Business

Moonpig, the online greeting card and gift retailer, has reported a doubling of annual revenue and profits as lockdown restrictions on shoppers boosted demand. While high street rivals were forced into hibernation as part of efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19, the company benefited from almost 51 million transactions as customers flocked to mark

EXCLUSIVE: The WGA racked up more than $4.6 million in legal bills to win its historic victory over the major talent agencies.The nearly two-year-long legal battle, which began in April 2019 and ended in February 2021, will phase out packaging fees by June 2022 and limit a franchised agency and its owners to owning no

Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, has ordered officials to launch a national security probe into the £2.6bn takeover of Ultra Electronics, a key supplier of military technology, by Cobham, the former London-listed defence group. Sky News has learnt that Mr Kwarteng has told civil servants at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)

On Saturday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported 10 new deaths from Covid-19, and 2,600 new positive cases. While the number of deaths and confirmed cases reported today may reflect delays in weekend reporting, today’s data brings the County to a total of 24,624 deaths and 1,281,760 positive cases. At time of

Heathrow Airport has urged the government to reopen the UK economy to fully vaccinated travellers from the European Union and United States by the end of the month after revealing coronavirus crisis losses of almost £3bn to date. The company said expensive COVID-19 testing requirements were hampering an effective reopening of the skies while it

Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain kept its spot in the North American top ten for week two in 954 theaters – up by 27 — with an $830,000 estimated gross for the three days, leading the specialty box office. As per Focus Features, that was a total cume of over $3.7 million for the

Zopa, one of Britain’s biggest digital financial services providers, is in talks with investors about a £100m capital injection that will put it on course to become the country’s latest fintech ‘unicorn’. Sky News has learnt that Zopa has hired JP Morgan, the Wall Street investment bank, to advise on what is expected to be

Jobs and earnings for SAG-AFTRA members have “rebounded and reached a new high in the first months of 2021, with streaming and commercials showing significant growth,” the union said Saturday night following an all-day meeting of its national board of directors. “We’re very pleased that the Covid safety protocols that we worked so hard with

Taxpayers will spend decades exposed to financial risks from the government’s coronavirus spending, according to a committee of MPs. Parliament’s public accounts committee (PAC) has produced two reports related to the crisis, the first of which warns that Britain will be exposed to “significant financial risks for decades to come”. The cost of government measures

Three of Fran Drescher’s former co-stars on The Nanny have come out in support of her political rival, Matthew Modine, in the race to be the next president of SAG-AFTRA. Charles Shaughnessy, Renee Taylor and Madeline Zima also are backing the Membership First slate of candidates headed by Modine and his running mate Joely Fisher. None

The newly listed owner of Burger King’s UK operations has begun drawing up plans for a sale of the business next year in a bet on an accelerated recovery of Britain’s pandemic-hit restaurant industry. Sky News has learnt that Bridgepoint Group is holding preliminary talks with investment banks about an auction of one of the

Meredith Stiehm will be the next president of the WGA West. Stiehm, running unopposed, will succeed David A. Goodman, who has termed out, on Sept. 21. Stiehm, who executive produced Homeland and Cold Case, will be only the third woman to hold the union’s highest elected position. The WGA West and its forerunner, the Screen

Boris Johnson is facing growing pressure to allow fully vaccinated people who have been identified as close contacts of coronavirus cases to be exempt from isolation. London Mayor Sadiq Khan has joined business leaders in calling for more workers to be allowed to skip quarantine if they are alerted by the NHS COVID-19 app to

Raymond Cavaleri, a former child actor who became a talent agent and founded Cavaleri & Associates in 1981, died July 19 in West Hills, California. He was 74. His son Damian Cavaleri announced his death to Deadline, noting that he died peacefully surrounded by family. Born in Syracuse, New York, Cavaleri was six months old

The UK’s economic bounce-back has slowed sharply partly thanks to the impact of the “pingdemic” causing workers to isolate, according to a key business survey. A “flash” estimate of private sector activity for July showed the weakest expansion since March as Britain’s firms battle to recover from the coronavirus crisis. The reading of 57.7 –

If you thought it was a challenge for broadcasters to sweeten NFL or NBA broadcasts during fan-free pandemic telecasts in 2020, get ready for the most sprawling sports event on the calendar. The Covid-addled Tokyo Summer Olympic Games start Friday on NBCUniversal platforms without any spectators in attendance, due to health and safety measures. Japan

Around 10,000 workers in the food supply chain industry are to become exempt from coronavirus self-isolation rules – but this will not include supermarket staff, the government has said. Environment Secretary George Eustice said the government has identified “up to 500” distribution centres and food supply chain hubs where workers could be part of the

“The Delta variant is a game-changer,” said Los Angeles County Public Health Director said on Thursday. Ferrer announced that, as the Delta variant has become more prevalent in Los Angeles County, the percentage of infections happening among fully-vaccinated residents is rising. In March, vaccinated people accounted for only 2% of all infections. In April that

Supermarkets Sainsbury’s, Iceland and Co-op have revealed they are suffering stock shortages as concerns grow about the impact of the so-called “pingdemic”. Sainsbury’s, Britain’s second biggest supermarket, said it “might not always have” products customers want while Iceland revealed it was also being hit and urged customers not to stockpile. Co-op said it was “running

UCLA’s Hollywood Diversity Report has been awarded funding from the 2021-2022 California state budget for the first time. The total of $250,000 will support the industry’s only longitudinal analysis that connects the relationship between the diversity of key jobs in Hollywood productions with the spending power and appetites of increasingly diverse U.S. audiences. “Films directed