Shares in Thomas Cook were in the ascendancy on Friday after reports suggest that Virgin Atlantic has lodged a preliminary offer for its UK long-haul business.

The airline, part-owned by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group, is reportedly looking to acquire Thomas Cook's long-haul operations serving Cancun, Las Vegas and Orlando.

That part of the business accounts for roughly 20 per cent of all seats sold by the UK-based travel company.

READ MORE: Lufthansa to bid for Thomas Cook’s airline business

Virgin Atlantic is not the only airline interested in the long-haul part of Thomas Cook's airline, with Germany's Lufthansa and Indigo Partners also registering interest.

Thomas Cook shares were up over 5% at 22.3p.

UK economic growth accelerated in the first quarter of this year, driven by the highest quarterly pick-up in manufacturing since the 1980s as the original Brexit deadline loomed.

Gross domestic product (GDP) growth rose to 0.5 per cent between January and March, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Production output increased by 1.4% in the quarter.
This was boosted by a 2.2% rise in manufacturing, the industry's highest output since the third quarter of 1988.

Chemring has won two contracts worth up to $67 million to supply "countermeasures" to the Royal Australian Air Force and US Navy.

The aerospace, defence and security products manufacturer said that expectations for 2019 remain unchanged.

It added that the weighting of underlying operating profit is now expected to be approximately 30% in the first half and 70% in the second, versus previous guidance of 15% and 85%.