The chairman of easyJet is preparing to step down as Britain’s airline industry holds its breath for a summer season recovery that could salvage its short-term future. Sky News has learnt that the low-cost carrier has appointed headhunters to identify a successor to John Barton, who has held the role since 2013. City sources said
Business
The Serious Fraud Office has said it is investigating steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta’s business empire – including links with Greensill Capital. The SFO said in a statement said it was looking into “suspected fraud, fraudulent trading and money laundering in relation to the financing and conduct of the business of companies within the Gupta Family
Portugal has confirmed that tourists from the UK will be able to travel to the country from Monday. The country’s minister of foreign affairs said anyone arriving from 17 May must have had a negative PCR result within the previous 72 hours. Existing travel restrictions on travel into the country from Britain will end on
Britain’s roadmap out of lockdown sparked a sharp increase in UK bookings through Airbnb with notable demand for staycations over the summer, the company’s latest results revealed. The San Francisco-based firm reported a 52% surge in first quarter reservations to $10.3bn as it set its sights on an improvement in fortunes as pandemic restrictions ease.
The world’s largest travel firm has warned it may be forced to cancel holiday flights to Portugal, just as the UK allows them again, because of a continuing EU ban on non-essential travel from countries outside the bloc. TUI, which told Sky News earlier this week that people were giving up on booking a break
The Premier League has announced a three-year renewal of its deal with broadcasters “at the same overall value as the current arrangements”. Live and non-live broadcast rights have again been awarded to Sky Sports, BT, Amazon and the BBC without all the parties having to go through an extended tender process. The Premier League said
Holidaymakers have been giving up on getaways this summer thanks to a “lack of clarity” on the easing of travel restrictions, latest trading figures from TUI suggest. The German-based travel giant said 2.6 million customers were booked for its peak season, down from 2.8 million reported in February – with some putting off their holidays
Britain’s locked-down economy shrank by 1.5% in the first quarter of the year, official figures show. The data covers a period when a resurgence in coronavirus cases resulted in renewed restrictions including school and shop closures and “stay at home” advice. But the impact on the economy appears to have been much smaller than during
David Cameron told the Treasury’s top civil servant it was “bonkers” that a financial services firm he was lobbying for had been denied access to government-backed COVID loans. MPs on the Treasury select committee have released correspondence between the former prime minister and a range of ministers and officials on behalf of Greensill Capital. It
New laws to fulfil Boris Johnson’s promise of helping to give people the skills they need throughout their lives will form a central part of the government’s legislative agenda for the next year. The prime minister has promised to put “rocket fuel” into his “levelling up” agenda with the introduction of new laws – to
Subprime credit firm Provident Financial is to axe its doorstep lending arm putting 2,100 jobs at risk, blaming “changing industry and regulatory” dynamics. The lender has faced growing customer complaints and an investigation by the City regulator, and earlier this year offered to set up a £50m fund to try to resolve compensation claims. It
Greggs has bumped up its profit outlook after a “significant pick-up in sales” as non-essential retailers reopened. The bakery chain said the increase partly reflected “pent-up demand for retail which has boosted high street footfall”. Greggs said that like-for-like sales in the period since the easing of restrictions on 12 April were ahead of pre-pandemic
The prime minister will reportedly promise to bring jobs and skills to “red wall” areas so people no longer have to leave their home towns in search of prosperity. Boris Johnson is expected to make the vow in the Queen’s speech as a gesture to the voters who helped his party to election victory over
An “unbelievable” surge in post-lockdown demand for cask beer is offering “a glimmer of hope” for the struggling UK pub industry. Production has been ramped up at breweries after some underestimated just how many pints would be sold in pubs after they reopened in last month. The demand meant that the Timothy Taylor’s brewery in
Hospitality chiefs have urged the chancellor to prepare a new financial support package for the industry even as remaining restrictions on their operations are lifted in the coming weeks. Sky News has seen a letter sent this weekend sent by Kate Nicholls, the UK Hospitality chief executive, to Rishi Sunak in which she calls on
Bookings for holidays to Portugal have gone “through the roof” after the country was added to the government’s green travel list, Thomas Cook has said. The European nation is one of just 12 destinations where travellers can visit from 17 May without needing to self-isolate upon their return to England. On Friday night, Thomas Cook