-year results, the outsourcing giant this morning updated its rescue refinancing deal, giving shareholders five per cent of its total value, up [...]
The ECB has been keeping zombie banks alive February 18, 2019 A decade after the outbreak of the global financial crisis, banks in the euro area have still not recovered. The Eurozone financial stock index is 65 per cent below the pre-crisis peak, whereas the US S&P financial index has come close to the pre-crisis level. The varying fates of financial institutions is due to the [...]
45,000 homes could be delivered by developing vacant town centre space February 14, 2019 Tens of thousands of new homes could be built by developing space left empty in Britain’s struggling town centres, according to new research that comes amid calls to solve Britain’s high street and housing woes. Vacant retail spaces in town hotspots across the UK could be replaced by a minimum of 45,000 residential properties, data [...]
Debenhams secures £40m cash lifeline in fight for survival February 12, 2019 Embattled department store chain Debenhams saw its shares jump 35 per cent this morning after it secured a £40m cash injection, as it fights to keep afloat amid crunch debt talks with lenders. The retailer, which has issued three profit warnings in the last 12 months, said that the agreed £40m loan will "act as a bridge to facilitate a [...]
Oddbins falls into administration for the second time in eight years February 1, 2019 Oddbins today became one of the first high street casualties of 2019, as news emerged that the off licence’s owners have fallen into administration for the second time in eight years. Administrators Duff & Phelps confirmed that the companies behind Oddbins and a string of high street alcohol stores are now insolvent. Read more: Oddbins set [...]
Banks suffer hundreds of high street closures during 2018 January 31, 2019 Walk-in banks suffered more net closures than any other type of retailer last year, as fast-growing digital rivals lured shoppers away from traditional high street heavyweights. While beleaguered department stores have been stealing the doom-and-gloom headlines for the retail sector in recent months, Britain’s bricks-and-mortar banks saw the greatest retrenchment last year, with some 716 [...]