BUSINESS LIVE: Hays's new boss; Harbour Energy; James Cropper; FTSE edges up

Just before close, the FTSE 100 was 0.1% up at 7,328.17.

Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 was 0.14% down at 18,201.59.

Budget chain Travelodge today revealed its hotels have already sold out near venues for next year’s highly anticipated Taylor Swift concerts across Britain.

The firm said its hotels in Edinburgh, Liverpool and Cardiff are already sold out, while various sites near Wembley are also fully booked ahead of the dates next summer.

PureGym has posted a robust half-year performance thanks to rising membership levels as health-conscious Britons sought to get fitter on a budget.

The Leeds-based company, Britain’s biggest gym chain, reported turnover expanded 17 per cent year-on-year to £272million for the six months ending June.

(AFP) – The Subway sandwich chain announced Thursday that it reached a deal to be acquired by Roark Capital, a private equity firm active in the restaurant and prepared foods sectors.

Subway, which has nearly 37,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries, said the deal would combine the chain’s “global presence and brand strength with Roark’s deep expertise in restaurant and franchise business models,” according to a press release.

Financial terms were not disclosed. The value of the deal was expected to be over $9billion, a person familiar with the matter told AFP earlier this week.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported that a Roark offer of $9.6billion had led a competitive auction.

That value would make the Subway deal the third biggest US acquisition in the restaurant business, with the biggest being Burger King’s 2014 acquisition of Tim Hortons for $11.4billion.

“Subway has a bright future with Roark, and we are committed to continuing to focus on a win-win-win approach for our franchisees, our guests and our employees,” said Subway Chief Executive John Chidsey.

James Cropper has seen its revenues significantly increase whilst profits have declined, its full-year results revealed.

The papermaker saw revenues jump up by 24 per cent to £129.7million in the year to 1 April, which it said was due to ‘high demand and retained contracts’.

Asda has become the third British supermarket giant this week to announce price cuts to help consumers struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.

Britain’s third biggest grocer by sales said it was investing £23million in lowering prices on 425 branded and own-label products, by an average of 11 per cent.

Harbour Energy swung to a small first-half loss as the effect of declining energy prices was compounded by high tax payments.

Britain’s largest North Sea oil and gas producer reported an $8million loss for the six months ending June, having made a $1billion profit for the same period last year.

Virgin Media is being pressured to investigate the legality of its broadband contracts, after consumer champion Which? claimed it could currently hike bills ‘by unlimited sums whenever it chooses’.

Which? has urged Ofcom to investigate the broadband contracts of Virgin Media in what it sees as ‘potentially breaking the law,’ as it says the telecoms firm might be ‘in breach of the Consumer Rights Act’.

Ikea has pushed back the opening date for its new Oxford Street store to next year as it revealed new details about the planned outlet.

It came as the Swedish retail giant unveiled a 128ft (39m) by 62ft (19m) version of its signature blue Frakta carrier bag covering the scaffolding of the site.

Work on the Oxford Street store, which was previously home to Topshop’s flagship London site, started last year.

Ikea originally said it would open in autumn this year but has now said it hopes it will open by autumn 2024.

Ingka Investment, the investment arm of the retail group, bought the Grade II listed building at 214 Oxford Street after Topshop owner Arcadia fell into administration.

The renovation project at the site is creating a new 82,000 square feet store covering three floors, along with four floors of office space.

The new store, offering around 6,000 different products, will include a showroom, market hall, and a Swedish deli serving Ikea’s famous meatballs.

Peter Jelkeby, chief executive and chief sustainability officer of Ikea UK, said: “We’re incredibly excited to be bringing Ikea to the heart of London’s vibrant retail scene on Oxford Street, which is a major milestone in our continued expansion plans across the capital.

“By having a presence at one of the most iconic shopping destinations in the world, we’re taking a significant step forward in our ongoing journey to make it easier to shop with Ikea – whenever, wherever and however customers choose.”

High street banks are lagging seriously behind rivals when it comes to boosting easy-access savings rates, data shows.

The average rate paid on easy-access accounts on a balance of £5,000 at high street providers Nationwide, Santander, First Direct, HSBC, Barclays, NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland, Metro Bank, Bank of Scotland, Halifax, Lloyds, TSB and Virgin Money was a paltry 0.07 per cent in 30 November 2021.

Aldi UK has called on Wilko workers fearful of losing their jobs to get in touch as the supermarket has over 6,000 store vacancies available.

Aldi previously said it was creating 800 jobs in its new stores over the coming months and today added that it was also recruiting for a ‘large volume’ of other store roles across the country as its expansion continues.

Recruitment groups Hays has appointed insider Dirk Hahn as its new chief executive, while also seeing its profit fall in the last year and warning of fresh job cuts.

This follows an announcement on 23 February that the company had started a process to identify a successor to Alistair Cox.

Former Bank of England governor Mervyn King claimed yesterday the time for rapid interest rate increases is over as shock economic figures raised fears that Britain is heading for recession.

The data showed private sector output shrank this month at the fastest pace since January 2021 when Britain was in lockdown.

Recruitment groups Hays has appointed insider Dirk Hahn as its new chief executive, while also seeing its profit fall in the last year and warning of fresh job cuts.

This follows an announcement on 23 February that the company had started a process to identify a successor to Alistair Cox.

Sterling and gilt yields tumbled yesterday as mounting fears of recession saw investors scale back bets on where interest rates will peak.

As central bankers headed to Jackson Hole in Wyoming in the US for their annual chinwag, a set of bleak reports showed private sector activity across Britain and the eurozone in sharp decline as inflation and rising borrowing costs take their toll.

More homes are going up for rent, as stubborn owners increasingly shift from selling to letting when they don’t get the price they want.

Two years of near-double digit rent increases have seen renting become increasingly expensive, with demand from tenants far outstripping the supply of homes.

Hundreds of Wilko stores are set to close and thousands of staff will lose their jobs after talks to buy it collapsed without a rescue deal last night.

The 93-year-old chain tumbled into administration this month – putting 400 stores and 12,000 jobs at risk.

North Sea oil and gas producer Ithaca Energy said the windfall tax has forced it to slash production in the UK.

The FTSE 250 company said it was writing off £58m as a direct impact from the levy, pushing it to scale back plans for the second half of 2023 and into 2024.

The pound at 8am was $1.2704 compared to $1.2713 at the previous close.