AGS Airports, the owner of Aberdeen International, Glasgow and Southampton airports, has made a raft of management changes as it prepares for a difficult recovery from the pandemic.
Mark Johnston takes up the new role of chief operating officer for AGS. During nearly 16 years with the group, Mr Johnston has held a series of senior management roles including managing director of Glasgow Airport.
Gillian Bruton has joined AGS as chief financial officer, having previously held the position of finance director for Highlands and Islands Airports. Meanwhile, Roger Hunt takes on the new role of chief of business services, which will see him lead group functions including human resources, capital and planning, innovation, IT and procurement. Mr Hunt has held a series of senior positions across Aberdeen Airport and the wider group during the last decade.
READ MORE: Glasgow Airport chief slams Government for lack of 'meaningful' engagement on aviation crisis
Matt Wood has also joined AGS as commercial director. Mr Wood has more than 15 years’ experience across airlines and airports, having started his career at easyJet within the network and airport development field. He as also worked for Wizz Air, Spanair and Gatwick Airport as the head of airline relations, and joins from his current position in commercial management at Norwegian.
Mark Beveridge and Ronald Leitch have been appointed to the operations director roles at Aberdeen and Glasgow respectively.
Commenting on the new appointments, AGS chief executive Derek Provan said: “The AGS group and the wider aviation industry have faced huge challenges that would have been inconceivable just 12 months ago.
“The pathway to recovery begins now and while the months and years ahead of us will be difficult, I’m confident that the wealth of experience and expertise brought by our new executive committee will be key to ensuring AGS Airports Ltd is a strong position to build back better.”
Contactless payments could be raised to £100
The UK's financial watchdog is considering raising the limit on contactless payments from £45 to £100 to keep pace with a change in spending habits during the coronavirus crisis.
Shops have encouraged contactless payments to minimise physical interaction between people during the Covid pandemic and raising the ceiling will be part of a wider examination of such changes, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said.
“People are increasingly making use of contactless payments," the watchdog said. "It’s important that payments regulation keeps pace with consumer and merchant expectations."
READ MORE: ‘Loyalty tax’ for car insurance renewals to be banned
The FCA has also confirmed earlier proposals that banks should generally not enforce repossessions before April 1, but credit providers would be allowed to repossess goods and cars from January 31 as a last resort.
Consumers struggling in the pandemic still have until March 31 to apply for a payment holiday for mortgages, personal loans, credit cards, store, cards, catalogue credit, motor finance, rent-to-own, buy now pay later, and pawnbroking.
“If you apply by 31 March, you may be able to extend up to 31 July when all payment holidays will come to an end," the FCA said.
Pandemic spurs more closures and start-ups
The coronavirus pandemic has led to widespread businesses closures but also a surge in start-ups as entrepreneurs seek to capitalise on a boom in online shopping, according to new data.
The figures showed a 37 per cent rise in business closures and a 24% increase in start-ups compared with a year earlier, both the biggest changes since the data series began four years earlier.
Information and communication businesses - covering sectors such as computer programming, motion picture and sound recording and radio and TV broadcasting - accounted for more closures than normal, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
But accommodation and food services businesses made up an unusually small share of closures, despite being hit hard by lockdowns since March last year. The ONS said that might reflect the government’s emergency support measures for those sectors.
READ MORE: FSB: 250,000 small firms set to go bust
Online shopping - which accounted for a record share of spending last year - and related areas such as warehouses and logistics accounted for a lot of the new business creation.
New start-ups were smaller than previous years, with an average of 2.7 staff, down from 3.5 before.
Businesses which closed were also slightly smaller than before, with an average of 2.6 staff.
The ONS classified the figures as "experimental" and potentially less reliable than longer-running annual data on the number of businesses operating in Britain.
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