Everyman to bolster balance sheet with £17.5m placing: Everyman Media Group, the independent, premium cinema group, is to conduct an accelerated book-build placing to raise gross proceeds of up to £17.5 million, at a price of 100 pence per new ordinary share of ten pence each. The company stated: “The Placing proceeds will be used to further strengthen the group’s balance sheet and protect its sites against an extended closure period should the impact from covid-19 continue into the Summer months, in addition to ensuring prudent levels of debt and allowing the group to re-engage with its expansion and investment programme in due course. The Placing is being conducted by an accelerated book building process which will commence immediately following the publication of this announcement in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in the appendix. The Placing Price represents a discount of 7%. to the previous day closing share price of 107.5 pence per share on 7 April 2020.”

BCC: Many businesses face a cliff-edge scenario: Almost two-thirds of British businesses do not have enough cash to last three months as they continue to struggle to access the government’s coronavirus loan scheme. A British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) survey showed that 57% of businesses did not have enough cash to survive past three months and only 1% had successfully accessed the government’s coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS). It also found that 8% of businesses had been unsuccessful in their quest to receive a portion of the £330bn government-backed loan programme. 83% of companies polled said they did not meet the criteria, 14% said they had a slow or no response from the relevant body, whilst 8% said there was insufficient information or guidance available. It was revealed by City A.M. yesterday that just 2,022 UK businesses had accessed £291.91m worth of loans through CBILS out of 309,193 enquiries, according to UK Finance. Business’ cash flow, an important indicator of overall economic health, also remains an urgent concern, according to the BCC. The percentage of firms reporting less than a month’s worth of cash in reserve (16%) and one to three months’ cash in reserve (41%) has remained broadly unchanged from the previous week’s poll. Of most concern, the percentage of firms reporting no cash in reserve was 6%. BCC director general Dr Adam Marshall said: “Our latest data shows that many businesses face a cliff-edge scenario, either at the end of this month or over the course of the next quarter. We’ve seen a big jump in the number of firms furloughing staff, and many are now starting to apply for access to government loan and grant schemes to keep themselves afloat. Our research suggests that support is only starting to reach firms on the ground. We are pleased that the chancellor is listening and responding to our calls to strengthen the existing support. Improvements to the CBILS scheme should help more businesses get access to the cash they need over the coming days and weeks. This could be the difference between survival and insolvency for many firms. It’s vital that governments across the UK continue to work closely with business over the coming days. Every minute counts, and governments, local authorities and banks must do everything in their power to ensure support gets to firms on the frontline more quickly.” 

PPHE secures £180m to fund London hotel: PPHE Hotel Group, the international hospitality real estate group which develops, owns and operates hotels and resorts, has entered into a syndicated facility agreement arranged by Bank Hapoalim B.M. for a facility of up to £180 million to fund the development of art’otel london hoxton on a site located by Old Street, Rivington Street, Great Eastern Street and Bath Place, London EC1. Boris Ivesha, president and chief executive, PPHE said: “We are pleased to have secured funding to develop art’otel london hoxton with Bank Hapoalim B.M. which has been a long standing partner of the group funding several of our other key properties, including Park Plaza Westminster Bridge London which opened in 2010. The development, which is in one of London’s most exciting neighbourhoods, will include a new 27 storey building to accommodate 343 hotel rooms and suites, five floors of office space, a gym, swimming pool and wellness facilities and an art gallery space. We believe the project has the potential to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns for shareholders whilst further expanding our art’otel brand.”

Rotaready and Tipjar team up to create furlough calculator for hospitality workers: Tipjar, the peer-to-peer tipping and tip-sharing concept, and Rotaready, the staff scheduling and wage management business, have teamed up to create a furlough calculator for hospitality workers. The companies said the new tool will help hourly paid hospitality workers calculate and plan their future earnings. The free tool works by employees anonymously inputting their pay details and varied hours worked to get a projected furlough estimation. It will be accessible online as well as housed within the Yapster app. James Brown, founder of Tipjar, said: “We understand that the rules for furlough are complex and sometimes confusing, especially for workers who have varied hours or have changed positions or responsibilities over the past year. We saw lots of questions in and around the industry from staff who were struggling to understand what it meant for them, and we wanted to help.” Carl Holloway, co-founder of Rotaready said: “Both Tipjar and Rotaready exist because we have hourly paid, hard-working teams in our restaurants, bars and clubs. We saw there was a need to help our users get clarity around planning their finances and that between both businesses we had the skills and knowledge to create a quick and simple solution.” Both companies are to share the calculator with as many businesses, users, social media followers and industry contacts as possible. It can be found at either rotaready.com/furlough-calculator/ or wearetipjar.com/furlough-calculator.