Dutch coffee-making giants Jacobs Douwe Egberts announced last summer that it would be closing down its Banbury factory fully by the end of 2026.

While coffee production at Ruscote Avenue ended in 2023, the full closure process has been wrapping up, with the company paying redundant staff to volunteer at local charities in north Oxfordshire.

The apprentice team at JDE Banbury

New public accounts for the coffeemaker has shown an operating profit increased by one per cent to £10.1m in 2025 (2024: £10.0m).

Jacobs Douwe Egberts has attributed this to lower distribution costs and administrative expenses.

Operating working capital has moved from -0.03 per cent to 0.17 per cent due to higher sales and changes to supplier payment terms.

The documents say: “The business remains committed to maintaining liquidity and effective cash management.”

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Company director Rajat Chawla said: “The business is subject to a range of risks and uncertainties, including fluctuations in green coffee prices, changes in input costs, foreign exchange volatility, evolving competitive dynamics, technological developments, and demographic shifts in consumer behaviour.

“To mitigate these risks, the company closely monitors coffee prices, input costs, and exchange rates, benchmarking them regularly against external market data.

“Pricing strategies are reviewed and adjusted as necessary in response to material cost movements.”

He said that environmental regulations introduced last year, such as packaging taxes, will result in increased costs for the business in the future.

Banbury’s factory turned into a packaging-only facility back in 2023 when it stopped making coffee.

Jacobs Douwe Egberts’ ultimate parent company was bought by US giant Keurig Dr Pepper in the first half of 2026.

The factory was built by General Foods in the 1960s across 42 acres at a cost of £6m and employed 1,300 people.

In 1966, General Foods moved production of Bird’s Custard from the Custard Factory site in Birmingham to the new factory, along with the majority of its Brummie workers.

Jacobs Douwe Egberts has run the factory since 2015, after the business purchased the coffee side of Mondelez.

The closure serves as another blow for Banbury’s economy, which is also going to be hit by the expected closure of the HelloFresh distribution centre at Chalker Way.

HelloFresh said 271 people work at Banbury, but if the company closes it after a consultation, it’s expected jobs will be lost.

In a statement, the company said its distribution centre in Derby is now better equipped that Banbury.

A spokesman for HelloFresh said: “We have made the difficult decision to propose to close our Banbury site, subject to consultation.”

Eastern Airways, which operated regional services from airports across the UK, entered administration at the end of last year.

The firm suffered financial difficulties after the loss of a contract with airline KLM.

Now, a potential rescue deal for the company and its affiliated company, Air Kilroe, has fallen through.

When did Eastern Airways enter administration?

Eastern Airways suspended operations at the beginning of November, with all operated flights cancelled.

Selina Chadha, Consumer & Markets Director at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said at the time: “We urge passengers planning to fly with this airline not to go to the airport as all Eastern Airways flights are cancelled.

“Eastern Airways customers should visit the Civil Aviation Authority’s website for the latest information.”

Eastern Airways was founded in 1997 and was headquartered at Humberside Airport near the village of Kirmington in North Lincolnshire.

The airline operated domestic, international and private charter flights, with more than a million passengers flying with the airline per rolling year.

It provided 200 flights per day and employed around 330 staff members at its peak, and as well as routes across the UK, it also had some routes to Ireland and Europe.

The airline also had its own hubs in Aberdeen and Humberside.

Eastern Airways to disappear after 29 years as rescue deal fails

A potential rescue deal for Eastern Airlines, and its affiliated company Air Kilroe, has now fallen through, meaning administrators are unable to save the airline.

Administrators RSM UK are now set to break up and sell the businesses’ assets separately, according to a report from The Sun.

A joint sale of Eastern and Air Kilroe had been looked at, as the companies had operated under a single business.

At the time the business collapsed, RSM said “high fixed overheads” and its staff base had “ultimately proved too high to be sustainable”.

Jamie Miller, partner at RSM UK and joint administrator, said at the time: “The unexpected and sudden termination of Eastern’s KLM contract, along with other economic factors, unfortunately left the directors with no choice but to appoint administrators.”

Now, all nine of Eastern Airways’ aircraft fleet have been sold, along with plane parts and components.

Airlines and travel companies that have gone into liquidation or administration in 2026

Four UK airlines have fallen into administration or liquidation this year:

Several airlines also entered liquidation in 2025, according to the UK Civil Aviation Authority, including:

• Blue Islands Limited (UK)
• Air Kilroe Limited t/a Eastern Airways (UK)
• Play Airlines (Iceland)

Several travel companies have also entered administration this year, including:

Luxury UK holiday company Salamander Voyages shut down back in April after entering administration.

Just last month, Groupia Ltd, which also trades as Groupia Golf, GoHen, StagWeb, Groupia School Trips, and Company Away Days, also fell into administration.

It offered customers “the best” group travel holidays to destinations in the UK and abroad, including Prague, Split, and Barcelona.

More than 750,000 travellers have used the company since it began back in 2002, booking everything from stag and hen weekends to golf trips, team tours, and spa breaks.

After 24 years in business, Groupia, which is based in Bath, has now fallen into administration.

Nigel Fox and Christopher Marsden of S&W Partners LLP were appointed joint administrators on June 16, according to the Groupia website.

It continues: “The Company has now ceased taking new bookings, and arrangements are in place with ABTOT to support customers with existing bookings.”

Bookings on or before August 31, 2026, are expected to go ahead as planned, the Groupia website says, thanks to an arrangement with ABTOT (financial protection company).

Any holidays booked with Groupia for after September 1, 2026, have been cancelled.

Have you been affected by any airline or travel company closures so far this year? Let us know in the comments.

England’s knockout win over DR Congo drove a home broadband traffic spike of up to 68% before kick-off, according to Hyperoptic. The weekday 5pm start shifted household demand earlier than usual.

Network data showed the sharpest rise between 17:15 and 17:45, as viewers logged on ahead of the match. Traffic during that window was compared with the same time on the previous day.

The pattern differed from England’s earlier fixtures because this match was played in the late afternoon rather than later in the evening. Peak demand moved forward by about 2.5 hours as households combined live sport with the usual pressures of the end of the working day.

Earlier peak

That compressed broadband use into a period when many homes were still handling work calls, commuting-related activity, childcare and evening routines. The match created a different strain on home connections from games played later at night.

The figures highlight how live football viewing has become tied to wider online behaviour in the home. Hyperoptic’s consumer research found that 68% of football viewers do at least one other activity while watching a live match.

These include messaging friends and family, scrolling through social media, following live commentary, browsing online and ordering food. The same research found that an average of 2.7 internet-connected devices are in use at home during major live sporting events.

Second screens

This combination of streaming and second-screen use has turned major fixtures into a test of household connectivity, particularly when kick-off overlaps with the working day. For broadband providers, it offers a real-time view of how entertainment consumption interacts with domestic internet use.

Hyperoptic, which focuses on full-fibre broadband in urban areas, said the England match showed that timing and tournament stage can affect demand as much as audience size. Knockout football can drive more concentrated viewing, while an earlier start can shift usage away from the traditional evening peak.

Mark Bartlett, Chief Operating Officer at Hyperoptic, commented on the findings.

“England’s knockout win added another layer to what we’ve been seeing throughout the tournament: live football doesn’t just increase broadband demand, it changes the shape of the evening at home. A 5pm weekday kick-off is a real stress test because fans aren’t watching in isolation. They’re tuning in around work, commutes, childcare, teatime routines and everything else happening online at home,” said Bartlett.

“The data showed traffic was up by as much as 68% in the pre-match window, compared with the same time the previous day, showing how knockout fixtures can create a different kind of pressure on the home connection.

“Kick-off time, match context and the stage of the tournament all matter. As England move further into the knockouts, fans should treat broadband as part of the matchday set-up: check what else is connected, pause big downloads, keep the router clear and make sure the main screen is using the strongest connection,” added Bartlett.

Matchday tips

Hyperoptic also set out practical steps for households trying to manage broadband use during major matches. These included pausing large downloads and updates before kick-off, disconnecting devices that do not need to be online, and making sure the main screen is using the strongest available connection.

It also advised keeping the router in the open rather than behind a television or inside a cupboard. Viewers were urged to cut back on second-screen activity if streaming quality drops and to turn off goal alerts if their stream is lagging behind live play.

Household demand

The findings add to a broader picture of how major sporting events are reshaping internet traffic patterns in the home. Rather than a single stream on one screen, matches now sit alongside messaging, live reactions, social media use and household multitasking.

Hyperoptic said its network reaches more than 1.9 million homes and serves more than 400,000 customers across 64 towns and cities in the UK. Its latest data suggests that when England play high-stakes matches at unusual times, the effect is felt not only on living room screens but across wider patterns of home internet use.

The average household uses 2.7 connected devices during major live sporting events at home.