Business
Coppa Club owners eye acquisitions and new venues to drive growth
Restaurant group Various Eateries has said it is considering merger and acquisition deals to help drive further growth after revealing stronger profits.
Shares in the group, which runs 20 venues across the Coppa Club and Noci brands, moved higher on Monday morning.
Boss Mark Loughborough said the group is looking to continue its recent “real momentum” as it reported strong Christmas trading.
The company said this could include snapping up other hospitality businesses to drive growth.
Mr Loughborough said: “Our goal is to build a bigger, better hospitality group by scaling our brands with discipline, investing selectively in the estate and, alongside organic growth, actively assessing high-quality, complementary M&A opportunities where the strategic fit is clear and the quality and returns stack up.”
Various Eateries reported that trading in recent months has been “encouraging” despite a “challenging” wider hospitality market.
It was boosted by “particularly strong” sales over the five-week festive period to January 4, which saw group like-for-like sales rise by 9% on the back of growth at Coppa Club.
The business is “progressing” with a pipeline of potential new sites, with plans to focus its expansion plans on the Coppa Club brand.
It came as the group reported that revenues jumped by 6% to £52.4 million in the year to September 2025, with 2% like-for-like group supported by openings.
Mr Loughborough, chief executive of the group, said: “Full-year 2025 was a clear step forward for Various Eateries, where we turned intent into delivery.
“We tightened execution across the estate, strengthened the team and embedded a more disciplined, consistent way of operating, giving us a stronger platform to build from.
“The return to like-for-like growth and record adjusted EBITDA is the result, and a huge credit to our teams given the challenging consumer backdrop and ongoing cost pressures across the sector.”
Shares lifted by 11.4% on Monday morning.
Business
After year of turmoil, Indian diamonds and gems set to shine in US markets – The Times of India
MUMBAI: Zero-duty access for diamonds and coloured gemstones to the US under the interim trade agreement framework will benefit the gems and jewellery sector, which was termed by industry leaders as a “critical inflection point” after bruising year for exports.The move could help reverse the sharp decline in shipments to India’s largest market, where cut and polished diamond exports fell by over 60% – from $3.64 billion to $1.45 billion – amid tariff-induced loss of competitiveness, they said.Kirit Bhansali, chairman of Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, said, “Last year has been particularly difficult for the sector, and this step restores a level playing field for Indian exporters.”India and the US announced on Saturday that they had reached a framework for an interim trade agreement under which both sides will reduce import duties on a range of goods to boost bilateral trade.“This is a big breakthrough and will lead to more jobs. The tariff rollback will help revive exports and bring back confidence in the market,” said Ashok Gajera, MD Laxmi Diamonds.Under the framework, duties on jewellery have been brought down to 18%, offering what the industry described as immediate, if partial, relief. GJEPC has also urged govt to include lab-grown diamonds and synthetic gemstones in the exemption list, which currently stands at 18%.All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) chairman, Rajesh Rode, said zero-duty access would give Indian exporters unprecedented entry into the US market. “This strengthens global competitiveness, improves margins, and ensures that artisans’ creations reach international consumers at fair prices.” GJC’s vice-chairman Avinash Gupta described the move as a game-changer for small and medium enterprises that form the backbone of the sector.
Business
Software Engineering To Be Obsolete In A Year? Anthropic CEO Warns, Vembu Says Pay Attention
Last Updated:
Dario Amodei of Anthropic warns at Davos that AI could make software engineering obsolete within a year, a view supported by Sridhar Vembu of Zoho.
Dario Amodei of Anthropic warns at Davos that AI could make software engineering obsolete within a year, a view supported by Sridhar Vembu of Zoho. (Pic: Wikipedia)
Software engineering may be the profession feeling the sharpest impact of artificial intelligence, with core tasks such as coding increasingly being handled by AI systems. Tech giants like Google, Amazon and Microsoft are already using AI to generate portions of new codebases—a trend expected to accelerate.
Against this backdrop, Dario Amodei, chief executive of Anthropic, has issued a stark warning: software engineering as a profession could effectively become obsolete within the next 12 months. While the claim has sparked debate, it has also drawn support from industry leaders, including Sridhar Vembu, founder of Zoho, who says the warning deserves serious attention.
Amodei made the remarks last month at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, where he spoke about how rapidly AI is reshaping jobs, productivity and the global economy. He argued that the impact of AI on employment is no longer theoretical, particularly in software development.
The comments went viral online, drawing both agreement and scepticism. Responding to a clip of Amodei’s remarks shared on X, Vembu urged people not to dismiss the warning. “We better pay attention to him because he has the best coding tool in the world,” Vembu wrote, noting that the message carries weight because it comes from the head of a company building some of the most advanced AI coding tools.
Explaining his concern, Amodei said AI is rapidly shifting from being a productivity aid to becoming the primary executor of work. Software development, he noted, is among the clearest examples of this transition. At Anthropic itself, engineers increasingly rely on AI models to generate code, stepping in mainly to review and refine outputs.
“I have engineering leads who have basically said to me, ‘I don’t write any code anymore. I just let Opus do the work and I edit it,’” Amodei said.
While his warning focused on coders, Amodei cautioned that the implications extend far beyond software teams. He said AI could drive significant job losses across industries as models grow more capable at an accelerating pace.
“We basically have a Moore’s Law for intelligence, where the model is getting more and more cognitively capable every few months,” he said, arguing that as AI takes on increasingly complex tasks, the need for large teams of human programmers could shrink dramatically—potentially eliminating job categories that took decades to build.
Click here to add News18 as your preferred news source on Google.
February 07, 2026, 21:35 IST
Read More
Guwahati: Indian Railways plans to build a new underground railway line to improve connectivity in the Northeastern states. The line will pass through the Siliguri corridor in North Bengal, known as the ‘Chicken’s Neck’.
Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) Chief Public Relations Officer Kapinjal Kishore Sharma stated that the underground route will run from Tinmile Hat to Rangapani and Bagdogra in the Darjeeling district, West Bengal. Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has emphasised that the project is intended to provide secure, reliable, and continuous rail connectivity within this strategically significant corridor.
The Katihar Division of NFR will manage the project, which will cover areas in the Darjeeling and Uttar Dinajpur districts of West Bengal and in the Kishanganj district, Bihar.The underground line will extend 35.76 km between Dumdangi and Bagdogra, including a 33.40 km Dumdangi-Rangapani segment. This alignment will provide resilient connectivity through the 22 km Siliguri Corridor, which connects mainland India to the Northeast.
Due to its proximity to the borders with Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh, as well as its susceptibility to natural disasters and security risks, the underground line is regarded as highly significant. It will provide a secure alternative route for defence personnel, military equipment, and emergency relief materials.
The project will facilitate air-rail logistics integration, given its proximity to Bagdogra Air Force Station and Bengdubi Army Cantonment. It will incorporate advanced technologies such as a 2×25 kV AC electrification system, Automatic Signalling (Standard-IV) with VOIP-based communication, bridges designed to RDSO 25-ton axle load standards, and twin tunnels constructed using Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) and New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM) techniques.
The development of this underground line demonstrates Indian Railways’ commitment to enhancing strategic infrastructure in the Northeast and aligns with the government of India’s vision for integrated and secure development. NFR, headquartered in Maligaon near Guwahati, operates in the Northeastern states, seven districts of West Bengal, and five districts of northern Bihar.
After year of turmoil, Indian diamonds and gems set to shine in US markets – The Times of India
Barry Josephson breaks silence after Jeffrey Epstein emails resurface
FBI confirms new lead in hunt for Savannah Guthrie missing mother
-
Tech6 days agoHow to Watch the 2026 Winter Olympics
-
Fashion1 week agoItaly’s Brunello Cucinelli debuts Callimacus AI e-commerce experience
-
Business6 days agoPost-Budget Session: Bulls Push Sensex Up By Over 900 Points, Nifty Reclaims 25,000
-
Tech1 week agoRight-Wing Gun Enthusiasts and Extremists Are Working Overtime to Justify Alex Pretti’s Killing
-
Fashion6 days agoCanada could lift GDP 7% by easing internal trade barriers
-
Tech7 days agoI Tested 10 Popular Date-Night Boxes With My Hinge Dates
-
Business1 week agoVideo: Who Is Trump’s New Fed Chair Pick?
-
Entertainment6 days agoThe Traitors’ winner Rachel Duffy breaks heart with touching tribute to mum Anne