John Lewis: £80m plans create new homes at site in Elizabeth Line-linked Reading September 4, 2024 The John Lewis Partnership has submitted plans to transform one of its disused warehouses in Reading into an £80m residential complex featuring more than 200 rental units. The plans, which were submitted to Reading Borough Council this week, lay out the company’s vision to demolish the current structure and replace it with 215 homes, plus 6,000 [...]
Hilton Foods: Profit soars at meatpacker as it looks ahead to Walmart site September 4, 2024 Hilton Foods’ seafood and core meat divisions helped bolster the meatpacker’s first-half results as the company geared up for further growth. The FTSE 250 constituent, which had struggled to deal with the rampant inflationary pressures of the last two years, posted a 23.2 per cent rise in adjusted operating profit to £46.9m on a constant [...]
Johnson Service Group: Textile rental firm hails double-digit growth September 3, 2024 Textile rental firm Johnson Service Group has reported double-digit growth and the £20m acquisition of a competitor in the first half of the year. The AIM-listed company, which provides textile rental, cleaning and care for service and healthcare industries, reported adjusted profit before tax rose by 31.1 per cent to £21.5m in the six months [...]
Johnny Mercer given appeal deadline over Afghanistan whistleblowers April 7, 2024 Johnny Mercer has been given a fresh deadline to explain why he should not have to hand over the names of those who informed him of alleged special forces murders in Afghanistan.
UK approves Chinese-backed megabattery project after national security review September 1, 2024 The British government has approved a major battery storage facility in the UK, which is backed by a joint venture involving US investment giant Blackrock and KX Power, a UK-registered asset manager with ties to Chinese investors. The UK launched a national security review of the proposed 80-megawatt project, led by former Chinese diplomat Zhe Zhang, [...]
NAO questions Octopus’ finances after Bulb takeover – but deal will save the taxpayer money March 29, 2023 The UK’s public spending watchdog has raised concerns over Octopus' “weaker financial position than its rivals” following its takeover of Bulb.
Sunak to crack down on ‘unacceptable’ targeting of young people by vape market May 30, 2023 A new Government crackdown on vape marketing will prevent the “unacceptable” targeting of children and young people, Rishi Sunak has said. Ministers have pledged to close a loophole allowing retailers to give free samples of vapes to children in England, amid concerns over the proportion of children trying e-cigarettes. The move comes days after the [...]
Sunak and Macron strike deal: Britain to pay France £500m in bid stop small boat Channel crossings March 10, 2023 Britain will pay France nearly half a billion pounds over the next three years to step up efforts to prevent small boats from crossing the Channel, Rishi Sunak has announced. The Prime Minister committed to sending Paris £478 million (541 million euro) to fund a new detention centre in France and hundreds of extra French [...]
Angel fund backed by former Credit Suisse CEO and Bridgerton star raises over £8m August 29, 2024 An angel fund backed by the former CEO of Credit Suisse and Bridgerton actress Charithra Chandran has raised $10.9m (£8.3m) in its first close. The Arāya Super Angel Fund, run by Arāya Ventures, is set to invest in up to 60 pre-seed and seed stage founders over the next four years in health tech, fintech, [...]
Capita prepares to cut 900 jobs to bring down costs November 21, 2023 Outsourcing firm Capita has kicked off a programme that is set to make approximately 900 roles at risk of redundancy as the company tries to cost save. The company’s aim is to double its operating margin to six per cent but in order to do this it needs to cost save £40m per annum on [...]