Publisher Bloomsbury enjoys record year as books offer lockdown escapism June 2, 2021 Publishing house Bloomsbury has posted record results for the year as Brits reached for the escapism of reading during a series of lockdowns. “The popularity of reading has been a ray of sunshine in an otherwise very dark year. In an outstanding year for Bloomsbury, we delivered record results,” chief executive, Nigel Newton, said in a [...]
Hospitality firms urge Boris Johnson to stick to reopening roadmap April 18, 2021 Some of the UK’s biggest hospitality companies have urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to “stick” to the current plan for easing lockdown restrictions. In an open letter the pub and restaurant bosses said two-thirds of venues were unable to open outdoors from 12 April and “none is breaking even”. They called on the prime minister [...]
Pub chain Fuller’s to axe one in 10 jobs with London facing biggest cuts September 30, 2020 The head of pub chain Fuller’s has revealed at least 10 per cent of his around 5,000 staff are facing redundancy. Simon Emeny said the government’s decision to encourage people to work from home where possible will hit Fuller’s city-centre pubs hardest and result in job losses. “We are doing everything possible to minimise that, [...]
More than 100 pubs and restaurants warn PM of ‘bleakest of winters’ without urgent support September 29, 2020 More than 100 hospitality firms, including JD Wetherspoon, Young’s and Cafe Nero, have written to the Prime Minister warning that many businesses will not survive “this bleakest of winters”, resulting in mass job losses, unless more is done to help the sector. In a letter to Boris Johnson, businesses such as Fuller’s, Greene King and [...]
Hospitality sector ‘facing cash crunch’ without further support February 26, 2021 One in five businesses in the UK hospitality sector could run out of cash in the next week unless more emergency support is confirmed, the industry has warned. In a letter to the government, more than 200 hospitality firms warned they faced a “truly perilous” situation with months of continued restrictions ahead. Prime Minister Boris [...]
Mark Kleinman: Light finally shines on Schroders’ M&G ambitions December 2, 2021 Sky News’ Mark Kleinman is the man the City reads – and in his fortnightly column for City A.M., he shares his insight and analysis. Schroders is solved The mystery is finally solved. For months, fund management executives have puzzled over two aspects of Schroders’ aborted ambitions to take over M&G Investments and create a [...]
Vaccine rollout sees UK equity funds break 8-month run of outflows March 4, 2021 UK equity funds enjoyed their first inflows since last May with investors boosted by the success of the vaccine rollout. It brings an end to a difficult eight months which saw funds shed £2.2bn of capital, according to global fund network Calastone. Last month investors cautiously dipped their toes into equity funds with £145m in [...]
Weekly outlook, 9-13 November: Investors shift their focus back to the UK economy November 9, 2020 Investors were kept busy with the drama across the Atlantic last week, but they’ll soon want to focus back on the UK in what will be a busy week of results and economic updates. After a nail-biting election, markets will likely be considering the implication of a Biden presidency. But with GDP and unemployment figures [...]
Shakespeare: Spoons reputation knifed after botched Super Saturday July 22, 2020 On July 4th, pubs and restaurants in England were allowed to reopen after months of lockdown to stem the spread of COVID-19 – a day that the papers dubbed ‘Super Saturday’. While it’s recommended that people remain two metres apart to stay safe, the hospitality sector is now allowed to observe a ‘one metre plus’ [...]
Most UK pubs to stay closed under April beer garden plans, trade body warns February 16, 2021 Most UK pubs will be unable to open under proposals to allow outdoor trading to resume in April, the industry’s trade association has warned. The British Beer & Pub Association today said 29,000 UK pubs will still remain closed if outdoor service resumes in April as they do not have big enough beer gardens to [...]