Business

Biometric checks stalled again for cross-Channel travellers
Posted on Saturday April 04, 2026

Fears of Easter chaos over scaling up of new EU border system are eased, with no facial IDs for Eurotunnel and Eurostar passengers

Passengers crossing the Channel from the UK to France will not face new biometric checks in the coming weeks, despite an imminent deadline for the complete implementation of the EU’s entry-exit system (EES), ports say.

Airlines and airports across Europe have feared chaos over the Easter holidays.

Keir Starmalade, anyone? Will marmalade really have to be rebranded in UK?
Posted on Saturday April 04, 2026

Britain is reportedly considering aligning with EU rules in what Daily Mail is calling the PM’s ‘breakfast reset’

The story is, in Fleet Street terminology, a marmalade dropper. The name marmalade is being dropped.

But is it?

New North Sea drilling would barely reduce UK gas imports at all, data shows
Posted on Saturday April 04, 2026

Exclusive: research finds Jackdaw field would provide only about 2% of current demand, and Rosebank only 1%

Opening major new fields in the North Sea would make almost no difference to the UK’s reliance on gas imports, research has shown.

The Jackdaw field, one of the largest unexploited gasfields in the North Sea, would displace only 2% of the UK’s current imports of gas, which would leave the UK still almost entirely dependent on supplies from Norway and a few other sources.

UK food halls buck downbeat hospitality trend: ‘In this impossible climate, they shine hope’
Posted on Saturday April 04, 2026

Amid closures and soaring costs, food halls are booming as a cheaper, lower-risk alternative to traditional restaurants

Beeps chirp through the cavernous Cambridge Street Collective on a busy weekday, as buzzers alert the lunch crowd to collect their sushi tacos, rendang curries or Palestinian chicken musakhan.

The Sheffield food hall is Europe’s largest purpose-built venue of its kind, at 20,000 sq ft, and arrived in 2024 as part of a major redevelopment of the city, which has brought in businesses including HSBC.

‘Over the top and fun:’ TGI Fridays boss insists time is right for a UK revival
Posted on Saturday April 04, 2026

Ray Blanchette admits he may be a ‘little crazy’ as he outlines chain’s hopes of building 1,000 outlets globally

“I am a little crazy maybe,” admits Ray Blanchette, a former TGI Fridays kitchen manager who has taken on the revival of the bar-restaurant chain’s UK business in the face of blasting industry headwinds.

Blanchette’s family investment firm, Sugarloaf, rescued the Dallas-based parent business from administration in 2025. He then went on to pick up its UK arm in January after the local franchisee got into difficulties, retaining 33 UK restaurants but closing 16, with the loss of 456 jobs.

‘Not quite Greggs’: TikTok creators put London’s ‘gentrified’ bakeries to the test
Posted on Saturday April 04, 2026

Viral reviews of artisan cafes across the capital are sparking a debate over cost, culture – and who gets a slice of the city

The video that started it all was innocuous enough: a woman in her 20s posted on TikTok about how she spends a perfect weekend in north London. On her list were the bakeries Jolene and Gail’s, and the De Beauvoir Deli.

The reaction, however, was anything but. Many locals commented that they had never heard of the businesses she mentioned. One north Londoner, Moses Combe, 21, was equally incredulous. “If this is where all the north London girlies come in the morning, I’d be a bit surprised,” he said in a viral video.

‘The good old days are gone’: how will US prices stand as war in Iran surges on?
Posted on Saturday April 04, 2026

Beyond rising costs of gas and air travel, experts say this is likely just beginning of higher prices amid global volatility

As consumers watch the price of gasoline and airline tickets rise, experts say that the war in Iran will continue to drive up prices across the economy.

“The good old days are gone,” said Christopher Tang, a professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management who studies global supply chain management. “Right now we see the gasoline prices going up, but that is only part of the story. Everything will be more expensive.”