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Petrochemicals billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe has completed the purchase of a 27.7% stake in Manchester United through his INEOS conglomerate – enabling him to take control of football operations from the Glazer family. 

The deal ends the saga that has engulfed United for 15 months without the full sale fans had been demanding to end the Glazers’ 19-year reign.

Sir Jim said becoming a co-owner was “a great honour and comes with great responsibility”.

“This marks the completion of the transaction, but just the beginning of our journey to take Manchester United back to the top of English, European and world football, with work-class facilities for our fans,” he said.

“Work to achieve those objectives will accelerate from today,” the 71-year-old added.

Meanwhile, executive co-chairman Joel Glazer said: “I would like to welcome Sir Jim as co-owner and look forward to working closely with him and INEOS Sport to deliver a bright future for Manchester United.”

But Sir Jim is leading an overhaul of a club in decline – one facing an 11th consecutive Premier League season without adding to their record 20 men’s league titles.

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Erik ten Hag’s side is sixth in the Premier League, battling for one of the four lucrative Champions League places.

The American Glazer ownership has cost United more than £1bn in interest payments and dividends while servicing the debt they loaded onto the club.

Upgrading Old Trafford is a priority, with the stadium in need of modernisation. Rivals Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester City have all moved into new venues this century with better facilities and more ability to generate revenue.

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What the Man Utd deal means for the club

The challenge is to usurp their neighbours, the now-dominant City, who have won the last three league titles.

But within weeks of Sir Jim agreeing his deal in principle, United have swooped to sign a City executive – with Omar Berrada joining as chief executive.

United are also looking to bring Dan Ashworth in as sporting director and the recruitment expert was this week placed on gardening leave by Newcastle.

Sir Jim’s bid for partial ownership was favoured over a complete buyout attempt by Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al Thani.

The deal is costing boyhood United fan Sir Jim $1.65bn (£1.31bn), including $200m (£158m) of initial investment in the club intended for the Old Trafford infrastructure and another $100m (£79m) by the end of the year.

United, which is still listed on the New York Stock Exchange, told investors that Sir Jim’s liquid assets are worth $4bn and his wealth exceeds that through his ownership of INEOS.

The INEOS sports portfolio includes teams in cycling, sailing and football.

The ownership of French club Nice could be problematic given European rules preventing clubs with the same owner of “decisive influence” playing in the same European competitions, but UEFA is exploring relaxing the policy on multi-club ownership.

Sir Dave Brailsford, the mastermind behind Team GB’s golden Olympic cycling dominance who serves as INEOS director of sport, is set to join the United board.

INEOS was established in 1998 by Sir Jim, who built his fortune after working for Esso’s parent, manufacturing firm Courtaulds and being part of a buyout of a BP chemicals firm to create Inspec.

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Business

Pizza Hut to shut 68 restaurants in UK after company behind venues falls into administration

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Pizza Hut to shut 68 restaurants in UK after company behind venues falls into administration

Pizza Hut is to close 68 restaurants and 11 delivery sites with the loss of more than 1,200 jobs after the company behind its UK venues fell into administration.

The company has said 1,210 workers are being made redundant as part of the closures.

DC London Pie, the firm running Pizza Hut’s restaurants in the UK, appointed administrators from corporate finance firm FTI on Monday.

It comes less than a year after the business bought the chain’s restaurants from insolvency.

On Monday, American hospitality giant Yum! Brands, which owns the global Pizza Hut business, said it had bought the UK restaurant operation in a pre-pack administration deal – a rescue deal that will save 64 sites and secure the future of 1,276 workers.

A spokesperson for Pizza Hut UK confirmed the Yum! deal and said as a result it was “pleased to secure the continuation of 64 sites to safeguard our guest experience and protect the associated jobs.

“Approximately 2,259 team members will transfer to the new Yum! equity business under UK TUPE legislation, including above-restaurant leaders and support teams.”

Nicolas Burquier, Managing Director of Pizza Hut Europe and Canada, called Monday’s agreement a “targeted acquisition” which, he said, “aims to safeguard our guest experience and protect jobs where possible.

“Our immediate priority is operational continuity at the acquired locations and supporting colleagues through the transition.”

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The administration came after HMRC filed a winding up petition on Friday against DC London Pie.

DC London Pie was the company formed after Directional Capital, which operated franchises in Sweden and Denmark, snapped up 139 UK restaurants from the previous UK franchisee Heart with Smart Limited in January of this year.

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Bank of England job fears as Andrew Bailey warns of tough choices

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Bank of England job fears as Andrew Bailey warns of tough choices

Staff at the Bank of England are on alert for potential job cuts in Threadneedle Street after the governor, Andrew Bailey, warned of tough decisions about the institution’s future cost base.

Sky News has learnt that Mr Bailey informed Bank of England employees in a memo last week that it was taking a detailed look at costs, although it did not specifically refer to the prospect of redundancies.

One source said the memo had been sent while Mr Bailey was attending the International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting in Washington.

Its precise wording was unclear on Monday, but one source said it had warned of “tough choices” that would need to be made as the bank accelerated its investment in new technology.

They added that managers had been briefed to expect to have to make savings of between 6% and 8% of their operating budgets.

The Bank of England employed 5,810 people at the end of February, of whom just over 5,000 were full-time, according to its annual report.

Those numbers were marginally higher than in the previous year.

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Read more from Sky News:
Pizza Hut to shut 68 restaurants in UK
B&M shares plunge as accounting blunder dents profits

The central bank’s budget, funded through a levy, is expected to be £596m in the current financial year.

The workforce figures include the Prudential Regulation Authority, Britain’s main banking regulator, which is set to get a new boss next year when Sam Woods steps down after two terms in the role.

A Bank of England spokesperson declined to comment on the contents of Mr Bailey’s memo.

They also declined to provide details of the timing of any previous rounds of redundancies at the bank.

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Business

Pizza Hut to shut 68 restaurants in UK after company behind venues falls into administration

Published

on

By

Pizza Hut to shut 68 restaurants in UK after company behind venues falls into administration

Pizza Hut is to close 68 restaurants and 11 delivery sites with the loss of more than 1,200 jobs after the company behind its UK venues fell into administration.

The company has said 1,210 workers are being made redundant as part of the closures.

DC London Pie, the firm running Pizza Hut’s restaurants in the UK, appointed administrators from corporate finance firm FTI on Monday.

It comes less than a year after the business bought the chain’s restaurants from insolvency.

On Monday, American hospitality giant Yum! Brands, which owns the global Pizza Hut business, said it had bought the UK restaurant operation in a pre-pack administration deal – a rescue deal that will save 64 sites and secure the future of 1,276 workers.

A spokesperson for Pizza Hut UK confirmed the Yum! deal and said as a result it was “pleased to secure the continuation of 64 sites to safeguard our guest experience and protect the associated jobs.

“Approximately 2,259 team members will transfer to the new Yum! equity business under UK TUPE legislation, including above-restaurant leaders and support teams.”

Nicolas Burquier, Managing Director of Pizza Hut Europe and Canada, called Monday’s agreement a “targeted acquisition” which, he said, “aims to safeguard our guest experience and protect jobs where possible.

“Our immediate priority is operational continuity at the acquired locations and supporting colleagues through the transition.”

Read more on Sky News:
Andrew ‘should live in exile’
What’s affected by internet outage
Blind patients regain sight

The administration comes around six weeks after a subsidiary of Yum! filed a winding up petition against DC London Pie.

DC London Pie was the company formed after Directional Capital, which operated franchises in Sweden and Denmark, snapped up 139 UK restaurants from the previous UK franchisee Heart with Smart Limited in January of this year.

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