Author: WTX Business Team

Sterling holds ground as Britain eases lockdown The pound has gained against the dollar for two weeks straight and consolidated near the $1.41 mark this morning.  It comes as Britain lifted several restrictions and made a huge leap towards reopening the economy. The easing of restrictions includes international travel and the reopening of bars, cafes and restaurants for indoor service.  “It has been a well-telegraphed move, but major re-opening in the UK today should continue to be welcomed by UK asset markets and the pound,” said ING strategists in a note to clients. Sterling’s gains have been helped by a…

India Covid-19 catastrophe forces bank call centre operations back to the UK Barclays bank has announced some of its India call centre operations will be brought back to the UK as staff in India are struggling to cope with the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.  Other UK and US banks and companies are now deciding on whether to do the same, according to media reports in India over the weekend.  More than 20,000 people in India are employed by Barclays but many of its India staff have been forced to stay at home, as the country’s death toll rises, said Barclays chief…

Amazon profits skyrocket in first three months of 2021 Amazon’s profit skyrocketed in the first three months of 2021 – coming in at $8.1bn – more than triple what it was in the same period in 2020.  Amazon is among the businesses that have massively benefited from global lockdowns and restrictions.  Since the start of the pandemic, Amazon has posted four consecutive record quarterly profits, gained more than 200 million Prime loyalty subscribers and employed more than 500,000 people to keep up with the demand.  ……………………….. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_dzZCuXW4k HEADLINES  Bafta suspends Noel Clarke over harassment claims France to accept British tourists…

Nestlé cuts 600 jobs, closes UK factory, moves production to Europe Nestlé is set to close its UK factory, leaving almost 600 people redundant, as it moves some of its production to Europe.  The company said products currently being made in the Fawdon plant would move to other plants in Britain and on the continent.  Fawdon opened in 1958 and makes candy including Fruit Pastilles. It is due to close “towards the end of 2023.”  The GMB union called the move “sickening” and claimed that lives are benign “ruined in a ruthless pursuit of profits.”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoiJvuMkI74 VIDEO: Nestle cutting jobs…

Google owner sees record profits as pandemic boom continues Alphabet – owners of Google –  saw its profits climb high in the first quarter as the lockdown boom continues. With people stuck at home in the pandemic, people have used more of its services.  Net profit jumped by 162% to a record $17.9bn in three months to March as advertising revenue grew by a third.  The firm credited “elevated consumer activity online” for its results. “Over the last year, people have turned to Google Search and many online services to stay informed, connected and entertained,” said Alphabet and Google chief…

JP Morgan ‘sorry’ for £2.8bn funding for ESL  JP Morgan has apologised for funding the failed European Super League, and vows to “learn from” the experience.  Although no money had changed hands, JP Morgan had committed £2.8bn to funding the league.  In a statement, the investment bank said: “We clearly misjudged how this deal would be viewed by the wider football community and how it might impact them in the future.  “We will learn from this.”  JP Morgan was reportedly due to provide debt financing for the ESL, and Sky News reported it was also to underwrite some £4.3bn in…

97% workers prefer working at home Ninety-seven per cent of office workers who are currently working from home prefer doing just that, even when offices reopen.  A recent survey shows 97 per cent want to maintain working from home.  Nine per cent prefer to work from home full time, whilst 88 per cent would want a 50-50 split between office and home.  The survey found that missing real-life contacts is still largely present but has not increased since last year.  The increasing number of employees are worried about the possible obligation of having to be back in the office again,…

Anna Wintour on the demand for luxury after Covid-19 lockdowns Fashion guru and Vogue editor Anna Wintour told the Financial Times that “lines around the block” at reopened London Gucci and Dior stores show the demand for the luxury lifestyle Condé Nast titles have long chronicled. “People have been locked up for a long time and they are going to go out and want to spend. They are going to want to travel . . . to get dressed up,” Wintour said, in a rare interview.  “I don’t think it’s about being old fashioned, it’s about enjoying everything that life has to offer.…

London super prime luxury property market was world leader in 2020 2020 proved to be a hit for London’s super-luxury home purchases of any city in the world. London outperformed city rivals such as New York and Hong Kong.  According to Knight Frank, 201 super prime homes – worth more than £2.7bn collectively – were bought in London in 2020, whilst second-place city Hong Kong has 169 sales.  Knight Frank found that overall, global sales of super prime homes – defined as properties costing £7.3m and above – fell just 1% in 2020. The small fall in sales compared with…

UK Big Tech crackdown Facebook and Google are amongst the tech giants facing tougher regulatory regimes in the UK after a new watchdog aimed at curbing their power launched today. The Digital Markets Unit (DMU) will set up new rules to give consumers more control over their data, promote online competition and crackdown on unfair practices.  The new body – based within the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)- has launched in non-statutory form ahead of new legislation that will grant its full powers.  The move marks efforts by the government to challenge the power of Silicon Valley tech giants amid…

Godzilla vs Kong smashes pandemic box office record Godzilla vs Kong has smashed pandemic box office records which raked in £35m just this weekend. It’s the United States biggest opening in the last 12 months, with the blockbuster passing the highly anticipated ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ which took home around £12 million in its opening.  Globally, the movie starring British actor Millie Bobby Brown made £171 million.  Due to the pandemic, the film suffered a scheduling setback as it was initially scheduled for November last year.  It’s March 2021 release has seen it released on HBO Max and in US cinemas. The…

London boroughs where houses sell the fastest The outer London boroughs have been revealed to be the areas of the capital where property sells the fastest.  In Waltham Forest, sellers can hope to sell their properties the quickest – a two-bed terrace house can be off the market in just 35 days.  Barking and Dagenham, Bexley and Redbridge were the next fastest-moving London borough for house sales, with properties taking 39, 41 and 48 days to be bought.  It also took 48 days for houses in Havering to be sold, followed by 49 in Bromley, 51 in Sutton and 52…

Capgemini to make 1,500 UK hires in 2021 Capgemini is set to hire 1,500 new team members across the UK this year adding to its existing 8,800-strong workforce. A third of the new recruits is set to be sourced through the firm’s long-running graduate and apprentice programmes.  The programmes currently employ 600 people, but a further 470 will be added in 2021.  Capgemini also plans to grab talent from across the UK. The firm will open new roles in locations including Glasgow, Inverness, Telford, Worthing, Manchester, Liverpool and Treforest.  In Scotland, the new headcount will be approximately 400 employees -…

Cineworld, AMC Cinemas – Exclusive deal sees reopening of cinemas  Cineworld will reopen in its US cinemas next month, and the UK in May, after signing a deal with Warner Bros to show films in movie theatres before they are streamed.  Godzilla vs. Kong will be the first film to make its debut in the theatres. Cineworld says the deal meals films will have a period of exclusivity in cinemas before being made more widely available.  It follows a row last year when Cineworld and AMC (owners of the Oden) criticised Universal Pictures for releasing Trolls: World Tour online while…

Wetherspoons in the red, £20.7m operating loss JD Wetherspoon reported a half-year pre-tax loss of £46.2 million as pandemic restrictions forced hundreds of its pubs to close through important holiday seasons. The pub giant operating loss hit £20.7m, while revenue sunk by more than 53% to £431.1 million.  Like-for-like sales were also down by almost 54 per cent for the six months ended 24 January 2021 as national lockdowns heavily hit pubs across the UK. On St Patrick’s Day alone, pubs lost out on 14 million sales of pints, while £8.2bn in trade value was lost from the sector just…

Sterling rises as speedy vaccine rollout creates optimism Sterling is higher against both the euro and the dollar on Monday as the fast vaccine rollout has fuelled hopes of economic recovery.  The rise soared as high as $1.3999 in Asian trading, after retreating from a three-year high on Friday amid inflation concerns.  In early London trading, it was 0.1 per cent higher at $1.3938 as investors took a chance on vaccination programmes lifting Britain’s economy.  Sterling rose 0.4 per cent to 86.34 pence against the euro, after falling to 87.30 on Friday.  Vaccine rollout and falling Covid-19 cases Sunday’s numbers…

Amsterdam crowned Europe’s top trading hub, ousting London Amsterdam has ousted London as Europe’s largest share trading centre, as Brexit led London to lose business.  Some €9.2bn shares a day were traded on Euronext Amsterdam and the Dutch arms of CBOE and Turquoise, the London Stock Exchange’s platform, last month – a more than fourfold increase from December, the Financial Times reported. By comparison, volumes fell sharply in London to €8.6bn, knocking London from its main position as Europe’s largest trader. Though the economic hit from the loss of trade volumes will be small, with the process involving extremely low…

Boohoo buys Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton for £25.2 million, stores to close, jobs lost Online retail giant Boohoo has bought Arcadia brands Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton out of administration in a £25.2m deal. The company has bought the brands’ e-commerce and digital assets and associated intellectual property rights. The deal does not include the retailers’ physical stores and the brands will become online-only. All 214 Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton stores will now permanently close, resulting in thousands of high street job losses. In total, 260 employees from the design, buying, merchandising and digital teams will transfer to…

Bank of England: Economy to rebound strongly due to vaccine The UK’s rapid vaccination programme will help the economy rebound strongly this year, according to the Bank of England.  The economy is expected to shrink 4.2% in the first three months of 2021, amid tighter lockdown restrictions to slow the spread of the virus. But, it’s expected a rebound in the spring as people become confident in spending again.  ‘Rapid’ recovery The Bank said economic growth was expected to “recover rapidly” in 2021, with a successful vaccination programme supporting a “material recovery in household spending”. Its latest Monetary Policy Report…

London economy hit hardest as tourists spending slumps £7.4bn  Central London’s economy has been hit hardest by Covid-19 mainly due to working from home and a sharp drop in tourism.  Major Sidiq Khan commissioned a report today looking into the future of the capital, which shows a profound effect on the Central Activities Zones (CAZ).  The impact is likely to create even bigger challenges for the city than those faced in other major cities like New York and Paris, due to less central residents and more reliance on visitors.  The Arts industry is at particular risk with over 26,000 jobs…

Stamp duty scrapped: Rishi Sunak could extend tax holiday permanently for house buyers Chancellor Rishi Sunak is reportedly considering extending the current holiday and is facing calls to drop the property tax completely. He is being urged by homeowners, campaigners and more than 50 conservative MPs to extend the tax or get rid of it in favour of another tax. The property tax usually adds 3% to the price of homes worth under £500,000. The steep tax rises to 15 per cent on homes worth over £1.5million. SDLT was scrapped last summer in an attempt to boost the property market…

Lockdown boosts October loungewear sales Retail sales in October were boosted by a pre-lockdown splurge in England, but the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG have warned that the industry is “teetering on a cliff edge”. In the four weeks to 31 October, total sales were up 4.9% year on year, the BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor shows. It is in-line with the three-month average growth of 4.9% and above the 12-month decline of 0.7%.  Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said: “October saw another month of strong sales growth, with food, gifts and loungewear high on peoples’ shopping lists.…

More than £215 million furlough money returned to the government The government has seen a return of more than £215 million in furlough payments from employers, whilst the reimbursements will go some way in helping the UK’s leaders with the management of the coronavirus pandemic, the figure is minuscule in comparison to the £3.5bn officials say were paid out in error or to fraudsters.  Data released by HM Revenue and Customs show that 80,433 companies have sent back £215,756,121 as of 15 September, according to a Freedom of Information request sent by PA Media. Some employers returned money sent to…

John Lewis scraps staff bonus for the first time since 1953 For the first time since 1953, John Lewis staff will not receive a bonus after being hit by lockdown store closures.  The retailer posted a huge £635m pre-tax loss for the six months to 25 July after higher costs offset a 1% rise in sales.  Its chairwoman told staff the announcement “will come as a blow”. Even before the pandemic, John Lewis had warned it might not pay the usual staff bonus as competition ate into profits.  Their first-half loss was £635m once exceptional items were taken into account,…

Nearly 700,000 UK job losses through pandemic Job losses in the UK have hit almost 700,000 through the coronavirus pandemic. The labour market took a turn for the worst in July despite the economy slowly reopening, the losses have put pressure on the government to extend support programs.  Employment fell by 102,000 – the first decline since April said the ONS on Tuesday. The single-month unemployment figure reached 4.4% – the highest since 2018.  Despite the reopening of businesses after coronavirus lockdowns, the figures are a reminder that the upturn in spending is hiding deeper issues.  The number of employees…