World Cup, Debenhams, House of Fraser, Virgin Money, US v China, public sector borrowing: your commercial news round-up
updated on 21 June 2018
The World Cup may well be taking a lot of your time and energy at the moment – and fair enough – but spare a thought for concerned pub and bar owners worried that the shortage of CO2 in Europe could mean a lack of beer and food during what is a very lucrative trading period. The horror. For other commercial news of interest, read on:
- Another week, another household-name department store in trouble. This time, it’s Debenhams which has issued a profit warning – the third one for it this year. It comes hot on the heels of House of Fraser’s announcement of major store closures, although it is meeting with MPs to discuss rescue plans ahead of its company voluntary arrangement vote this week.
- News from the banking sector reveals that Virgin Money has been bought by Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank (CYBG) for £1.7 billion. CYBG said the takeover would “create the UK's first true national competitor to the large incumbent banks”.
- In yet another triumph for harmonious international relations, President Trump has announced proposed (and highly punitive) new tariffs on $200 billion-worth of Chinese imports. The announcement caused markets to have a serious wobble – learn more about why he’s doing it, and the implications, here.
- Public sector borrowing in May was down to £5 billion when compared to last year. This was a bigger fall than expected – of £2 billion – and brings borrowing for the financial year to date to £11.8 billion, just over £4 billion less than in the same period in 2017.
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