The boss of Virgin Atlantic anticipates some softening of demand for air travel from the looming recession but says bookings are holding up for now. Speaking on the airline’s inaugural flight to Tampa in Florida, Shai Weiss, chief executive, said: “This year will be better for the airline than 2019 in revenue terms although our […]
Business confidence among the UK’s SME manufacturers has fallen sharply, as output and the volume of new orders declined in the three months to October 2022. The CBI’s latest SME Trends Survey, based on the responses of 262 small and medium sized manufacturing firms, paints a stark picture of the challenges facing the UK’s SME […]
Britishvolt has said it has secured a few weeks of funding and its 300 staff have agreed to take a steep pay cut, as the UK government-backed battery startup races to find a buyer or new longer-term investor to avoid collapse. The company, which planned to develop a £3.8bn “gigafactory” creating 3,000 jobs in the […]
Wm Morrison Supermarkets has said that it will close 132 lossmaking McColl’s convenience stores that it bought this year, putting about 1,300 jobs at risk. The chain was rescued from insolvency in May by Morrisons, which beat the owners of Asda — the Issa brothers and TDR Capital, the private equity firm — to seal […]
Millions of middle earners will be more than £3,500 poorer because of plans by Rishi Sunak for a stealth raid on income tax that will last at least six years, analysis has shown. The prime minister and Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, are thought to have agreed to extend until 2028 a freeze on income tax […]
Twitter users have been bracing themselves to see Elon Musk’s vision for the platform. Now it seems he has his sights on the coveted blue tick. Prominent users from Gary Lineker to Barack Obama will have to pay $8 a month for the privilege of “verified” status. Musk outlined a package that he said would […]
Windfall taxes on energy companies could be raised to 30 per cent and extended as much as three years, as Downing Street to scrambles to fill a £40bn black hole in the UK’s finances. The new Government is eager reassure markets after former Prime Minister Liz Truss’ botched mini-budget. In this vein, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt […]
Elon Musk has appointed himself CEO of Twitter and dissolved its board of directors, it was revealed in a company filing on Monday, as Twitter employees brace for extensive layoffs under a new restructuring that could target up to a quarter of staff. The Washington Post reported on Monday that Musk’s team has been discussing […]
More than a third of businesses in the hospitality industry risk going bust early next year as running costs and dwindling consumer confidence push them to the brink. According to an analysis of a survey by four leading trade bodies, 35 per cent of respondents expect to be operating at a loss or to be […]
A rise in unemployment above pre-pandemic levels next year will intensify the squeeze on household finances, which is already at its worst since the Second World War, a think tank says. The jobless rate has fallen from 4 per cent at the beginning of 2020 to 3.5 per cent after hundreds of thousands of people […]