Next has sealed a deal to transform five former Debenhams beauty departments into its own new beauty hall concept.

The fashion retailer said it has agreed a deal with retail landlord Hammerson for the new beauty hall sites, as fashion stores remain closed amid the coronavirus lockdown.

It said the sites - which will trade as The Beauty Hall from Next - will include Bullring & Grand Central Birmingham, Silverburn Glasgow, and Highcross Leicester.

Next said it is also in discussions for a "small number" of further sites, as it continues to grow its beauty business.

READ MORE: Coronavirus in Scotland: Debenhams to close Glasgow Silverburn store

Last year, it acquired the Fabled beauty brand from Ocado, after an initial online collaboration in the previous year.

The high street stalwart said it is working with its retail teams and brand partners to ensure its stores adhere to Government social distancing guidelines and are safe for customers and staff when they open.

It added that it plans to hire staff with beauty retail experience and is therefore "likely" to offer positions to former Debenhams staff.

Simon Wolfson, Next's chief executive, said: "This is an exciting opportunity to work with existing and new beauty brand partners to create a new force in beauty retailing - bringing our online business to life through premium store environments in some of the UK's most important retail locations."

David Atkins, Hammerson's chief executive, said: "This is a really challenging time for all of us, so it's really encouraging to see strong, innovative brands like Next work with us to plan for the future.

"This is another example of how we are re-purposing department store space and improving the shopping experience for consumers.

"The Beauty Hall from Next is a great concept and it's a real vote of confidence in our flagship destinations that Next has chosen these locations to launch its new offer."

The deal is a boost to shopping centre owner Hammerson, which saw its £400 million deal to sell seven UK retail parks collapse on Wednesday.

British Airways and Aer Lingus owner International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) has revealed the scale of carnage caused to the airline industry due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In a series of cost-cutting measures, chiefs tentatively said flights could resume at 50% capacity by July but added the group was burning through cash and does not expect to return to full capacity until 2023.

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The company said Covid-19 was having a "devastating impact on the global airline and travel sectors, with the spread of the virus worldwide, resulting in lockdowns and travel restrictions and advisories, particularly from late February 2020 onwards."

Due to the restrictions, passenger capacity fell 94% from late March, with most aircraft grounded, or operating a reduced service for repatriation and cargo-only flights.
Bosses insisted, when going into the crisis, the firm has a strong balance sheet with 10 billion euros (£8.7 billion) available. IAG's Spanish airlines, including Iberia, secured a commercial loan with backing from the country's government.

IAG has also dipped into the Bank of England's loan scheme for British Airways for £300 million, although this has not stopped the firm announcing plans for 12,000 redundancies.

To reduce spending, day-to-day cash costs were cut from 440 million euros (£384 million) per week to 200 million euros per week.

The Bank of England has warned coronavirus could see the economy plunge 14% this year in the worst annual fall for more than 300 years.

In its first official outlook on the toll taken on the UK's finances by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Bank cautioned over a "very sharp" fall in GDP of close to 30% over the first half and a "substantial" hike in unemployment.

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It expects gross domestic product (GDP) to fall by around 3% in the first three months of 2020 and then plunge by a further 25% in the second quarter, although it said there was uncertainty over the forecasts.

Britain's unemployment rate could hit 9% in the second quarter as the lockdown hammers firms across the economy, although with six million people expected to have been furloughed, it said Government schemes will help soften the blow.

The grim forecast came as the Bank held interest rates at the historic low of 0.1% after recent emergency action.

It said the fall should be temporary and that activity should "pick up relatively rapidly" as lockdown is eased, but added that it would "take some time" for the economy to recover.

Its forecasts show, based on an "illustrative" scenario, that the economy could take a year to recover from when the lockdown begins to be lifted.

The Bank is expecting the bounce back in growth to be held back as Britons continue some voluntary social distance measures even after lockdown restrictions are eased.

Its nine-strong Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously to hold rates.