Finance Extra for the UK and Spain

Soft touch NINETY-SEVEN firms bailed out by then-Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s £1.1 billion (€1.28 billion) pandemic fund set up to provide emergency funding have missed repayment deadlines.  All were granted extensions to the three-year loans as stricter terms could push them, and hundreds of other small companies, into bankruptcy.

Fish fury SPAIN’S fishing industry joined recent protests organised by the country’s farmers and agricultural growers.  “We want to draw attention to the sector’s complaints, including European Union policies that are obsessed with the environment,” Javier Garat, secretary general of the Spanish Fishing Confederation (Cepesca) said.

Lady at peril VENERABLE but outdated magazine The Lady could disappear after HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) issued a winding-up petition against the publication owing to back taxes of £360,000 (€420,844).  Owner and publisher Ben Budworth insisted that he had stuck to the agreed HMRC repayment plan “‘to the penny.”

Glovo respite FOLLOWING appeals, the National High Court in Madrid has given delivery platform Glovo breathing space by putting on hold fines amounting to more than €67 million. All the sanctions that were imposed between November 2023 and January 2024 were linked to riders’ previous “false self-employed” status.

Shein shoo-in FAST fashion firm Shein could cancel plans for a $90 billion (€83.2 billion) float in New York and look to London instead.  The Chinese retail giant is increasingly drawn to the UK owing to the legal and regulatory challenges of listing in the US, according to anonymous sources quoted by Bloomberg.