Royal Mail’s parent firm has raised its estimate for the cost of industrial action so far to £200m and claimed that up to 12,500 union members have worked on strike days. International Distributions Services (IDS) said 18 days of walkouts at Royal Mail helped push the division to a £295m operating loss in the first
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Regal parent Cineworld said it’s opted to pursue a sale of assets and the process “is well under way” with non-binding bids due February 16. The company said in a bankruptcy filing this week that it’s reached out to 30 “potential transaction parties” including many competitors. If the debtors (Cineworld and its affiliates) find one
A London-based estate agent chaired by the former Sainsbury’s chief Justin King is on the brink of a deal to buy rival Marsh & Parsons. Sky News has learnt that Dexters, which is privately owned, has been in talks for weeks with LSL Property Services, Marsh & Parsons’ London-listed parent company. Sources said a deal
EXCLUSIVE: UTA has signed award-winning actor, director, writer and producer Steve Buscemi and his Olive Productions banner for representation in all areas. Buscemi currently co-stars opposite Daniel Radcliffe in the TBS anthology comedy series Miracle Workers that’s executive produced by Lorne Michaels. He starred in the HBO drama, Boardwalk Empire, which earned him a Golden Globe
A proposed reunion of two parts of Rupert Murdoch’s empire has been abandoned by the media tycoon. The 91-year old and his son Lachlan had floated the idea of bringing together News Corp, the US company behind the Wall Street Journal, Harper Collins and The Times newspaper, and Fox News owner Fox Corp. The two
EXCLUSIVE: Scott Free Productions has recently inked a 2-year extension for Justin Alvarado Brown to continue to serve as President and C.O.O. of the company through 2024. Brown will continue to oversee all dealmaking and operations for the company across film and television, as well as heading up strategic planning, primary responsibility for P&L, and
Darren Westwood knows how to stick up for himself. As a kid, he was bullied in the playground and beaten up in his local town centre. Now he doesn’t take stick from anyone, no matter how big or strong they appear, even if they happen to be one of the biggest companies in the world.
Disney has scheduled an in-person upfront on May 16 at New York’s Javits Center, joining a growing cohort betting on the upside of wooing advertisers in the flesh. The annual pitch on behalf of the company’s many linear and streaming platforms is again on the move after the company decamped from its longtime Lincoln Center
Thousands of pensioners left facing an uncertain retirement by the collapse of Sir Philip Green’s high street empire are on the verge of a funding deal backed by one of Britain’s biggest insurers. Sky News has learnt that the trustees of the Arcadia Group pension scheme are close to striking a binding deal with Aviva
It was the end of an era yesterday at Walt Disney World as the Florida theme park shut down its popular Splash Mountain attraction to star work on its replacement, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. The Orlando-area revamp will open in late 2024, though an official date has not been set. At Walt Disney World yesterday, throngs of fans gathered before
Twitter is being sued by the Crown Estate amid allegations of unpaid rent at its London headquarters. The Crown Estate, which manages a property portfolio belonging to the monarchy, filed a case at the High Court last week. Twitter’s office is based near Piccadilly Circus in central London – but reports have suggested that the
M&M’s are retreating from the use of “spokescandies” and instead deploying Maya Rudolph as a new spokesperson, after the brand’s efforts to promote diversity and inclusion triggered a backlash on the right that they were going “woke.” The brand issued a statement on Monday, saying, “America, let’s talk. In the last year, we’ve made some
Too many people are on pay-as-you-go energy meters that risk them being cut off paying more, Ofgem, charities and the government have said. The regulator has said it will take legal action against any supplier that forces customers onto a prepayment meter and the government is issuing firms with a “cease and desist” order. It
Damar Hamlin made an in-person appearance to cheer on his Buffalo Bill teammates in a critical playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals. The safety was seen going into Highmark Stadium for the first time since his life-threatening medical emergency to wish the Bills good luck in the divisional round game. After greeting his fellow Bills
Some households with smart meters could be eligible for discounts if they cut their use of electricity between 5 and 6pm today. The National Grid ESO is activating a live “demand flexibility service” – which allows it to access additional flexibility when national demand is at its highest during peak winter days. The scheme entitles
UPDATE: At least 10 people have been killed in a shooting late Saturday following a large Lunar New Year celebration in the east Los Angeles community of Monterey Park, police have confirmed. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said the shooting happened at a business on West Garvey Avenue in Monterey Park, and the gunman,
The bank executive who helped to transform Virgin Money into one of Britain’s biggest high street lenders has landed a role at the helm of a British-based digital wealth manager. Sky News understands that Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia will on Monday be unveiled as chair of Moneyfarm. Dame Jayne-Anne’s appointment will ignite speculation that Moneyfarm, which
Coming off a holiday break, Saturday Night Live went with congressman George Santos’ fabulist past claims while also spoofing his alleged past as a drag performer. The sketch was aired just hours after the real Santos responded to reports that he was a drag performer when he lived in Brazil. Reporters caught up with him
Elon Musk has appeared in court to refute allegations that Tesla shareholders were defrauded out of billions of dollars by his tweets. The company’s chief executive wrote in 2018 that he had “secured” funding to take the electric carmaker private and later that investor backing was “confirmed”, causing shares to soar and then fall. Less
The on-air talent at Telemundo’s Spanish-language TV station KVEA 52 in Los Angeles have voted overwhelmingly to unionize with SAG-AFTRA, which called the vote “another major organizing victory in Spanish-language media.” In a vote overseen by the National Labor Relations Board, the station’s anchors and reporters voted 18-to-1 to unionize with the guild, which said