M&S downsizing

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M&S cuts jobs

Marks & Spencer will cut 7,000 jobs over the next 3 months across its shops and head office. The high-street retailer has seen its in-store sales take a hit during the coronavirus crisis, although it says its delivery business is strong.

A-levels U-turn

Students who missed out on university offers due to their downgraded A-levels may now be able to go after all. Yesterday, the government said students’ results would be based on the grades predicted by teachers. What does this mean for uni places? Not sure yet. Alistair Jarvis, chief executive of Universities UK, has called for "urgent clarification".

Flight bookings drop

Ryanair has cancelled 1 in 5 flights scheduled for September and October, after its bookings started to fall. Quarantine restrictions have been re-imposed for European countries, including Spain and France, giving would-be holidaymakers the jitters.

HL sitting on cash

Hargreaves Lansdown has come under pressure to return uninvested money to customers, after sitting on it* for months. The UK’s largest investment platform has seen its cash pile grow by £2.5 billion after investors sell out of funds but haven’t withdrawn. What’s the problem? The platform is still earning interest on the cash - but customers aren’t.

Supermarkets speak out

The grocery store bosses who battled to keep food on the shelves throughout the pre-lockdown panic buying have told how it was “touch and go”* for around 10 days in March. The danger was not that food itself might run out, simply that supermarkets could not get it on the shelves fast enough to match demand.

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