THE DAILY BRIEFING

DIRECTOR DEAL Entrepreneur Peter Dubens has spent £1.2m on shares in Time Out Group. The founder of Oakley Capital bought 1.45m shares for 82.7p each in the magazine and food hall owner. Shares rose 7.7pc, or 6.5p, to 91.5p following the news on Friday.

IPO SUCCESS A listings boom in London is being powered by pioneering tech firms, claims accountant EY. It said there were 17 initial public offerings in the second quarter of 2018, worth £2.1bn in total. This was six more than the same period last year.

BORROWING BOOM The debt of the UK’s listed firms rose to a record £390.7bn, easily surpassing pre-crisis levels, claims Link Asset Services. Debt has jumped by £159.6bn since a low point in 2010/2011 with most of the increase occurring in the last three years.

PROPERTY WOES The number of estate agents that have gone bust over the last year has climbed to 153 as the pressure from online rivals continues to increase. According to Moore Stephens this is up from 148 a year earlier.

DEBT BURDEN The UK’s top 100 restaurant groups have seen debt soar 19pc in the past year to £1.96bn, says UHY Hacker Young. It comes as many restaurants are being forced to close sites amid fierce competition in the sector.

TEAM BARLEY British farmers are supplying 2,000 football pitches worth of barley for Budweiser to brew 150m pints during the World Cup. It is part of an initiative to source three-quarters of British barley for Bud in the UK.