Category: Business

Flybmi won't be the last airline failure, say analysts In two short sentences, Flybmi’s announcement that it had collapsed summed up the airline industry’s woes: fuel costs, green taxes, Brexit uncertainty, falling passenger numbers. It might have added fierce competition, but that is probably a statement of the obvious. Several European airlines have folded or hit financial trouble during the past two years. Britain’s Monarch collapsed in October 2017, while Germany’s Germania filed for insolvency earlier this month. Air Berlin and Alitalia went bust, although the latter was propped up…

Saudi Arabia signs bn in deals with Pakistan Media playback is unsupported on your device Saudi Arabia has pledged investment deals worth $20bn (£15.5bn) with Pakistan which is seeking to bolster its fragile economy. The deals include funding for an $8bn oil refinery in the city of Gwadar. It comes as part of a high-profile Asian tour by the kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Pakistan is suffering a financial crisis. It has only $8bn left in foreign reserves and is looking to international backers for support. Prime Minister Imran…

Stores accused of 'watering down' bottle deposit scheme Large retailers have been accused of trying to water down a proposed scheme to improve rates of bottle recycling. Environmentalists say large and small drinks containers alike should carry a catch-all deposit of more than 15p. But retailers say small “on-the-go” bottles cause most litter, while large bottles are recycled by households and should not be subject to a deposit. Ministers are still considering whether to exempt bigger plastic containers from the plans. How do bottle recycling schemes work? The UK proposal,…

Tax-free childcare helps just a fifth of families Just 91,000 families made use of the new Tax-Free Childcare system in December, according to new government data, That is far below the expected number. Official figures, analysed by the BBC, show that the government had planned and budgeted for 415,000 families to be using the system by October 2017. By December 2018, just 22% of that number have signed up. The government urged families to see if they qualify. The shortfall is partly because the full roll-out was pushed back following…

Porsche warns UK customers of Brexit price rise Porsche is warning new customers they might have to pay 10% extra for their car in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The German manufacturer is asking buyers to sign a clause in contracts agreeing to pay the potential tariff on cars delivered after 29 March. Porsche said: “This is a precautionary step in the interests of allowing our customers to plan ahead.” A 10% surcharge would see the cost of an entry-level Porsche 911 rising from £93,110 to £102,421. Porsche is…

How Lidl learnt to be less German in the UK Lidl, along with its fellow German discounter Aldi, might be growing strongly in the UK right now but it wasn’t always that way. Its former UK boss, Ronny Gottschlich, says that in the early years the discounters were really small players. “If anything it was considered to be a poor man’s shop. The German discount model would sit in the corner and people thought you couldn’t do your weekly shopping in there.” But things began to change around the time…

'Killer car seats' sold online for £8 Children’s car seats, dubbed “killers” by trading standards officers, have repeatedly appeared for sale on online marketplaces, Which? has warned. The consumer group said the fabric seats, which can cost as little as £8, offered almost no protection in a crash and were illegal to use in the UK. The online sites - Amazon, eBay and AliExpress - all said they had removed the seats from sale. But Which? said the listings should have been deleted quicker. Crash tests Which? said the seats…

The community that rejected Amazon A day after Amazon announced it would abandon controversial plans to build a new campus in New York City, the neighbourhood selected for the expansion was still in shock. At Manducatis Rustica, an Italian restaurant on the local high street that was established in 1977, people were in mourning. At the closest subway stop, there was a sense of relief. The divided opinions reflected the fierce debate stirred by Amazon’s plan, which would have added 25,000 jobs over 10 years to a waterfront district in…

Vogue Brazil exec quits over 'slave party' criticism Vogue Brazil’s fashion director has resigned after photos from her 50th birthday party were criticised for “evoking slavery.” One image, now deleted from Instagram, shows fashion boss Donata Meirelles on a throne with two black women in traditional dress standing either side of her. Critics on social media have accused her of being racially insensitive. Ms Meirelles has apologised and denies the images were linked with slavery. The image first emerged in a now-deleted Instagram post by Brazilian journalist Fabio Bernardo. It…

US-China trade talks break up without a deal Trade talks between the US and China have broken up without a deal, with the US warning that “very difficult issues” remain unresolved. The talks in China this week were aimed at securing a new deal before further US tariffs are imposed on 1 March. China said negotiations would now continue in the US next week. “We feel that we have to make headway on some very, very important and very difficult issues,” said top US trade negotiator Robert Lighthizer. However, he…