Easter delivers record March sales boost for US retailers April 8, 2010 Top US retail chains yesterday posted record rises in monthly same-store sales in March, helped by an early Easter holiday and an improving job market, in the strongest sign yet of revived consumer demand. Sales at stores open at least a year rose 9.1 per cent in March, the largest monthly jump since Thomson Reuters [...]
Digital Bill attracts a wave of criticism April 8, 2010 LABOUR and the Tories were both on the back foot yesterday as a wave of criticism overshadowed the passing of the Digital Economy Bill. The controversial bill passed its third reading in the House of Commons, making it a formality that it will be passed into law. But businesses and the public slammed the decision, [...]
New piracy law is not a magic bullet April 8, 2010 THE thud of the Digital Britain bill hitting the statute books yesterday drowned out a collective sigh from the music industry. They shouldn’t be so relieved. Legislating to punish pirates will do nothing to address the massive challenges that record labels face in a digital age. Forcing internet service providers like TalkTalk to disconnect customers [...]
Brown and Clegg rubbish Tory plans to scrap tax on jobs April 8, 2010 GORDON Brown yesterday hit back in the “tax on jobs” row, accusing the Tories of working out their National Insurance plans on the “back of an envelope”. At his first press conference of the campaign, the Prime Minister released an 11-page dossier rubbishing Tory proposals to reverse next year’s one per cent hike in National [...]
ELECTION2010 April 8, 2010 More businesses back Osborne Another 13 businesses leaders backed Tory plans to curb Labour’s proposals to raise national Insurance contributions by one per cent. ITV chairman Archie Norman and Dairy Crest chief executive Mark Allen are among those who agree with George Osborne that the hike is “a tax” on job creation. Michael Caine ditches [...]
M&S sales up as staff given £80m bonus April 8, 2010 STAFF at Marks & Spencer will be handed an £80m bonus pot after the retailer ended the year with better-than-expected same store sales of 5.1 per cent in the UK. The figures were fuelled by the unseasonally cold weather which saw a massive jump in the sake of woollens. M&S said that total like-for-like sales [...]
Bank recruitment returning April 8, 2010 RECRUITMENT in the banking sector is starting to gather speed according to staffing giants Hays and Robert Walters, after each saw recruitment activity in the UK financial sector pick up during the first quarter. Robert Walters said the group had benefitted from increased hiring activity in the UK, particularly the banking sector, while Hays said [...]
Discount airlines see double-digit boost to March passenger traffic statistics April 8, 2010 DISCOUNT airline easyJet has seen the number of passengers travelling during March climb by 13.5 per cent. Last month easyJet flew 3.9m passengers across its 500 routes compared with the same period last year when it flew 3.5m passengers. EasyJet said the numbers were helped by the seven-day strike by British Airways (BA) cabin crew [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HAS M&S TURNED THE CORNER? April 8, 2010 SAM HART | CHARLES STANLEY The figures are encouraging and beat forecasts. There could be more to come and the business looks in good shape. The profit forecast is a little under forecasts but the larger than expected bonus pot goes some way to explaining that. I think there could be more to come from [...]
Vedanta reports record aluminium mining output April 8, 2010 INDIAN focused mining group Vedanta posted record quarterly production of iron ore and aluminium in its fourth quarter, helping it take advantage of rising metal prices. Fourth quarter production of saleable iron ore, its second most profitable product, jumped 59 per cent to 7.8m tonnes, taking its annual output up 34 per cent. Rising demand [...]