Firm rubber

A group of 45 Conservative MPs from "Red Wall" seats have called for a permanent reduction in business rates to help firms come out of "cold store" after the coronavirus crisis. In a letter to Chancellor Rishi Sunak ahead of Wednesday's Budget , MPs from the Northern Research Group (NRG) have demanded a "bold move" to support shops and high streets up and down the country. Live COVID updates from the UK and around the world Business rates are paid on the use of a building for non-domestic purposes. At last year's Budget, Mr Sunak announced a 12-month suspension of business rates to help firms affected by COVID lockdown restrictions. Advertisement But he is now under pressure to make that assistance permanent - although the Treasury has said it won't publish the results of a fundamental review of business rates until the autumn, when there is more economic certainty. Rossendale and Darwen MP Jake Berry, the chair of the NRG, … [Read more...] about Budget 2021: Conservative MPs demand permanent cut to business rates to help firms come out of ‘cold store’

Skydio has become the first US dronemaker with a valuation of more than $1 billion, a signal of deeper investment in American-made drones after the US government blacklisted Chinese manufacturers. The California-based Skydio raised $170 million in a Series D funding round led by VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, as first reported by The Financial Times . Skydio’s drones are best known for their self-flying tech, which allows the aircraft to autonomously navigate obstacles and track users on the ground. The company released its first drone in 2018, the $2500 R1, aiming the product at consumers. It followed this up with the smarter and much cheaper $999 Skydio 2 in 2019 , and last year announced its first drone aimed specifically at enterprise and military customers: the X2 . Putting new emphasis on enterprise products makes sense given that the sector is the fastest-growing in the drone market. Data gathered by Valuates Reports, and reported by the FT , says the … [Read more...] about US drone firm Skydio valued at $1 billion as government freezes out Chinese competition

MILAN: Sport advisory firm Tifosy said on Monday it had hired former Inter Milan executive Tim Williams as it presses ahead with plans to expand in Britain. Tifosy, whose name is a play on the Italian word “tifosi”, meaning fans, is advising private equity firm BC Partners in talks to buy into Inter Milan as top investor Suning looks round for resources to inject into the loss-making club, sources have said. Williams, who served as the chief financial officer of Serie A's Inter Milan for nearly six years, will join Tifosy as managing director and will be in charge of developing the business in the United Kingdom, the advisory firm co-founded by former Chelsea boss Gianluca Vialli said in a statement. Before joining Inter Milan in 2015, Williams had been group financial controller at English Premier League soccer club Manchester United. Inter said on Friday that Williams's responsibilities will be shared between existing senior members of the finance team, while a search … [Read more...] about Sport advisory firm Tifosy hires former Inter Milan executive

SINGAPORE: It’s only 4am in Kembangan but Ms Liyana Stuart is already up. She is on one of her early-morning walks, a ritual she has observed daily since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. On these walks, Ms Liyana will buy coffee and sometimes groceries, and by 5am, she’s back home and her work day begins. For the next hour or so until her children wake up, it is quiet in her home office save for the clickety sounds of the mouse and keyboard as she reads and replies emails. Ms Liyana is a client relations director at corporate training firm Anagram Group. She and her husband Mark, who is the head trainer, founded the company seven years ago. Until the "circuit breaker", the duo worked out of a co-working space in Dhoby Ghaut, with Mr Stuart travelling an average of 10 times a month to deliver his workshops in person. But in February, as information about the novel coronavirus trickled in, their bookings trickled away. “Our once-full, in-person training calendar was left … [Read more...] about Business resilience in the time of COVID-19: The story of a picnic company, a magician and a corporate training firm

WASHINGTON/MEXICO CITY: The United States on Thursday (Jun 18) blacklisted Mexican company Libre Abordo and a related firm, accusing them of helping Caracas evade US sanctions in the first formal action taken by the US Treasury Department against Mexican companies involved in trading Venezuelan oil. The Treasury said in a statement it imposed sanctions on three individuals, eight foreign entities and two vessels for activities related to a network attempting to skirt US sanctions on Venezuela aimed at pressuring leftist President Nicolas Maduro. Among those blacklisted were Mexico-based Libre Abordo and related Schlager Business Group, as well as their co-owners, Olga Maria Zepeda Esparza and Veronica Esparza Garcia. The Treasury also targeted Mexican Joaquin Leal Jimenez, accusing him of having worked with Alex Saab, recently arrested in Cape Verde, Libre Abordo and Schlager Business Group for brokering the resale of millions of barrels of Venezuelan crude. "Leal is the … [Read more...] about US slaps sanctions on Mexican firms, individuals linked to Venezuelan oil trade