Breakfast Briefing - The latest news in UK and Globally

Quote of the Week

You can never be too rich or too rich.

Duchess of Windsor

Tweet of the Week

Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has had to gently tell a Twitter user that she is not the best person to approach for issues with appliances.

Her tweet to a disgruntled owner of a Samsung fridge has gone viral in India and generated a spate of responses. The minister often responds to users who reach out to her for help.

Story of the Week

More and more Britons are asking for an Annual Summer Business ‘Shutdown’

It’s no secret that many businesses come under real pressure in the summer months. In an effort to boost the nation’s productivity, more and more are claiming to “cancel August”. According to a recent survey, almost 60% of the UK would welcome an annual summer ‘shutdown’ among businesses.

Here's some interesting facts about the research:

•  The 55-64 age demographic were most behind the introduction of annual industrial shutdowns, making up 66% of the ‘yes’ vote.

• In the UK, England (59%) was the most in favour of such a move, whereas 68% of Northern Ireland were against a change.

In the battle of the sexes, it appears that women are more likely to support this new productivity method – with 63% backing the system. Men were less inclined to throw their weight behind a proposed change, with 44% voting against

News of the Week

London hotels expected to perform better in 2017

The hotel industry in London, England, is projected to experience continued performance declines through 2016, but positive results in 2017, according to a quarterly forecast report from STR and Tourism Economics. London has posted year-over-year growth in revenue per available room (RevPAR) for six consecutive years beginning with 2010.Find out more

Global Hospitality News

Positive relationships at work lead to hospitality success - Positive relationships at work are important to success in the hospitality and service industries, in the view of participants in the Positive Relationships at Work Roundtable, held in June at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration (SHA).

Clear sailing forecast for Europe’s business travel market - Western Europe’s business travel spending is projected to increase to $211.2 billion USD in 2016 and top out at $225.6 billion USD in 2017, 6.3% and 6.8% growth respectively.

Nearly, 73 per cent Indians book hotel rooms on mobiles. According to a study, Indians prefer to book their hotel rooms through smartphones than visiting a travel agency.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG's catering business is considering cutting up to 2,400 jobs in Europe over the next five years and has imposed a hiring freeze as part of the airline's broader effort to reduce costs and compete more effectively against low-cost rivals.

Corners of the world

Online retailer Amazon is facing a $350,000 (£247,000) fine for allegedly shipping hazardous chemicals that injured delivery workers. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposed the fine, accusing the firm of breaching rules by sending a corrosive drain cleaner by air. Read more

China's Bordeaux: winemakers in 'gold rush' to turn desert into vineyards. International wine giants and the super-rich are ploughing their fortunes into an arid corner of Ningxia region Find out more

Is tech addiction making us far more stressed at work? We are the distracted generations, wasting hours a day checking irrelevant emails and intrusive social media accounts. Read more

Obesity boom 'fuelling rise in malnutrition' Malnutrition is sweeping the world, fuelled by obesity as well as starvation, new research has suggested. Find out more