Category: Business

JD Wetherspoon is to cut up to half of its jobs at pubs across six UK airports. The pub chain said it had written to its 1,000 airport staff to warn them that between 400 and 450 of their jobs are at risk of redundancy. It comes after boss Tim Martin warned that new restrictions […]

PROFITS crashed at Close Brothers, but the merchant bank said its trading arm had a record year allowing it to reinstate the dividend suspended back in April. While profits tumbled 47% to £141 million, new chief executive Adrian Sainsbury – today is his first day in the job – said the company is confident about […]

Premier Inn owner Whitbread has announced it will slash 6,000 jobs as the hospitality sector continues to be pummelled by coronavirus. The cuts mean 18% of the company’s workforce will be cut, with Premier Inn staff to be worst hit. The decison comes as the company revealed UK sales were down 77.6% in the first […]

The UK government is to look into the sale of chip designer ARM to US giant Nvidia. Digital minister Caroline Dinenage said the government would access the impact of the deal, including commitments to keep its head office and staff in Cambridge. She said: “We are currently working very hard to understand the full impact […]

A number of chief executives in the hospitality sector have told the Evening Standard of their concerns ahead of looming new lockdown rules that will limit opening hours for businesses. Pubs and restaurants in England will have a 10pm closing time from Thursday, under restrictions set to be announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as […]

B&Q owner Kingfisher has said a sales surge seen in lockdown has continued as restrictions have been eased. The retail group posted a 16.6% rise in same-store sales for the third quarter to September 19 alongside a spike in half-year profits. Kingfisher initially suffered in the Covid lockdown, voluntarily shutting all of its stores to […]

The UK arm of shoe retailer Deichmann has defied the gloom on the high street to record higher sales and commit to opening more shops. Expansion plans by the family-run business, which is headquartered in Germany, were outlined as the UK division filed accounts that showed turnover here in 2019 rose to £103.6 million from […]