Sexy Fish: Ivy tycoon Richard Caring transforms Mayfair bank into aquatic restaurant – with installations by Damien Hirst and a 13ft crocodile Restaurant tycoon Richard Caring, owner of Caprice Holdings, has launched a new aquatic-themed restaurant in Mayfair's Berkeley Square. Sexy Fish will – as the name implies – serve fish and seafood and sits on the site of an old NatWest banking hall. The restaurant will join Caprice Holding's growing list of London restaurants, which include The Ivy, Le Caprice and 34. [...]
Autumn Statement 2015 UK: Here’s how much each London borough makes from business rates The much-maligned business rates system could be in for a shakeup during today's Autumn Statement, after retailers held talks with the Treasury to demand urgent reforms to the regime. While some have suggested a major shakeup, including a revaluation of properties to ease pressure on retailers paying rates on properties last valued at the height [...]
Amazon launches Pantry as it seeks a bigger slice of UK grocery market A week after it launched its first physical bookshop, Amazon is taking its retro approach further with the opening of its 'Pantry' service in the UK tomorrow. In a bid to take home a bigger slice of the £177.5bn UK grocery market, Pantry will offer Amazon Prime customers next-day delivery on over 4,000 "everyday essentials", including major food and drink brands, household supplies, child [...]
Fossil to acquire wearable tech maker Misfit for $260m November 13, 2015 Watchmaker Fossil yesterday agreed to buy wearable tech company Misfit for $260m as it expands into the smartwatch and wearables space. Fossil will continue to produce Misfit health trackers, while incorporating Misfit's technology into its watches. Fossil says the acquisition will allow it to "scale Misfit's technology across Fossil" while giving Misfit new distribution channels and boosting its R&D. Misfit, best known for [...]
Auto Trader share price rises to all-time high after first dividend announced November 13, 2015 Shares in Auto Trader leapt to an all-time high this morning after the company announced its first dividend payment. The online car marketplace announced it will pay a maiden dividend of 0.5p in January 2016 after driving half-year profits to over four times those made during the same period in 2014. The UK's biggest car classifieds website revved pre-tax profits up to £74.7m [...]
Harrods cuts dividend by over 30 per cent despite rise in profits October 30, 2015 Harrods, the landmark London department store, cut its dividend payment by more than 30 per cent this year after a fall in turnover caused by 'tough trading conditions'. The retailer's financial accounts reveal although profits edged up 4.2 per cent, investors will receive a reduced dividend payment of £103m, a 31.3 per cent drop from last year's £150m record payout. Read [...]
Pets at Home share price falls despite rising sales October 30, 2015 Shares in Pets at Home slumped seven per cent to 290.4p in lunchtime trading, even though it posted a six per cent rise in revenue to £404.5m in the first half of 2015. In the six months to 8 October, total revenues for the pet retailer rose six per cent to £404.5m. The company posted like-for-like sales growth of 1.8 per [...]
Zombie accounts take a bite out of UK savings October 30, 2015 On the eve of Halloween, almost half of UK savers are at risk of being bitten by zombies warns peer-to-peer lender, RateSetter. Two in five people have no idea about the rate paid on their savings and are in danger of being bitten by ultra-low interest rates, the study of over 2,000 people found. And scarily, that rises to almost half [...]
Got a cold? Sick employees are costing UK businesses £4.2bn each year October 26, 2015 Sick employees who take more than six months off work cost the UK private sector £4.17bn each year, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) reveals today. The cost to businesses has risen by a third in two years, from £3.13bn in 2012. That's largely thanks to a rise in statutory sick pay (eight per cent) and rising employee numbers (six per cent), CEBR explained. But around a quarter [...]
Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey gives third of his shares back to employees October 23, 2015 Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey is giving a third of his shares in the company back to its employees, he announced last night. Dorsey said that one per cent of the company – worth an estimated £130m – will be “reinvested directly in our people”. The stock will go into the employee equity pool shared by the company's 4,000 workers. Read [...]