Melrose sells Ergotron business, Wizz Air traffic surges in May

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Melrose Industries said it had sold its Ergotron business to funds managed by The Sterling Group for $650m (£520m) in cash.

Ergotron designs, makes and distributes ergonomic products for use in a variety of working, learning and healthcare environments, Melrose said on Monday.

Budget airline Wizz Air reported a surge in traffic for May, with passenger numbers up 390% compared to the same month in 2021. Meanwhile, the load factor rose to 84.2% from 66.1%.

Newspaper round-up

UK holidaymakers have faced yet more travel chaos as easyJet cancelled another 80 flights on Sunday, Eurostar trains experienced further delays, and roads began to clog up with drivers returning from half-term and jubilee weekend breaks. Tens of thousands of British travellers are estimated to be stranded at airports across Europe after close to 200 flight cancellations over the weekend. – Guardian

More than 3,300 workers at 70 UK companies, ranging from a local chippy to large financial firms, start working a four-day week from Monday with no loss of pay in the world’s biggest trial of the new working pattern. The pilot is running for six months and is being organised by 4 Day Week Global in partnership with the thinktank Autonomy, the 4 Day Week Campaign, and researchers at Cambridge University, Oxford University and Boston College. - Guardian

BT has been told that rural people must be able to call the emergency services when storms cause power cuts, after digital-only phones were rendered useless by strong winds last winter. Ofcom wrote to BT after the chaos caused by storms Arwen and Eunice left some communities without power for days, asking the company as a "matter of urgency" to find new backup options for phones that depend on an internet connection rather than old copper wires. BT has subsequently stopped the roll-out of its digital-only phones. - Telegraph

The co-founder of Carzam has blamed the collapse of the used-car dealer on Alex Chesterman’s handling of the rival company Cazoo. Peter Waddell, 56, launched the Peterborough-based Carzam 18 months ago alongside John Bailey, the former boss of Manheim auctions, with the promise of delivering used cars nationwide within 24 hours. Together they invested £50 million. However, the business entered voluntary receivership last week. - The Times

Some of FirstGroup’s biggest shareholders have told the transport company’s board that a £1.2 billion takeover approach from an American private equity firm would have to be unconditional for them to accept it. I Squared’s bid, which values First at up to 163.6p a share, includes 45.6p that is conditional on the amount the bus and trains group eventually receives from the previously agreed sale of its American businesses, including the Greyhound bus line. - The Times

US close

US stocks closed firmly in the red on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.1%, the S&P 500 1.6% lower and the Nasdaq off 2.5%.