Nightcap eyes portfolio expansion as CEO ‘proves critics wrong’ after pandemic-launch January 12, 2022 Bar operator Nightcap hit £15.5m in net sales during its first full year of trading, as it lines up 25 new site openings this year. Boss Sarah Willingham, whose group owns Tonight Josephine and the London Cocktail Club, told CityA.M. she had “never been prouder” to work in hospitality than during the pandemic. The company [...]
Pret A Manger boosts pay for staff in £9.2m investment January 12, 2022 Sandwich chain Pret A Manger has hiked pay for staff to above £10 an hour, in what it has called its biggest ever pay increase. In a £9.2m investment, some 8,000 staff members in the UK are set to see pay increase from a baseline of £9.40-9.56, to up to £10.15 per hour. Baristas will [...]
Checkout.com hits $40bn valuation as it raises $1bn for US expansion January 12, 2022 Payments giant Checkout.com has closed a mammoth $1bn funding round as it gears up for a major US expansion, the firm announced today. The funding round values the payments processor at $40bn and places it firmly among Europe’s most valuable fintechs. The latest round was backed by investors including Altimeter, Dragoneer, and the Qatar Investment [...]
Trustpilot revenues jump after bookings boost January 12, 2022 Trustpilot has announced a jump in revenue this morning after an uptick in bookings.
Topps Tiles lays foundations for ‘sustainable growth’ as sales up 21 per cent in Christmas rush January 12, 2022 Topps Tiles announced a confident outlook in this morning’s trading update for the 13-week period ended 1 January, with like-for-like sales on a two-year basis up 21 per cent.
Premier Inn owner Whitbread gets serious Omicron beating over Christmas as new investments are postponed January 12, 2022 Premier Inn owner Whitbread has revealed a knock to demand over the festive season from the spread of the Omicron variant and cautioned over rising costs. The group saw total UK sales drop 4.4 per cent year-on-year in the six weeks to January 6, dragged lower by a 17.2 per cent slump in food and [...]
A very merry Christmas: Sainsbury’s upgrades full year profits to £720m thanks to retail boom January 12, 2022 Sainsbury’s has reported a very merry Christmas this morning, upgrading its pre-tax profits for the full year to £720m.
Pret sales lag behind pre-Covid levels as office workers slowly return to desks after Omicron fears January 11, 2022 Workers have been slow to return to the Square Mile this year, Pret’s coffee and sandwich sales reveal. Transaction volumes in Canada and Canary Wharf districts were more than one third down on pre-pandemic levels last week. Bloomberg’s Pret Index laid bare the impact of Covid guidance introduced at the end of [...]
Exclusive: ‘Omicron is a reminder the world is only as good as the weakest link in the vaccination chain,’ says abrdn exec January 11, 2022 Ongoing inflationary shocks, questions around interest rates and the emergence of the new Omicron Covid variant are all making navigating uncertainty more challenging. Nonetheless, when we look beyond the headlines, there remain some reasons for optimism going into 2022, according to Richard Dunbar, head of multi-asset research at global investment giant abrdn. Square Mile-based Dunbar [...]
Lingerie tycoon Baroness Mone sued for unlimited damages after reports of racist remarks January 11, 2022 Millionaire lingerie tycoon Baroness Michelle Mone is being sued for unlimited damages after allegations of racist remarks. Financial consultant Richard Lynton-Jones has filed a writ against the retail tycoon in London’s High Court, claiming Mone sent him racist WhatsApp messages. Lynton-Jones, who has Indian heritage, claimed that Mone sent him a message calling him “a [...]