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PureGym has apologised after one of its branches advertised a “12 Years of Slave” workout to mark Black History Month.
The company’s Luton and Dunstable gym made a post on Facebook, saying: “Entitled ’12YearsOfSlave’ (after the epic movie) this is our workout of the month designed by @MattSimpt to celebrate black history month.

“Slavery was hard and so is this”.

Image: The post has since been deleted
Following backlash online the post was deleted, with PureGym stating that it was “wholly unacceptable” and was “not approved or endorsed by the company”.
PureGym later tweeted to say it was investigating why the post was made.

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The company said: “PureGym apologises unreservedly for a post regarding Black History Month that was made today by our gym in Luton & Dunstable.

“This post was wholly unacceptable, was not approved or endorsed by the company and was removed when it was brought to our attention.

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“We take this matter extremely seriously and are urgently investigating how and why this post was made.
“Thank you to those people who commented on this post and for raising this with us.”
The company also said that the social media channels of its 271 gyms are all run locally.
Puregym, which is based in Leeds, is the UK’s largest gym by membership.

Ferrero Group, the owner of some of the world’s best-known confectionery brands, is close to striking a £250m deal to swallow Britain’s Fox’s Biscuits.
Sky News has learnt that Ferrero, which counts Kinder chocolate and Nutella among its flagship products, could unveil the takeover later this week.

Sources close to the talks said a deal was expected to involve only the branded biscuits business that accounts for the majority of Fox’s sales.

Image: Nutella is among Ferrero’s products
The biscuit manufacturer also has a substantial own-label operation.
Roughly 1500 Fox’s employees are expected to transfer to the new owner.

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If completed, the transaction would represent Ferrero’s second substantial foray into the European biscuit market, following its takeover of Denmark’s Kelsen Group last year.

Ferrero’s biggest British takeover to date was the £112m purchase of Thorntons, the high street chocolatier, in 2015.

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Insiders said that Ferrero, a family-controlled dynasty, had seen off competition for Fox’s from rivals including Burton’s Biscuits, which owns Jammie Dodgers, and Biscuit International, a European manufacturer of private-label products.
The Italian group is being advised by Houlihan Lokey on the deal, with Fox’s current owner, 2 Sisters Food Group, advised by bankers at Rothschild.

Image: Ferrero faced competition for the deal from Jammie Dodgers owner Burton’s Biscuits
The deal would see Ferrero becoming a substantial player in Britain’s biscuit market – which has seen a surge in sales this year as a result of the coronavirus outbreak – alongside Pladis and Burton’s.
The UK-wide lockdown and sharp increase in the number of Britons working from home have triggered a spike in demand for biscuits, even as long-term consumption trends show consumers switching to healthier snacking products.

A former chief executive of Aston Martin Lagonda is joining a European developer of electric vehicle batteries amid an accelerating race to roll out the technology across the world’s automotive industry.
Sky News understands that Andy Palmer, who left Aston Martin earlier this year following a torrid ride on the London stock market, is to become vice-chairman of InoBat, a Slovakian company.

Mr Palmer will join InoBat soon after a €10m (£8.9m) fundraising from a consortium of investors.

Image: The car industry is trying to reinvent itself by the adoptingnew technologies
The company is understood to be developing an artificial intelligence-led battery research centre, with the first batteries scheduled for production next year.
A large Gigafactory is expected to be opened by InoBat in or around 2024.

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InoBat wil be the second company that Mr Palmer has joined since he was ousted by Aston Martin, following his appointment as chairman of Optare, an electric bus company owned by the Hinduja brothers’ Ashok Leyland group.

His tenure at the maker of James Bond’s favourite car was brought to an unceremonious conclusion within two years of its London market debut, after it was forced to return to investors for hundreds of millions of pounds in extra funding.

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Mr Palmer’s new roles underline the extent to which the automotive industry is attempting to reinvent itself through the adoption of new technologies, with a focus on eliminating carbon emissions.
The company’s investors and strategic partners include IPM Group, a backer of technology infrastructure company, and Wildcat Discovery Technologies.
InoBat could not be reached for comment on Monday afternoon.

The pain was etched on Mooky Greidinger’s face as he explained why the company he leads, Cineworld, has today announced plans to temporarily close its cinemas in the UK, Ireland and the United States.
Mr Greidinger, whose grandfather opened his first cinema 90 years ago, said he had no alternative to a tough decision that threatens the livelihoods of 45,000 employees worldwide and nearly 6,000 in the UK alone.

He said that, with the big Hollywood studios delaying major new film releases, cinemagoers were staying away.

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Cineworld boss: ‘We had no alternative’

Mr Greidinger told Sky News: “We didn’t have the goods.
“After the Tenet release, which was really the most significant movie that was released at the end of August and early September, movies continued to move on schedule.

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“[But there] was an issue in the US market, because some markets there, mainly New York, did not open, the studios hesitated and kept on postponing the movies.

“Many significant movies have moved, like Mulan, like Black Widow, like Kingsman.

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“Wonder Woman moved from October to December.
“And then on Friday we got the news that the Bond movie – which, needless to say, for the UK is the biggest movie of the year every time we have a Bond – also decided to move.

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Vue: Studios too focused on COVID-19 in US

“We were bleeding much bigger amounts when we are open than when we are closed – we are like a grocery shop with no food.
“We had to take this decision.”
According to Tim Richards, chief executive of rival Vue International, part of the problem is that the film studios are being too “US-centric” and focusing on what is happening in New York and Los Angeles, where cinemas remain closed, rather than at the global picture.
He added: “We’re open in Europe right now, we’re completely open, China’s completely open, China’s almost at a pre-COVID level of box office.
“Brazil’s opening up, Mexico’s opening up.
“Well over 80% of our customers are happy with the safety arrangements.”
“If you look at Tenet, probably the only comparison we have right now with a blockbuster film, it has already delivered well over $300m (£228m) globally.
“In the UK, it’s going to come very close to [director] Christopher Nolan’s last film, Interstellar.
“It’s probably going to get maybe 90% of what Interstellar did.
“The market is there, the customers are there – they are desperate to get out.”

Image: Tenet has already delivered more than $300m globally. Pic: Melinda Sue Gordon/Warner Bros. Entertainment
Mr Greidinger, who as a schoolboy worked in the family’s cinemas as an usher, cashier and in the projection room, said he agreed with that assessment: “Sometimes the studios tend to forget that the international market today supplies something like 75% of the income.
“We see, if we look at Tenet, it was very successful internationally.”
But he said it was also possible, given the sums invested in film production, to understand why the studios were being so cautious.
He went on: “Opening movies without New York, without most of California, in the US is very significant.
“It’s really difficult to understand how a state like New York can allow indoor dining, allow casinos, allow bowling alleys, and many other indoor activities, and on the other hand, saying that cinemas should still wait.
“And despite the fact that we are operating cinemas now around the world for three months…and we didn’t have any issues with COVID, because of the safety precautions that we are taking people are saying to us we feel safe in the cinema.
“So I guess it’s a wrong decision from the studios really to move the movies in such a way.”

Image: Cineworld has accumulated a pile of debt amid rapid expansion
The despair felt by cinema operators like Mr Greidinger and Mr Richards is all the more pronounced because of the sums they have invested making their venues safe for cinemagoers.
Vue, for example, sent all staff on two days of training to prepare them for the reopening of cinemas after lockdown.
In Cineworld’s case the position is particularly acute, due to the pile of debt the company has accumulated following a period of rapid expansion and some major acquisitions that have made it the world’s second biggest cinema operator.
It last month reported a half year pre-tax loss of $1.6bn (£1.2bn) and said that, as at the end of June, it had net debt of $8.19bn (£6.2bn).
Mr Greidinger insisted today he was confident Cineworld would ride out the storm.
“We will get the liquidity that we need,” he said.
“We have full support from the banks that are working with us. A lot of funds.
“But we need to be careful and we need to be acting in a responsible way.
“And the negative cash flow when we are closed is much smaller [than were we to remain open].
“We are strengthening, in this move, the position of the company.
“And we are securing the future of the company.”

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Drive in cinemas: Will the UK take to it like the US?

Cineworld is not alone in its plight.
S&P, the ratings agency, said on Friday that Chinese-controlled AMC, the world’s biggest cinema operator and owner of the Odeon chain, could run out of liquidity six months from now unless it could raise more capital.
Possibly the bigger question for investors, longer term, will be the ongoing relationship between the film studios and the cinema operators.
During the lockdown, some studios have opted to release films via their own distribution networks, or via streaming services.
For example, Universal – which is owned by Comcast, the ultimate parent company of Sky News – released the film Trolls World Tour in May directly to streaming platforms.
That prompted both Cineworld and AMC to ban Universal films from their screens.
Since then, however, AMC has reached a compromise with Universal under which it will continue to screen its films – albeit with the ‘theatrical window’ shortened from 90 days to just 17.

Image: Trolls World Tour was released direct to streaming platforms
Disney, meanwhile, has released its new $200m (£152m) action film, Mulan, to its Disney+ streaming service rather than in cinemas.
These developments have led some investors to worry that the relationship between the studios and the cinemas is set to change forever – with the film studios having the stronger hand.
In the meantime, there are fears that many Cineworld employees – having been laid off, hopefully only temporarily – may leave the industry forever.
Mr Greidinger insisted today he hoped that would not come to pass.
He said: “We see our employees as a big family. We are very proud of them.
“But, in order to secure their place of work, we have to take these measures now.
“And I hope to see them very soon, back at work, doing the thing that they so much love to do.”
Cinema lovers will share that sentiment.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has warned there will be no “easy cost-free answer” as he vowed to “balance the books” following his spending splurge during the coronavirus crisis.
In his speech to the Conservative Party’s virtual conference, Mr Sunak listed the various schemes he has introduced in a bid to shore up the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

He hailed how the government “stood between the people and the danger and we always will”.
And Mr Sunak promised the “overwhelming might of the British state will be placed at your service” to those struggling financially, with ministers braced for millions to be left unemployed in the coming months.
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Chancellor Rishi Sunak will speak to Kay Burley live just after 7am tomorrow morning

But, in a hint at tax rises or spending cuts in the future, the chancellor also used his noticeably short address to assure Tory members he would “protect the public finances”.

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Mr Sunak set out his intention to “over the medium term” get the UK’s borrowing and debt “back under control”.
“We have a sacred responsibility to future generations to leave the public finances strong,” he added.
“And through careful management of our economy, this Conservative government will always balance the books.
“If instead we argue there is no limit on what we can spend, that we can simply borrow our way out of any hole, what is the point in us?
“I have never pretended there is some easy cost-free answer. Hard choices are everywhere.
“I won’t stop trying to find ways to support people and businesses. I will always be pragmatic.”

Image: Mr Sunak paid tribute to the PM’s ‘invaluable’ friendship
Mr Sunak said it was “only because of 10 years of sound Conservative management of our economy” that he had been able to “act with the pace and scale we have in responding to coronavirus”.
He promised to “not let talent wither, or waste, we will help all who want it, find new opportunity and develop new skills” during the UK’s economic recovery.
“I have always said I couldn’t protect every job or every business, no chancellor could,” the chancellor said.
“And even though I have said it, the pain of knowing it, only grows with each passing day.
“So, I am committing myself to a single priority – to create, support and extend opportunity to as many people as I can.”
Mr Sunak said he would “keep listening, keep striving to be creative” in the coming months and to “not give up, no matter how difficult it is”.

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He also offered a tribute to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s “invaluable” friendship, following recent reports of tensions between the chancellor and Number 10 over fresh coronavirus restrictions and possible future tax rises or spending cuts.
“I’ve seen up close the burden the prime minister carries,” Mr Sunak said.
“We all know he has an ability to connect with people in a way few politicians manage. It is a special and rare quality.
“But what the commentators don’t see, the thing I see, is the concern and care he feels, every day, for the wellbeing of the people of our country.
“Yes, it’s been difficult, challenges are part of the job, but on the big calls, in the big moments, Boris Johnson has got it right and we need that leadership.
“Because we are only part way through this crisis.”

Responding to Mr Sunak’s speech, Labour’s shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds said: “The chancellor spoke for just ten minutes today – and he had nothing to say to the millions of people whose jobs are now at risk because of his policies.
“Britain risks the worst unemployment crisis in decades and Rishi Sunak’s name will be all over it.”
Analysis: Sunak positions himself as a credible leader with insight and heartBy Kate McCann, political correspondent
It was much shorter than a traditional conference speech and Rishi Sunak packed his address, not with policy, but perhaps a more intriguing filling – a personal promise.
While he did list the Treasury’s interventions during the pandemic it was the tone of this speech that will really make a mark – more personal, more honest and much broader than just the numbers.
He promised the nation there was hope, spoke of the pain of knowing he can’t save every job, but pledged to never give up, no matter how difficult things get.
Mr Sunak talked of Conservative values and how the government would always stand in between the people and danger, as it had so far during the pandemic.
Not everyone will agree, but in a way that wasn’t the point of this speech.
There was no new policy and nothing about the spending review coming down the track, no warnings about tax or review of where things went wrong.

Image: The chancellor is braced for millions to be left unemployed
This was a personal pledge from a man in charge of the fate of families around the country.
Yes he praised the prime minister and went to great lengths to show there is no rivalry between the two men.
But, in reality, this speech was about positioning himself not just as a man in charge of the books but as a credible political leader with insight and heart too.
But the biggest question will be how this chancellor handles a second wave if one arrives this winter and the damage that will do to already struggling industries around the UK.

Apple is taking a former business partner to court for allegedly stealing and reselling more than 100,000 devices which it had been hired to dismantle and recycle.
GEEP Canada received more than 500,000 devices between January 2015 and December 2017, which the iPhone-maker had contracted it to dismantle and recycle.

However, an investigation by Apple discovered that 18% of these devices were still accessing the internet, suggesting they had in fact been sold on and not scrapped.
GEEP does not deny that the iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches were stolen, but has claimed rogue employees were to blame.
Apple alleges that these individuals were actually the company’s senior management.

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As first reported by The Logic, the lawsuit followed the iPhone-maker auditing the Canadian recycling company’s warehouse and discovering its devices were being stored in an area not covered by security cameras.

It then checked the serial numbers of these devices and investigated its own IT systems to see whether they were still connecting to the company’s servers. Many of them were.

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“At least 11,766 pounds of Apple devices left GEEP’s premises without being destroyed – a fact that GEEP itself confirmed,” Apple’s lawsuit states.
Apple is now seeking to recover all of the profits made from the resale of the stolen devices, and an additional $22.7 million. Its contact with GEEP has been ended.
“Products sent for recycling are no longer adequate to sell to consumers and if they are rebuilt with counterfeit parts they could cause serious safety issues, including electrical or battery defects,” a spokesperson told The Verge.

The UK car industry is predicting a £21.2bn hit from lost sales this year as it reports its weakest September sales for new vehicles on record.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said demand for the new issue plates, which usually drive a spike in business during the month, remained muted as the industry faced down a “myriad” of challenges – chiefly the fightback from the COVID-19 lockdown.

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It reported a record low for new registrations since the creation of the dual plate system in 1999 with 328,041 new 70 plate cars sold.
That represented a fall of 4.4% on the same month in 2019 and left sales in the year to date a third lower than during the first nine months of last year.

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One bright spark to emerge in last month’s figures for the industry was a leap sales of battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

The SMMT reported year-on-year growth in September of 184.3% and 138.6% respectively – crediting new models at a time when the government is moving to curb the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles to help fight climate change.

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Where jobs have been lost in the UK economy

However, almost 22,000 pure electric vehicles were sold compared to 46,000 diesels.
The SMMT forecast that total sales were on track to fall by 30.6% this year – more than £21bn – amid continued consumer caution over the direction of the pandemic and Brexit.
Its chief executive, Mike Hawes, said: “During a torrid year, the automotive industry has demonstrated incredible resilience, but this is not a recovery.
“Despite the boost of a new registration plate, new model introductions and attractive offers, this is still the poorest September since the two-plate system was introduced in 1999.
“Unless the pandemic is controlled and economy-wide consumer and business confidence rebuilt, the short-term future looks very challenging indeed.”

Cineworld is on course to cut tens of thousands of jobs after confirming plans to temporarily bring the curtain down on its UK and US cinemas because of continuing disruption from the coronavirus pandemic.
The company said its decision affected 45,000 workers, almost 6,000 of them in the UK, and Sky News understands they will lose their jobs this week in the hope they can be re-hired when the hibernation ends.

Those hit will include third party staff including cleaners and security personnel.

Image: Cineworld shares plunged by almost 60% at the open
Cineworld announced the news 24 hours after receiving a backlash from staff over media reports that renewed delays to key releases – such as new James Bond movie No Time To Die – had forced the company into temporarily closing down screens.
Cineworld said on Sunday that no decision had been taken.

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Its announcement to the City on Monday read: “Cineworld confirms that it will be temporarily suspending operations at all of its 536 Regal theatres in the US and its 127 Cineworld and Picturehouse theatres in the UK from Thursday 8 October 2020.

“As major US markets, mainly New York, remained closed and without guidance on reopening timing, studios have been reluctant to release their pipeline of new films.

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“In turn, without these new releases, Cineworld cannot provide customers in both the US and the UK – the company’s primary markets – with the breadth of strong commercial films necessary for them to consider coming back to theatres against the backdrop of COVID-19.”
The announcement prompted a horror show for the company’s shares, which plunged by 57% at the open as investors digested the implications.

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It leaves staff at the mercy of a tough jobs market at a time when the government’s furlough scheme – tapped by Cineworld during the lockdown that began in March – is coming to an end.
Its replacement from November, the Job Support Scheme, will only support the wages of those in “viable” employment, working reduced hours.
The firm, which had already announced that it was seeking new funding to help it ride out the pandemic, is understood to be planning an incentive scheme to get staff back at reopening – whenever that may be.
Cineworld was also yet to give information on the implications of its shutdown for membership customers.

Where jobs have been lost in the UK economy

Chief executive, Mooky Greidinger, said: “This is not a decision we made lightly, and we did everything in our power to support safe and sustainable reopenings in all of our markets – including meeting, and often exceeding, localhealth and safety guidelines in our theatres and working constructively with regulators and industry bodies to restore public confidence in our industry.
“We are especially grateful for and proud of the hard work our employees put in to adapt our theatres to the new protocols and cannot underscore enough how difficult this decision was.
“Cineworld will continue to monitor the situation closely and will communicate any future plans to resume operations in these markets at the appropriate time, when key markets have more concrete guidance on their reopening status and, in turn, studios are able to bring their pipeline of major releases back to the big screen.”

Hundreds of thousands left unemployed by the coronavirus crisis are being promised help to get back into work.
The government said a new scheme, known as Job Entry Targeted Support (JETS), would be backed by a £238m investment and available to those left jobless for at least three months during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said jobseekers would have access to tailored, flexible support to quickly get back into employment including specialist advice on how people can move into growing sectors, as well as CV and interview coaching.

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It said it was looking to hire an additional 13,500 work coaches to deliver the programme as it grows.
The scheme was launched against a backdrop of criticism that the successor to the furlough scheme – credited with saving millions of jobs – will only assist those back in the workplace on reduced hours.

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The Job Support Scheme gets under way next month once the Job Retention Scheme concludes.

The Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey told Sky News last week that her department was preparing to support up to four million unemployed by the year’s end though she hoped such a figure could be averted.

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She said of the JETS scheme: “JETS will give recently unemployed people the helping hand they need to get back into work, boosting the prospects of more than a quarter of a million people across Britain.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak added: “Our unprecedented support has protected millions of livelihoods and businesses since the start of the pandemic, but I’ve always been clear that we can’t save every job.
“I’ve spoken about the damaging effects of being out of work, but through JETS we will provide fresh opportunities to those that have sadly lost their jobs, to ensure that nobody is left without hope.”
Labour said the scheme was too little too late.

Where jobs have been lost in the UK economy

Shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “By the government’s own admission at least four million people could lose their jobs during the crisis.
“All it can muster in response are piecemeal schemes and meaningless slogans.
“This new scheme offers very little new support and relies on already overstretched work coaches on the ground, while many of the new work coaches promised have yet to materialise.
“It’s too little too late again from a government that simply can’t get a grip on this jobs crisis.”

The owner of well-known nightclub G-A-Y is launching a legal challenge against the government’s 10pm hospitality curfew.
Jeremy Joseph is seeking a judicial review in a bid to overturn the controversial curfew, which was imposed by the government in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

Mr Joseph told Sky News the curfew “makes absolutely no sense” and does “the opposite of protecting people”.

Image: Oxford Circus underground station in London after the 10pm curfew
The prime minister announced the new 10pm closing time for pubs, bars and restaurants in England on 24 September, causing widespread anger across the sector.
It came just two-and-a-half months after pubs and restaurants began to reopen, as national lockdown measures were relaxed.

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Image: Restaurants, bars and clubs are among the businesses worst affected by the pandemic
Mr Joseph, who owns four venues, said the curfew was extremely damaging to businesses and he wanted to government to explain the reasoning behind it.

He told Sky News: “The government has failed to show why the 10pm curfew was put in place and has published no scientific evidence to substantiate its implementation.”

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Coronavirus new rules explained, as worst-hit areas ban friends from meeting in pubs

He said the hospitality sector had been “thrown under the bus” by a government that has “done nothing to protect our businesses and is not going to do anything”.
“Enough is enough. Matt Hancock and Boris Johnson have to be made accountable.”
Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, said the curfew and restrictions have had a “catastrophic impact on business levels”, resulting in thousands of businesses closing or making workers redundant.
Mr Kill told Sky News the new closing time makes no sense and is counterproductive because it forces people out onto the street at the same time, resulting in mass gatherings and overcrowding on public transport.
Last week 100 major hospitality firms signed an open letter to the government saying the curfew should be reviewed every three weeks and scrapped if it is found to be ineffective.
The letter warned that, even before the curfew was imposed, half of the UK’s 100,000 hospitality firms feared they wouldn’t survive beyond the middle of 2021.

Image: Pubs across England now have to close at 10pm each night – including this one in Brighton
Health Secretary Matt Hancock defended the validity of the policy in the House of Commons on Thursday as MPs raised their concerns.
He insisted the curfew was a “necessary measure” to curb rising rates of coronavirus infections but that it was being “constantly reviewed”.
A government spokesperson said: “Our measures strike a balance between saving lives by protecting our NHS and the most vulnerable and minimising the wider impact on the economy and schools.
“The latest data suggests a considerable rise in the infection rate following people socialising in hospitality venues serving alcohol in recent weeks, so we have taken immediate action to cut the transmission rate and save lives and will keep all measures under constant review.
“The 10pm closure allows people to continue to socialise while reducing the risk of failing to socially distance.”