Fifty-year-old wedding dress chain Berketex Bride crashes into administration November 13, 2018 Wedding dress chain Berketex Bride announced today it had ceased trading and gone into administration. The chain, which had been trading for more than 50 years, said all of its stores had closed and will not re-open. Berketex had 11 branches in the UK, including one in the West End and one in Croydon, and [...]
Profits crash again as ‘frail’ McCarthy & Stone outlines plan to cut costs November 13, 2018 Profits collapsed at retirement housebuilder McCarthy & Stone today as it posted its full year results. Profit before tax fell 37 per cent year on year to £58.1m, down from £92.1m in 2017, as the housebuilder blamed a rise in building costs, rising operating costs, as well as extra marketing to promote its latest homes. [...]
Melrose waits for GKN takeover to bear fruit as automotive revenues stay flat November 13, 2018 Turnaround investor Melrose said today that it is trading in line with board expectations after buying engineering firm GKN in an £8.1bn hostile takeover earlier this year. The FTSE 100 firm, which specialises in buying and improving underperforming businesses, told investors that GKN offers "an outstanding opportunity for value creation over the medium term". Melrose reported "strong" revenue growth in its [...]
Theresa May to present Brexit deal to emergency cabinet meeting on Wednesday November 13, 2018 Theresa May has rolled the dice on a epic Brexit gamble as she presented a draft deal to key members of her cabinet. The Prime Minister invited leading ministers into Downing Street for one-to-one briefings on an agreement struck by negotiators in Brussels. The full cabinet will meet at 2pm on Wednesday to sign off the deal, [...]
Erdogan: Audio recording of Khashoggi murder is ‘appalling’ November 13, 2018 Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said today recordings of journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder are "appalling" and shocked the Saudi intelligence officer who listened to them. Erdogan's comments came after he spent the weekend in Paris for Remembrance Day commemorations He discussed the murder of Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate with the US, French and German leaders over [...]
Flipkart chief executive Binny Bansal resigns after misconduct investigation November 13, 2018 The chief executive of Indian online store Flipkart resigned today following an investigation into an allegation of “serious” personal misconduct. Binny Bansal, who co-founded the online retailer in 2007, denies the allegation, but has stepped down as the company said the claim risked becoming a distraction. Bansal’s departure comes after Flipkart carried out an independent [...]
Landsec profits rise despite retail’s property slump November 13, 2018 Property developer Landsec recorded a rise in profits in its half-year results today, despite a fall in property values caused by the struggling retail sector. The figures Profits before tax rose to £42m, up from £34m last year. Revenue rose 10.3 per cent to £224m compared to the same period of 2017. Dividend per share was [...]
Brexit: Theresa May gathers cabinet ministers to discuss draft agreement November 13, 2018 Theresa May has reportedly scheduled an emergency cabinet meeting for tomorrow morning to discuss a draft Brexit deal. Text governing the UK’s departure from the EU has reportedly been agreed at a technical level between negotiators, after a week in which talks have gone on long into the night. Downing Street summoned Cabinet ministers for [...]
CNN sues President Trump for banning correspondent from the White House November 13, 2018 CNN filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration today after the White House banned reporter Jim Acosta following a fiery exchange with the US President. The broadcaster is demanding that the White House return Acosta’s credentials, claiming the administration has harmed both its own and Acosta’s constitutional rights. “While the suit is specific to CNN [...]
JP Morgan makes senior hire from Deutsche Bank November 13, 2018 JP Morgan has hired a senior banker from Deutsche Bank amid the German lender’s restructuring of its investment bank. Claire Brooksby has joined JP Morgan’s UK financial institutions coverage team in London as a managing director. She spent eight years at Deutsche, most recently leading the bank’s financial institutions group in the UK. Prior to [...]