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Virgin Money is to cut up to 400 jobs in the latest phase of its cost-cutting plans following its tie-up with Clydesdale and Yorkshire banking group (CYBG).
The cuts are understood to affect 200 jobs at the Clydesdale’s former head office in Glasgow, 50 at the former Yorkshire Bank HQ in Leeds and 150 at Virgin Money’s office in Gosforth.

Virgin said they represented the latest stage of its “integration process” after the £1.7bn takeover in 2018 by CYBG which saw the combined company rebranded as Virgin Money.

Where jobs are being lost across the UK economu

It has said it is aiming to create a “significantly more efficient and sustainable business” but acknowledged that workers were being let go in a tough jobs market.
The announcement follows recent cuts by TSB and the Co-operative Bank, rivals of a similar scale in the UK high street banking sector.

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Lucy Dimes, chief strategy and transformation officer at Virgin Money UK, said it was seeking to build “a sustainable business which is fit for the future”.

She added: “Decisions on jobs are never taken lightly, particularly in the more challenging environment brought about by the pandemic, and our focus is on minimising the impact on colleagues from the changes as much as we can.”

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Ms Dimes said the company would seek to find alternative roles and avoid compulsory redundancies where possible.
Virgin had already warned at the time of its CYBG tie-up that up to 1,500 jobs were likely to be lost as it sought efficiencies.

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700,000 jobs lost since March

It axed 330 in the first tranche of cuts in 2019 with 500 more job losses announced in February this year as it set about closing or consolidating dozens of branches reducing its network to 166 sites.

The North Sea is generally regarded as one of the world’s most mature oil and gas resources.
One would never know that, though, from the extent to which assets in the region have changed hands during recent years.

There has seen a flurry of activity as the world’s major oil and gas producers, including Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron and BP, have offloaded seemingly mature fields in the region in favour of less capital-intensive or higher-yielding assets elsewhere.

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Lockdown measures squeeze demand for oil

According to Wood Mackenzie, a leading oil industry research provider, the majors have offloaded some $20bn (£15bn) worth of North Sea assets since 2017.
Most of these have been bought by independent operators, such as Chrysaor, which has become the biggest operator in the British North Sea by spending $5.7bn (£4.3bn) during the last four years buying assets from EON, Shell and the US operator ConocoPhillips.

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Today the company, named after the brother of the winged horse Pegasus in Greek mythology, went one further – clinching a deal that will make it the biggest quoted independent oil and gas exploration and production company listed in London.

Chrysaor, which is owned by the US private equity group EIG Global Energy Partners, is merging with Premier Oil, a much older and more established business, which has been labouring under a $2.7bn (£2bn) mountain of debt.

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The deal is effectively a rescue.
Chrysaor’s shareholders will own at least 77% of the enlarged company while Premier’s stakeholders will emerge with only up to 23% of it.

Image: Major oil firms have been offloading assets in the North Sea
Most of that latter portion will be held by Premier’s creditors, including a number of hedge funds, with the company’s shareholders owning just 5.45% of the ongoing business.
Premier’s debts will be repaid and cancelled once the deal is completed.
Tony Durrant, the former Lehman Brothers investment banker who has been chief executive of Premier for the last six-and-a-half years, will leave the company once the deal is concluded.
The transaction marks the end of an era.
Premier Oil dates back to 1934 when, as the Caribbean Oil Company, it was founded to pursue oil and gas exploration and production in Trinidad.
It floated on the stock market two years later under the name Premier (Trinidad) Oilfields and, for the subsequent two decades, it focused on production in Trinidad.
Over time, it extended its activities further afield, acquiring its first North Sea operating licence as long ago as 1971.
It was thanks to the charismatic financier Roland Shaw, a rumbustious whisky-swigging former bomber pilot from Boston, that it stepped up its activities in the North Sea.

Image: Roland Shaw took the company into exotic locations such as Cuba, Burma, Albania, Cambodia and China
Mr Shaw, who in his youth was thrown out of the prestigious Princeton University for throwing a party in which 27 women were found in his room, engineered a merger in 1977 with the Ball and Collins consortium to form Premier Consolidated Oilfields.
Its exposure to the North Sea was stepped up further in 1995 through the takeover of Pict Petroleum, another North Sea operator, but by then Mr Shaw had also taken the company into considerably more exotic locations such as Cuba, Burma, Albania, Cambodia and China.
More recently, it has focused on four key areas – the British North Sea, the Falkland Islands, Indonesia and Vietnam.
At the same time, however, it has been dogged by its borrowings that, following the 2014 oil price crash, have mounted as it was forced to complete expensive projects at the same time as its revenues were falling.
At various points in recent years, it has looked to have been getting to grips with its debt, while earlier this year it struck a deal to buy a package of assets in the North Sea from BP.
But then came COVID-19 and another oil price crash.
Enter Chrysaor.
Putting together these two highly complementary businesses will create a company whose combined production at the end of June would have been more than 250,000 barrels of oil per day and whose combined sales last year would have topped $1.76bn (£1.34bn).

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North Sea oil rig put into retirement

Its production costs, moreover, were $10.50 per barrel – enough to be profitable even at the current depressed crude price.
The enlarged company will also own nearly 20% of one of the UK’s biggest gas assets – the Elgin-Franklin complex off the coast of Aberdeen, although the biggest single shareholder in the development will remain Total, one of the few majors that has been increasing its presence in the North Sea.
From Chrysaor’s point of view, apart from giving it more scale in the British North Sea, the deal also gives it a platform – via Premier’s other assets – to grow elsewhere around the world.
Linda Cook, Chrysaor’s chairman and a former executive at Shell, said: “This transaction is the next step in our aspiration to develop a new independent E&P company with global relevance.
“It significantly advances our leading position in the North Sea, where we will continue to reinvest, and expands our geographic footprint to Asia and Latin America.
“We are excited by the Premier assets in these regions and view them as the foundations upon which to build material portfolios and further diversify the company.”
The transaction has also captured the imagination of sector followers – to whom Chrysaor was already a fascinating business.

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2017: North Sea ‘wins’ from Shell oil field sales

Sam Wahab, oil and gas industry analyst at the broker SP Angel, said: “The current operating environment has given rise for opportunistic M&A activity and the Premier/Chrysaor merger represents the most interesting of 2020 in our view.
“Whilst the merger will result in significant scale and diversification, through the combination of material operated and non-operated cash generative production hubs in the UK North Sea, Premier Oil’s shareholders will only benefit from limited exposure.
“Indeed, a 5.45% equity exposure in the combined group would infer a £2.6bn combined market capitalisation, based on Premier Oil’s current £156m market capitalisation.”
One potential loser from the deal, however, is BP.
Its planned sale of some North Sea assets to Premier is now off.

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North Sea oil now ‘very competitive’

Others in the industry, meanwhile, will note a pleasing circularity in one aspect of today’s deal.
Among Chrysaor’s other activities is a stake in Acorn, a carbon capture and storage project using existing oil and gas infrastructure at St Fergus gas terminal near Peterhead.
The original Acorn field was given its name by Mr Shaw when it proved – after many years of trying – to be the old Premier Consolidated’s first commercial discovery in the region after seven previous failed attempts.
The idea came from his wife, Felicitas, who said the discovery reminded her of an old saying in her native Germany: “Even a blind pig finds an acorn every now and then.”

Financial products based on the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are to be banned from sale to retail consumers by the City watchdog.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said consumers were at risk of “sudden and unexpected losses” from the investments, and that the ban would save them about £53m a year.

It said the crypto derivative products, popular with male investors aged 20 to 44, were “primarily used for speculative purposes akin to gambling”.

Image: The derivatives are based on the price of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin
The ban will apply from 6 January and applies to trading in derivatives – effectively bets on cryptocurrency prices – rather than the assets themselves.
It could lead to about £75m in fees and charges being lost to UK firms, the FCA said.

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Shares in trading platforms Plus 500, CMC and IG fell by between 2% and 3% on the announcement. IG said the products formed “a very small part” of its business.

The FCA said the products were “ill-suited to retail consumers due to the harm they pose”.

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It pointed to a prevalence of market abuse and financial crime as well as “extreme volatility” in the crypto asset prices on which the derivatives are based.

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2018: Carney: Cryptocurrencies must be regulated

Sheldon Mills, interim executive director of strategy and competition at the FCA, said: “Significant price volatility, combined with the inherent difficulties of valuing crypto assets reliably, places retail consumers at a high risk of suffering losses from trading crypto derivatives.
“We have evidence of this happening on a significant scale.”
The FCA had set out initial plans for a ban in a consultation launched last year.
Opponents argued against the watchdog’s claim that the cryptocurrencies on which the derivatives are based have no intrinsic value.
They pointed out that Bitcoin was accepted by companies including Starbucks and Microsoft as a form of payment.
But the FCA said evidence showed cryptocurrency prices were driven by speculation.

Image: The FCA regulates UK financial firms
Derivatives linked to commodities, currencies and other assets are commonly traded on financial markets, often as useful tools for businesses to hedge their bets against big price movements.
But the FCA argued that crypto derivatives did not serve a legitimate investment need.
It said that while some consumers could use them to hedge their exposure to the crypto asset market, this was not common.
“Feedback from retail investors suggest that crypto derivatives are primarily used for speculative purposes akin to gambling,” the watchdog said.
Laith Khalaf, financial analyst at investment platform AJ Bell, said the watchdog had “delivered a blow to the crypto world”.
He added: “On balance, given how new these markets are, how instinctively appealing they can be to the younger generation and the potential for fraudsters and cowboys to muscle in on the act, it’s understandable the FCA wants to play it cautiously.”

Boris Johnson has dismissed claims that coronavirus has “robbed me of my mojo” as he set out promises on social care, green energy and housing in his Conservative Party conference speech.
The prime minister, speaking via a video stream to his party’s members, launched a strident defence of the private sector as he vowed to “build back better” from the COVID-19 crisis.

Declaring that he’d “had more than enough of this disease”, Mr Johnson promised Tory members that the next time they met it would be “face to face and cheek by jowl”.
And he said they would not be having to greet each other by “touching elbows as in some giant national version of the Birdie dance”.

“I don’t know about you but I’ve have more than enough of this disease that attacks not only human beings, but so many of the greatest things about our country.”Prime Minister Boris Johnson is speaking at the virtual Conservative Party conference.https://t.co/eQQWOTNuu0 pic.twitter.com/hBV1NrxJKP
— SkyNews (@SkyNews) October 6, 2020

But the prime minister added it “isn’t enough to go back to normal” as the country had “lost too much” and “mourned too many”.

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Mr Johnson predicted the coronavirus pandemic would be a “trigger for an acceleration of social and economic change, because we human beings will not simply content ourselves with a repair job”.

The prime minister despaired at the “chronic underlying problems” the UK had prior to the COVID-19 crisis, as he resolved “not to go back to 2019, but to do better”.

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Having been admitted to intensive care earlier this year when he contracted coronavirus himself, the prime minister admitted his own underlying condition was being “too fat” prior to catching the disease.
He revealed he has since lost 26lbs, almost two stone, and challenged “nonsense” suggestions he was still impacted by his illness.
“Of course this is self-evident drivel, the kind of seditious propaganda that you would expect from people who don’t want this government to succeed, who wanted to stop us delivering Brexit and all our other manifesto pledges,” he said.
In the most eye-catching of the prime minister’s policy proposals in his address, Mr Johnson reiterated his election manifesto promise to encourage a new market in long-term fixed-rate mortgages.
The prime minister said: “We need now to take forward one of the key proposals of our manifesto of 2019: giving young, first-time buyers the chance to take out a long-term, fixed-rate mortgage of up to 95% of the value of the home – vastly reducing the size of the deposit and giving the chance of home ownership – and all the joy and pride that goes with it – to millions that feel excluded.
“We believe that this policy could create two million more owner-occupiers – the biggest expansion of home ownership since the 1980s.
“We will help turn generation rent into generation buy.”

“After all we’ve been through it isn’t enough just to go back to normal, we’ve lost too much, we’ve mourned too many.”Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the pandemic should be seen as a time to “learn and improve on the world that went before”.https://t.co/Vw36zFBCZ7 pic.twitter.com/FXRN6avOrz
— SkyNews (@SkyNews) October 6, 2020

In a hint at the possible introduction of an insurance-based scheme, Mr Johnson also promised to “fix the injustice of care home funding” by “bringing the magic of averages to the rescue of millions”.
“COVID has shone a spotlight on the difficulties of that sector in all parts of the UK – and to build back better we must respond, care for the carers as they care for us,” he added.
In addition, the prime minister confirmed his pledge that offshore wind power would be powering every home in the country within 10 years.

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PM Boris Johnson confirms his plans to make the UK a world leader in green energy and says in the next 10 years it will create

“Your kettle, your washing machine, your cooker, your heating, your plug-in electric vehicle – the whole lot of them will get their juice cleanly and without guilt from the breezes that blow around these islands,” he said.
“As Saudi Arabia is to oil, the UK is to wind – a place of almost limitless resource, but in the case of wind, without the carbon emissions and without the damage to the environment.”
Mr Johnson also outlined the government’s intent to explore the value of one-to-one teaching – as tried when the pandemic led to the shutting of schools – for pupils “in danger of falling behind, and for those who are of exceptional abilities”.
The prime minister branded Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer as “Captain Hindsight” and opposition MPs as a “regiment of pot-shot, snipeshot fusiliers”.
And Mr Johnson sought to put further distance between the Tories and their opponents in parliament.

Despite his government’s intervention in the economy with support packages since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, the prime minister warned that “there comes a moment when the state must stand back and let the private sector get on with it”.
“I have a simple message for those on the left, who think everything can be funded by uncle sugar the taxpayer,” he said.
“It isn’t the state that produces the new drugs and therapies we are using.
“It isn’t the state that will hold the intellectual property of the vaccine, if and when we get one. It wasn’t the state that made the gloves and masks and ventilators that we needed at such speed.
“It was the private sector, with its rational interest in innovation and competition and market share and, yes, sales.
“We must not draw the wrong economic conclusion from this crisis.”

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Analysis: How will Boris’ plan be funded?

Having made a comparison with the British government outlining their post-Second World War vision even in the depths of conflict in 1942, Mr Johnson set out his vision of Britain in 2030.
He spoke of zero carbon jets, blue passports, digital IDs, electric taxis, and gigabit broadband.
“Even in the darkest moments we can see the bright future ahead, and we can see how to build it, and we are going to build it together,” the prime minister said.

Image: Sir Keir Starmer says there are real problems with the government’s approach to COVID-19
Responding to Mr Johnson’s speech, Sir Keir said: “I think that what NHS workers on the frontline and the country want from the prime minister is a frank acknowledgement that there are real problems with the government’s approach.
“Everybody can see that infection rates are rising, lots of areas are under restrictions and don’t seem to be coming out of it and the testing regime just isn’t working – we’ve even lost tests in the last few days.
“So what I think people wanted was a frank acceptance that those problems are there and a roadmap to get out of where we are now.
“A roadmap from here to when we get a vaccination.”
Analysis – PM fails to halt questions about his approach
By Sam Coates, deputy political editor
Boris Johnson did three things in his speech, none of which were especially memorable.
On coronavirus he said that life would be back to normal by next conference season – something any organiser of big events would quickly cast extreme doubt on.
Even his Cabinet ministers doubt we will be gathering like Tory conferences of old in a year, given the likely destruction of the events industry.

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Mr Johnson set out a shopping list of promises, almost resembling Gordon Brown at times, with yet more invocations of “world-beating” futures, which will be judged on delivery not announcement.
And he framed Labour as opposing free enterprise – filling the vacuum that Sir Keir Starmer himself is creating over his economic approach – as well as saying the Labour leader himself was “Captain Hindsight”.
Most notably, he made clear his dislike of critics, suggesting those who had questioned his fitness after his bout of severe coronavirus were “seditious” – treasonous – and coming from Remainers who want to stop Brexit.
However strong this language, it won’t make questions about his approach go away.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has defended encouraging people back to pubs and restaurants over the summer, prior to the government being forced to take fresh action to limit the spread of coronavirus.
Mr Sunak’s “Eat Out To Help Out” scheme handed Britons discounted meals during August, as ministers attempted to restart the economy after the UK’s lockdown.

Pubs, bars and restaurants – along with the rest of the hospitality industry – have since been handed a 10pm curfew as the government attempts to deal with a second wave of COVID-19 infections.
Live coverage of the latest coronavirus news and updates

Image: Rishi Sunak defended his Eat Out To Help Out scheme
At the weekend Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed the meals discount programme for protecting jobs, but he suggested new measures were needed to “counteract” the possible impact of the scheme on the spread of transmssion.

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But, speaking to Sky News on Tuesday, the chancellor played down a link between his scheme and the growing rise in cases across the country as he cautioned against “jumping to simplistic conclusions”.

“More broadly, if you think of the spread of the virus this time around, what’s happening here is pretty much in sync with what’s happening around the world in second waves,” he said.

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“Whether it’s France or Spain, where very specifically our scientists said we were following exactly the same curve.
“So, actually, this seems to be more a feature just of the virus and the season than anything specific.”
Mr Sunak highlighted how the South West had seen the greatest use of the Eat Out To Help Out scheme, in proportion to the size of the local population, and was now a region with some of the lowest incidences of COVID-19 “anywhere in the country”.

Between 10 August and 20 September, Public Health England (PHE) said that – among people who tested positive for COVID-19 – eating out was the most commonly reported activity in the two to seven days prior to the onset of symptoms.
But Mr Sunak warned of a “big difference between correlation and causation”, adding: “I would be, I guess, cautious about jumping to simplistic conclusions.”
He also said different analysis of PHE data had revealed “a very small percentage” of the causes of transmission were hospitality settings.
“One thing we know is, and I speak to our scientists almost every day, it’s incredibly difficult at such a granular level to poinpoint exactly the cause of transmission,” he continued.
“So I think we should have some humility about our ability to do that.”

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Mr Sunak also pointed to how household mixing within homes was the “key source” of transmission in parts of the country, such as the Midlands.
“Depending on where you are in the country the exact source of the virus spread will vary and that’s why our response can be targeted and nuanced to the situation we confront,” he said.

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) says it has restored a two-shift production pattern at its UK plants following a welcome lift to global sales.
The carmaker, which has cut thousands of jobs since late last year amid a slowdown in demand exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis, credited cranking up its factories on the gradual clearance of excess stock.

Production, which had already scaled back, was halted completely at its major vehicle plants including Solihull and Halewood in the UK when the lockdown was imposed in March.

Image: JLR has cut jobs at its major plants to account for the slowdown in demand that has hit all manufacturers
The sites have operated at a reduced capacity ever since.
But JLR said they, along with its facility in Slovakia, had resumed a daily two-shift production pattern.

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The company reported a 50% leap in sales during the three months to the end of September compared to the previous three months, with 113,500 vehicles sold.

The tally remained 12% down on the same period last year.

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JLR pointed to China leading the recovery, with sales up just shy of 15% on the previous three months and by almost 4% compared to the second quarter in 2019.
The company said sales were yet to recover on an annual basis in its other regions, with the UK almost 3% short.
Data released earlier by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders showed JLR’s UK sales in September were 18% lower compared to the same month in the previous year.

Image: The SMMT has warned the UK car industry is facing up to the prospect of £21bn in lost sales this year
Financial results covering the last quarter are due to be released later this month.
Felix Brautigam, JLR’s chief commercial officer, said: “COVID-19 and second lockdowns continue to impact the global auto industry but we are pleased to see sales recovering across our markets. In China, the first region to come out of lockdown, our performance has been particularly encouraging.
“But we are also seeing strong improvement versus the preceding quarter in other key markets, with sales up more than 50% worldwide.
“The recovery has been demand-led and we are delighted that we have been able to reduce stocks to achieve ideal levels in most markets, despite the ongoing pandemic, to support a healthier and more profitable business for Jaguar Land Rover and its retailers.”

Boris Johnson is claiming the coronavirus crisis should be a trigger for green energy, with wind farms powering every home in Britain within a decade.
In his speech to the Tory party’s online conference, the prime minister will unveil a vision of the economy post-COVID, with the UK a world leader in clean energy.

In a fightback after criticism of his COVID strategy, he will claim the UK is to wind what Saudi Arabia is to oil, and say “it was offshore wind that puffed the sails” of Drake, Raleigh and Nelson.
And taking on sceptics of green energy, he will say: “You heard me right. Your kettle, your washing machine, your cooker, your heating, your plug-in electric vehicle – the whole lot of them will get their juice cleanly and without guilt from the breezes that blow around these islands.
But Mr Johnson’s green energy pledge is likely to be overshadowed by the continuing row over a COVID test and trace IT blunder which has left up to 50,000 people at risk.

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Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner hit out: “The testing fiasco over the past 24 hours has again exposed the serial incompetence of Boris Johnson and his government.

“The prime minister should use his speech to set out how he will get a grip and tackle the crisis at hand.”

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In his speech, the PM will promise £160 million to upgrade ports and infrastructure in so-called “Red Wall” areas like Teesside and the Humber as well as new turbines in Scotland and Wales.
“We need to give people the chance to train for the new jobs that are being created every day – in new technologies and new ways of doing things,” Mr Johnson will say.
“And, there is one area where we are progressing quite literally with gale force speed and that is the green economy – the green industrial revolution that in the next 10 years will create hundreds of thousands if not millions of jobs.
“I can today announce that the UK government has decided to become the world leader in low cost clean power generation – cheaper than coal and gas – and we believe that in 10 years’ time offshore wind will be powering every home in the country, with our target rising from 30 gigawatts to 40 gigawatts.
“We will invest £160 million in ports and factories across the country, to manufacture the next generation of turbines.
“And we will not only build fixed arrays in the sea, we will build windmills that float on the sea – enough to deliver one gigawatt of energy by 2030, 15 times as much as the rest of the world put together.
“Far out in the deepest waters we will harvest the gusts, and by upgrading infrastructure in places like Teesside and Humber and Scotland and Wales we will increase an offshore wind capacity that is already the biggest in the world.
“As Saudi Arabia is to oil, the UK is to wind – a place of almost limitless resource, but in the case of wind without the carbon emissions and without the damage to the environment.
“I remember how some people used to sneer at wind power, 20 years ago, and say that it wouldn’t pull the skin off a rice pudding.
“They forgot the history of this country. It was offshore wind that puffed the sails of Drake and Raleigh and Nelson, and propelled this country to commercial greatness.
“This investment in offshore wind alone will help to create 60,000 jobs in this country – and help us to get to net zero carbon emissions by 2050.”

Renewable energy overtakes fossil fuels in powering Britain

The £160 million investment programme will see around 2,000 construction jobs rapidly created and support up to 60,000 jobs directly and indirectly by 2030 in ports, factories and the supply chains, according to Downing Street, “manufacturing the next-generation of offshore wind turbines and delivering clean energy to the UK”.
Responding to the PM’s announcement, Green Party MP Caroline Lucas said: “Investment in offshore wind is welcome. For far too long, UK companies have been blocked by a lack of government support.
“But the prime minister’s announcement falls woefully short of a comprehensive green new deal that would actually build a better, greener Britain.”
But Greenpeace UK executive director John Sauven was more enthusiastic, saying: “The prime minister’s recognition that last year’s Tory manifesto commitment on offshore wind can generate jobs whilst cutting energy bills and carbon is a great lightbulb moment.
“If carried through it would help cement the UK’s global leadership in this key technology. But delivering 40 GWs of power on to the grid by 2030 requires action in this parliament.”

Barcelona have slumped into the red after the coronavirus took a €203m (£181m) chunk out of their revenues.
The Spanish giants, which last year topped the league of football’s highest earning clubs, reported a post-tax loss of €97m (£87m) for the year to the end of June, compared with a €5m (£4m) profit a year ago.

The figures are the latest to illustrate the stark but contrasting ways in which the pandemic is squeezing the game’s finances from top to bottom.

Image: Ticket refunds and lower sales accounted for a €47m drop-off in expected earnings
While clubs lower down the pyramid fear financial ruin, for Barcelona the crisis has thwarted its ambition to become the first to post annual revenues of more than €1bn.
Barcelona instead reported revenues of €855m (£766m), down 14% from a year earlier. The club said they would have been €203m higher if not for the pandemic.

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Barcelona suffered a “considerable loss of income” from games being played behind closed doors as well as the cancellation of the basketball Euroleague, in which the club also competes.

Ticket refunds and lower sales accounted for a €47m drop-off in expected earnings while income from media and TV rights fell short by €35m.

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The club took a €37m hit on sponsorship deals that were “at an advanced state of negotiation before the pandemic” but could not be completed.
Meanwhile a slump in tourist trips to Barcelona took its toll on numbers visiting the world-famous club’s Camp Nou Experience as well as the sale of products in official stores.

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‘Startling’ impact of pandemic on grassroots football

The club partly mitigated the slump by cutting costs by €74m via agreed salary reductions and temporary redundancies.
Without the pandemic, it estimated, Barcelona would have achieved a profit of €2m for the year.
The club expects to post another drop in revenues in the current year to €791m – based on the assumption that its stadium will partially reopen from December with 25% capacity, increasing to 100% by February.
It is the latest of Europe’s big clubs to reveal the financial impact of the pandemic, with Italy’s Juventus last month reporting a €71.4m (£63.8m) annual loss for 2019/20.

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Inside a socially distanced football match

Manchester United, the Premier League’s biggest revenue earner, has not yet disclosed full-year financial results but reported a £22.8m loss for the third quarter to the end of the March, blamed on the pandemic.
The European Club Association has estimated that top-flight clubs face a €4bn (£3.6bn) hit to revenue over two seasons thanks to the pandemic.
Accountants Deloitte have estimated a £1bn impact on the Premier League alone.
Barcelona’s financial setback comes after it suffered a humiliating 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League in August and a much-publicised saga over the possible departure of star player Lionel Messi – who in the end reluctantly agreed to stay.

The Russian billionaire’s investment vehicle which paid nearly £2bn to buy Holland & Barrett (H&B) is to replace the health food chain’s chief executive after less than 18 months.
Sky News has learnt that Tony Buffin is to step down from the post imminently.

An announcement could be made as soon as Tuesday morning.

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Changing face of retail under coronavirus

The reasons behind his sudden departure were unclear on Monday, although insiders said there had been tensions between Mr Buffin and LetterOne, the investment firm which owns H&B.
One source said that part of the friction between the two sides related to an incentive plan put in place for the chain’s top executives.

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The appointment of a successor to Mr Buffin, who joined from the builder’s merchant Travis Perkins, is expected to be announced alongside news of his departure.

One insider said that Steve Willett, a former executive at the DIY retail group Kingfisher and a current non-executive director of H&B, might be unveiled as its next chief executive, although that could not be confirmed on Monday.

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H&B is one of the world’s largest specialist health and wellness retailers, with more than 1500 stores in the UK and overseas.
It was bought by L1 Retail, a vehicle created by the Russian oil billionaire Mikhail Fridman, in 2017.

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June 2020: Shops open for the first time in months

H&B and LetterOne declined to comment, while Mr Buffin could not be reached.