After years of lavish spending followed by job cuts, staff at BuzzFeed in London entered 2020 feeling positive. The viral website’s team was set to move from its temporary office near the Old Bailey in the spring, having taken out a long-term lease on a new home near London Bridge. “There was optimism,” said one BuzzFeed News employee. “It felt like, for the first time, we were sensible and sustainable.” Then the coronavirus hit. BuzzFeed’s reporters will never see the new office. Despite...

Fresh from the humiliation of being thwarted in his attempt to oust easyJet’s bosses on Friday, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has another fight on his hands. The founder of the budget airline, who snaffled a £60m dividend before failing to remove Johan Lundgren and John Barton from the board over a row about buying new planes, has issued a writ against a little-known beauty entrepreneur for daring to call her brand easyCosmetic. Sir Stelios, 53, has a habit of suing those who dare to use the word...

If managers on a training course in Birmingham this September compare notes, there may be some awkward conversations. While some, or their employers, will have spent thousands on the state-of-the-art, five-day course, the person next to them may have paid half the sum. QA, the education provider chaired by former John Lewis boss Sir Charlie Mayfield, is laying on a certified project management course from September 14. QA sells places for £2,495 apiece, but savvy customers can book through...

Social distancing stickers will not be the only difference car buyers notice when they return to Lookers dealerships tomorrow: they will do test drives unaccompanied. The absence of a pushy salesman in the passenger seat may come as a relief to customers. However, one of Britain’s biggest dealers faces myriad other problems too. Covid-19 is only the latest misfortune to hit Lookers and its 160 sites. In the past year it has issued two profit warnings, found itself under investigation by the...

As negotiating techniques go, belittling your counterpart is not normally advisable. Try telling that to Debenhams chairman Mark Gifford. Gifford, in post since October, waded in to negotiate directly with the chain’s landlords as it looks to reopen sites. Things got heated when property owners refused to agree onerous new rent terms. In a missive at the start of the month, he called one of the agents involved in the unsuccessful attempt by landlords to block Debenhams’ controversial...