Office Politics: Apprenticeships aren’t the only way to nurture young talent February 9, 2021 This week is National Apprenticeships Week – a focal point of the national drive to make more training accessible for young people. But rather than a laser-like focus on apprenticeships or to focus on the Kickstart false-start – what it should be about is businesses recognising that apprenticeships aren’t the only way, and there are [...]
Cain International mulling insolvency process for Italian chain Prezzo – report February 8, 2021 The private equity firm which bought Italian chain Prezzo in December is reportedly mulling putting the restaurant group through an insolvency process. Sky News reported that Cain International was considering a number of options, including pre-pack administration, as uncertainty over the future of the casual dining sector goes on. The firm, which also owns Swingers [...]
The year the music died? Industry needs an insurance scheme or risks total collapse February 7, 2021 Over the course of the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption and harm to the live music industry. Lockdown affected physical sales. The shutting of public venues, such as restaurants and bars, caused lost revenue from background music services and performance income. Undoubtedly, significant restrictions to our everyday lives have forced the [...]
Sunak extends Covid loan relief after BoE says £22bn may never be repaid February 5, 2021 Rishi Sunak to extend Covid loan relief with longer repayment time for small businesses
Corporate collapse and pre-pack wave February 5, 2021 The pandemic has wrought massive damage to many business. A dramatic drop in trading has left many firms unable to pay their debts. The normal assumption is that this would trigger a wave of corporate failures. However, the official figures to Q3 2020 is that the number of corporate insolvencies is lower than the previous [...]
Calls to ‘send Philip Green the bill,’ as pension lifeboat fund begins Topshop assessment February 4, 2021 There have been fresh calls for the government to step in and demand retail tycoon Philip Green to plug Arcadia’s pension deficit, as the pensions lifeboat fund begins assessing the scheme. Earlier this week online retailer Asos said it had bought Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT brands from Arcadia, which fell into administration in [...]
British Chambers of Commerce calls for commercial eviction ban extension January 28, 2021 One of the UK’s largest business lobbies has called for the government to extend its commercial eviction ban beyond March as businesses continue to face strict Covid-19 restrictions. The British Chambers of Commerce said today that businesses desperately needed certainty beyond March, with the majority of British businesses still expected to be closed even when [...]
Germany warns of border closures amid fear of COVID-19 mutations January 19, 2021 By Andreas Rinke and Christian Kraemer BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that Germany may need to consider border crossing curbs if other European countries do not act to halt the spread of the coronavirus, particularly its new, more transmissible variants. “We can do anything we like, but we will not succeed if [...]
Begbies Traynor acquires CVR Global in biggest buy yet January 18, 2021 Insolvency specialist Begbies Traynor has acquired CVR Global in a deal worth £20.8m. The move represents the largest insolvency acquisition Begbies Traynor has made to date, and provides a significant expansion of its scale in London and the South of England. The share price of the corporate restructuring firm jumped 5.5 per cent today following [...]
An increase in distressed investment expected January 18, 2021 In autumn 2020 we conducted our Restart Capital Survey of over 500 SME business and over 100 investors. There was a feared wave of corporate insolvencies with 35% of the business respondents expecting to be out of business within 12 months (and 43% of medium sized enterprises). 84% of the business respondents considered themselves distressed [...]