Business Extra for the UK and Spain

Down-and-out LONDON’S increasingly tawdry Oxford Street could become a blueprint for Britain’s high streets, warned the Retail Sector Council. Richard Pennycook, the council’s vice-chairman and former Co-op chief executive, said towns and cities could become “wastelands” owing to lack of investment incentives for retailers. 

Sort it out BARCELONA-BASED Picvisa specialises in sorting and classification technologies which use artificial intelligence, artificial vision and optical sorters. The company has now developed a “deep learning” machine that sorts different types of rubbish and detritus while identifying the discarded objects and even their make.

Right royal THE Spanish Royal Household’s bank balance increased to €6.05 million in 2022, rising from €5.78 million in 2021, thanks to having made savings of €273,643. The Crown received €8.431 million last year, €4.02 million of which has been spent on personnel, the Household’s biggest outlay.

Branching out AGNELLI, Ferrari and Stellantis’ largest shareholder, acquired a 15 per cent stake in under-pressure Philips which has had to recall millions of faulty sleep apnoea machines. The £2 billion (€2.33 billion) deal also enables Agnelli to increase its stake by up to 20 per cent and possibly take a seat on the Philips’ board.

No biggie British companies are progressively more downbeat about the benefits of post-Brexit free trade deals, according to a Department for Business and Trade survey.  More than 3,000 companies revealed that 58 per cent of firms now believe that the deals will not have a positive impact, the Department found.

Stat of the week: €25 billion in overseas trade for Spain’s 170 pharmaceutical companies which overtook the car industry as the country’s principal export sector in 2022, boosted by sales of Covid-19 vaccines,

Digi does it DIGI, the Spanish subsidiary of the Romania-based telecoms operator, reported revenues of €299.7 million during the first half of this year, 30.9 per cent more than during the same period in 2022.  The low-cost company now has 5.7 million clients, 1.4 million of whom moved to the company over the past year, an increase of 33 per cent.

Soft loans GIBRALTAR’S Minister for Business, Vijay Daryanani announced the launch of the Gibraltar Enterprise Scheme, a soft loan initiative that will provide bank loans for startups and existing small businesses operating for less than three years. The participating banks are Trusted Novus Bank and Gibraltar International Bank and the loan scheme will be fully guaranteed by the Gibraltar government.

Back on track MARKS & SPENCER could re-enter the FTSE 100 after its market capitalisation surpassed £4.3 billion (€5.028 billion) as shares soared to a 19-month high.  Thanks to providing  England’s Lionesses with their non-sports uniform, plus increased holiday wear, homeware and food sales, M&S’s April-August turnover has grown by 6 per cent when compared with the same period last year.

New role OSCAR-WINNING composer Hans Zimmer, Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of the Working Title film company, have purchased the BBC’s Maida Vale studio for £10.5 million (€12.28 million).  The new owners intend to convert the building, which has hosted famous stars from the Beatles to David Bowie and Adele, into a school for aspiring musicians.