Latest news with #businessloss
RNZ News
26-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
'Massive' hay shed fire cost Canterbury company up to $1.5 million
Photo: Supplied / Quigley Contracting A Canterbury business owner is absolutely gutted after more than half of his winter feed went up in flames. A fire destroyed more than 12,000 bales of hay as it tore through two sheds at Quigley Contracting in Winslow, about 10 kilometres southwest of Ashburton, on 14 May. Dozens of firefighters tackled the blaze and work continued on operations for four days until what was left of the bales was cleared, covered and capped in a large pit. Quigley Contracting owner Andrew Quigley said it was the most significant loss to the business since it started 22 years ago. He first received a call about the fire shortly before midnight on 14 May. "It was massive," he said. "It's sort of scary - those first few hours, just not knowing whether it is going to spread or another puff of wind is going to come up, and the risk to residential properties around us was probably the biggest concern. Photo: Supplied / Quigley Contracting "We were trying to save every bit of stock we could, and we were moving bales of straw around with our own machinery, just trying to eliminate the risk of further spread. "It was a very, very scary experience." The fire started in one shed and spread to the other shed after burning for 30 to 40 minutes, Quigley said. The damage cost the business between $1.2 milllion and $1.5 million. "It's a significant and huge loss to us," he said. "A lot of the product was pre-sold across New Zealand to different customers. It's probably 50 to 60 percent of our stock that we had on hand lost." Quigley was grateful other contractors and farmers had come forward with offers of feed after the fire. "We're working through that at the moment, but it's looking like we'll have enough product to be able to look after our customers," he said. Photo: Supplied / Quigley Contracting It was not the first time a fire had hit his business with the same site affected four years ago, Quigley said. "It started in a shed, sort of similar. Starting at around two-and-a-half thousand bales and spread," he said. After that fire, water curtains were installed in the sheds and had prevented this fire from being worse. "Those water curtains in the shed worked well; we saved... two sheds that probably would've gone up as well," Quigley said. "So obviously I'm happy with the improvements we've made, but absolutely gutted with all the systems and processes we've put in place that similar events happened." While the cause of the fire had not been determined, Quigley said he suspected it was caused by spontaneous combustion, which was the cause of fire four years ago. Fire and Emergency said the investigation was ongoing.
CBC
23-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Can one judge overrule Trump?
The U.S. Supreme Court is deciding whether federal judges should have the power to block government policies. Andrew Chang explains how this case could reshape the balance of power. Then, how Canada Post lost $3B in six years.
ABC News
14-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
York Peninsula's 24-hour blackout cost businesses more than $1m
Yorke Peninsula businesses lost $1.06 million during a widespread 24-hour blackout in March, according to fresh research. Regional Development Australia (RDA) surveyed affected traders who reported a combined lost revenue of $566,000 due to payment systems going offline, while stock losses reached up to $264,000. Of the 70 respondents, just one reported being covered for outages in their insurance policy. Thirty-five were not, and nine were still awaiting decisions from their provider. The March 14 outage saw more than 20,000 properties go dark because of dust pollution and extended dry conditions across South Australia, according to energy operator ElectraNet. RDA Yorke and Mid North chief executive Daniel Willson said many businesses were "caught out" by the lack of insurance coverage for blackouts and encouraged owners to shift policies if necessary. "Retail trade businesses suffered, those that have perishable stock," Mr Willson said. "They've got some fairly stringent food safety requirements to observe," he said. "When they can't rely on their fridges and freezers to keep running … they have to cut their losses to avoid impacting the health of consumers. "We did have quite a few residences and households get in touch because they were frustrated that they hadn't had better coverage and service. "There was some pretty concerning stuff — families who had to drive around in cars to keep babies in air conditioning, quite a few people who had temperature-sensitive medication who had to drive back to Adelaide to replace their medication." Mr Willson said a full report will be released in the coming weeks. So far, SA Power Networks, ElectraNet, and the state government have indicated compensation will not be offered to businesses. South Australians can claim $100 a year for an outage lasting more than 20 hours, but it only applies to supply issues and not transmission faults, which caused the March blackout. Independent MP for Narungga, Fraser Ellis, said he would lobby the government to expand the Small Claims Scheme to include outages. "I haven't got a yes or no, but I will keep trucking away at it. "Recently the government extended [the Small Claims Scheme] to voltage variations, so they appreciate the need for it, but in this case, it's the same outcome with just a slightly different cause." Transport and Infrastructure Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the government would give Mr Ellis' proposal "due consideration and consider [its] implications". Mr Koutsantonis previously said that SA Power Networks' equipment was not at fault. Yorke Peninsula residents reported several rolling, localised blackouts in the days leading up to the major outage. In the aftermath, ElectraNet said it proactively monitored power equipment for dust accumulation and blamed low rainfall across South Australia, which otherwise would have washed away excess build-up. On Tuesday, SA Power Networks spokesperson Cecilia Schulz told ABC Radio Adelaide that helicopter and ground patrols had begun monitoring 55,000km of power lines to detect faults leading up to the next bushfire season. Ms Schulz said the March outage was not caused by insufficient patrolling. "It is the sheer expanse of the problem over the Yorke Peninsula, the number of poles and conductors that do have insulator pollution, and the ability of our crews to get to all of them and wash them," Ms Schulz said. "We've had to go through this process of identifying the areas of the network that are causing the problems and manually washing them, but it hasn't been possible to do that for the whole peninsula."
BBC News
10-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Oxford business owner blames LTNs for sale of last restaurant
A business owner said he has sold his last business after facing losses of about £1m over the past three years due to the impact of traffic Pugh, father of Hollywood actress Florence Pugh, has owned a number of cafes and restaurants in Oxford, including The Lemon Tree and Café said he decided to sell his remaining business, Kazbar on Cowley Road, earlier this year due to financial pressures, saying the introduction of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) was the "main nail in the coffin".Oxfordshire County Council said LTNs and traffic filters were designed to make residential streets better for walkers and cyclists, and their impact would be "carefully monitored". Mr Pugh, who first opened a business in the city 40 years ago, said the sale of Kazbar marked "the end of an era".He said wider economic factors had impacted trade but described the LTNs as the "main nail in the coffin"."Kazbar's turnover has dropped significantly over the last three years since the LTNs have gone in. So had Café Coco," he said. "I've lost about £1m, if not more."Mr Pugh said the traffic measures had also made it more difficult to attract staff."If they don't live locally then they don't want to pay for taxis to come in," he said. A council spokesperson said the measures were designed to reduce traffic, speed up bus travel and make walking and cycling safer."When the traffic filters trial starts after Network Rail reopens Botley Road, expected to be August 2026, it will be a new way to reduce traffic and make it easier to get around the city," they filters will only apply to cars, all other vehicles will be automatically exempt, said the spokesperson, adding there were "17 types of free permit for car drivers to travel through the filters".They said the trial will be carefully monitored and evaluated, including an analysis of footfall and spending data in the city centre, as well as Cowley Road, Cowley centre, Headington, Jericho and Summertown. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
QVC Group Sees Shoppers Spooked by Tariffs as Q1 Sales and Profits Tumble
QVC Group is seeing sharp drops in its business as shoppers are spooked by tariffs and reducing their time spent watching linear television, where QVC sells its wares. On Wednesday, QVC Group reported a first-quarter net loss of $91 million, versus a net profit of $8 million in the year-ago quarter. More from WWD EXCLUSIVE: Hilary Duff's Home Fragrance Line, Below 60, Debuts on QVC With New Scent TikTok, QVC Group Expand Partnership QVC Group Lays Off 900 Employees For the three months ended March 31, operating income fell 90 percent to $14 million from $145 million in the year-ago period. Total adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization declined 32 percent to $177 million from $259 million. QVC Group believes adjusted OIBDA is an important indicator of the operational strength and performance of its businesses. Recently, QVC has incurred restructuring and other charges, some related to technology changes and consolidations. Revenue in the first quarter decreased 10 percent to $2.1 billion from $2.34 billion. The company cited a 10 percent decrease in units shipped, a 2 percent decline in average selling price, and lower shipping and handling revenue, partially offset by favorable returns. Sales declines were seen in all categories of merchandise. In after-hours trading Wednesday afternoon, QVC's stock was down 28 percent to 14 cents. 'In the first quarter we faced a challenging market backdrop. While the impacts are being felt across retail, we are particularly challenged as linear television viewership continued to decline, and tariff volatility strongly impacted consumer sentiment in discretionary retail,' David Rawlinson, president and chief executive officer of QVC Group, said in a statement. 'We continue to execute on our long-term strategy and are working to remain agile as we navigate these current headwinds. In particular, we believe social shopping is a transformative opportunity and are moving quickly to be a leader here. QVC's agreement with TikTok is a first of its kind partnership for 24/7 content creation and is one example of the innovation we will continue to deploy to reinvent our business.' QVC Group is deepening its partnership with the TikTok social and e-commerce platform, which provides 24/7 shoppable livestream content and a larger swath of brands and products. The group will be creating TikTok-specific content out of dedicated studio space in Studio Park, the headquarters of QVC and HSN in West Chester, Pa., and nationwide with partnering TikTok creators. QVC initially launched on TikTok Shop in August 2024. QVC Group's portfolio includes QVC, HSN, Frontgate, Ballard Designs, Garnet Hill and Grandin Road. The company started the year by consolidating the U.S. operations of QVC and HSN, shutting down HSN's St. Petersburg, Fla., operations and consolidating them into QVC's Studio Park in West Chester, leading to approximately 900 job cuts. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the company said it had around 17,000 employees globally, meaning around 5 percent of its workforce had been impacted by the cuts, though there could more cuts at the company's overseas operations. In February, the company changed its name to QVC Group from Qurate. Best of WWD Macy's Is Closing 66 Stores in 2025 — Here's the List, Live Updates Inside the Demise of Lord & Taylor COVID-19 Spikes Elevate Retail Concerns Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
