The John Lewis Partnership has announced that it is not planning to reopen eight of its 42 John Lewis shops from lockdown, as it rebalances its store estate to reflect how customers want to shop. The Partnership also confirmed plans to transfer the running of its Waitrose Distribution Centre in Leyland to XPO Logistics. The remaining 34 John Lewis shops will reopen from 12 April subject to Government guidance – with the exception of Glasgow, which will reopen from 26 April, and Edinburgh, which will reopen on 14 May. The eight shops identified for closure include four ‘At Home’ shops in Ashford, Basingstoke, Chester and Tunbridge Wells,…
Author: sme-admin
Propel, a leading specialist UK asset finance provider, and Azets, the top ten UK accounting, tax and business advisory firm and the largest SME regional practice across Europe, have today announced the formation of a significant strategic partnership. As a result of the alliance, thousands more SMEs will be able to gain access to fast and flexible asset finance to acquire the equipment and vehicles they need to drive growth and prosper. Propel is a specialist asset finance lender, helping more than 40,000 businesses across the UK over 25 years, to access finance to acquire business-critical equipment quickly and easily.…
Dan Thornton, Associate, Patent Attorney, Mewburn Ellis LLP Picture the scene – an investor is looking at two SMEs. Each has a strong leadership team, motivated staff, and fresh technology. Both are profitable and have strong business plans to expand, but only the first has any intellectual property rights (IPRs). Only, the first has a pending patent application, with the option open for obtaining patent protection around the world, which protects their key technology innovations. The first also has a trade mark registration protecting their branding that is beginning to gain traction in the market, along with a design registration…
Innovative green projects, which are creating the next generation of electric trucks and hydrogen-powered buses, are set to secure nearly 10,000 UK jobs and save millions of tonnes of carbon emissions thanks to over £54 million of funding by Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng. The 3 projects in Cwmbran, Warwickshire and Ballymena will receive more than £54 million of funding from the UK government and industry, and are forecast to secure nearly 10,000 jobs across the UK. They could also save up to 45 million tonnes of carbon emissions, equal to the total amount of emissions produced by 1.8 million cars…
The Vaccines Manufacturing and Innovation Centre (VMIC) has been granted an additional £47.6 million to support the expansion and acceleration of the programme. The VMIC will be the UK’s first national vaccines manufacturing and innovation facility and will be able to respond to pandemics by producing millions of doses quickly. The funding will support work already underway to: Expand the capacity twenty-fold so that the UK has a highly specialist manufacturing centre that, in a pandemic situation, can make up to 70 million doses within a 6 month period Accelerate the timeline for VMIC to be operationally ready so it can support…
Fifty young people across Great Britain have kickstarted their careers in the creatives as they began their six month placements with award-winning marketing company Purpol. The new starters join thousands across the country that have safely started their Kickstart placements and will see them learn new skills such as digital marketing, social media and leadership. Based in Chippenham, Wiltshire, Purpol Marketing has given young jobseekers in England, Wales and Scotland a leg up in the world of work with the help of the UK Government-backed provision. Seven of these starters have gone on to find permanent jobs already. The Kickstart…
Embello, a leading printing and merchandise company based in the Midlands, has donated rucksacks to children facing serious life challenges including illness. One recipient, six year old Taylor Lewsley (pictured below), is thrilled with his rucksack. The young boy, who had meningitis as a baby, has endured 84 operations and is one of 100 children who have received this lockdown gift. Boss Kyle Raffo heard about the issues faced by Derby-based charity Me&dee which provides free holidays for families where a member has a life limiting, life-threatening, or terminal illness. The charity owns a holiday lodge in Sherwood Forest. However,…
Online job board Zoek are giving job seekers the opportunity to have their CV launched into space! With new jobs in demand due to the pandemic, the competition aims to give job seekers a creative way to get noticed by employers in celebration of Star Wars Day on May 4th. The competition, which runs from 1st March to 9th April, will see three lucky winners receive a professional CV rewrite from employment support company TopCV. The CVs will be displayed on a screen and filmed travelling into space by Sent Into Space, lifted using a massive hydrogen balloon to heights…
The number of private equity buy and build transactions in the UK soared by 35 per cent during 2020, as private equity houses looked to bolster their portfolio during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to research by Rickitt Mitchell. Analysis by the corporate finance boutique, in partnership with Experian Market iQ, reveals that a total of 370 bolt-on transactions were completed in 2020 – up from the 276 seen over the course of the previous year. The bounce back following the Covid-19 pandemic is highlighted by the active second half of 2020, with 232 transactions completed during that period. In contrast,…
The current relaxations of, and modifications to, corporate insolvency legislation will last until 30 April 2021. But by regulations laid in Parliament on 11 February 2021, the Government is asking for power for another year (to April 2022) to make temporary amendments or modify the impact of corporate insolvency legislation. This power “will provide a means for specific and temporary changes to be made to corporate insolvency and governance legislation should the urgent need arise to do so, which will allow quick reactions to any unforeseen challenges arising as a result of the pandemic’s impact on business.” It is yet…