Aldi sales hit £1bn in December as the supermarket records best ever Christmas trading January 7, 2019 Discount supermarket chain Aldi has recorded its best ever UK Christmas trading period after hitting sales of almost £1bn in December. The week commencing 17 December was the busiest day in the history of the retailer in the UK, with sales 10 per cent higher than the previous year. Sales were boosted by demand for [...]
Sports carmaker McLaren achieves record-breaking year for global sales January 7, 2019 Global sales at British luxury sportscar brand McLaren reached record-breaking levels last year, thanks to growth in the UK, North American and Chinese markets. Global sales rose to 4,806 cars in 2018, up 43.9 per cent on 2017, another record for the company which has increased sales every year since its formation in 2010. McLaren's UK domestic market generated [...]
How McCarthy & Stone’s new boss plans to turn around the fortunes of Britain’s largest retirement housebuilder January 7, 2019 As the boss of a FTSE 250 housebuilder which has just passed through a year to forget, John Tonkiss is surprisingly upbeat. For the new chief executive of McCarthy & Stone is a man with a plan, and he thinks it will turn around the fortunes of Britain’s biggest provider of retirement homes. It concerns [...]
City Moves for 7 January – who’s switching jobs at Cushman & Wakefield, Immunocore and Colliers? January 7, 2019 Who’s swapping jobs today? Cushman & Wakefield Cushman & Wakefield has appointed Angus Currie as an international partner in its market-leading London occupier representation team. Angus, who will start work at Cushman & Wakefield in spring, joins from JLL where he was head of south east England tenant representation. Angus first joined JLL as a [...]
Watchdog plans for audit sector shake-up set to draw backlash from businesses January 6, 2019 Finance bosses at some of Britain’s largest FTSE companies are set to hit out at new proposals put forward by the UK’s competition regulator, it emerged this evening. Plans by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to make publicly listed firms appoint two sets of auditors are expected to receive a harsh backlash from a [...]
Trump strikes upbeat tone on talks with China ahead of crucial trade summit January 6, 2019 President Donald Trump reiterated his confidence in striking a trade deal with China this evening after insisting that weaknesses in Beijing’s economy gave the country incentives to work with the US. Ahead of crunch talks between US and Chinese trade representatives in Beijing later this week, Trump said: “I think China wants to get it resolved. [...]
Taylor Wimpey results in the City spotlight as market jitters linger January 6, 2019 Housebuilding giant Taylor Wimpey is set to reveal its future outlook later this week against a backdrop of lower activity and growing uncertainty across many parts of the UK’s property market. Traders will be turning their attention towards the blue-chip constituent, which is releasing its full-year trading statement on Wednesday, as City caution looms large [...]
Gousto cooks up £18m funding and signs up ‘The Body Coach’ Joe Wicks January 6, 2019 Meal kit company Gousto has cooked up a further £18m worth of funding and welcomed fitness writer Joe Wicks on board. New investors, including Wicks, Unilever Ventures, Hargreave Hale, MMC Ventures and Angel CoFund have backed the recipe box company, it said yesterday. Gousto, which deliver 1.5m meals a month to customers, has now raised [...]
Brands ‘waste’ millions as extent of Instagram influencer fraud revealed January 6, 2019 Brands are wasting millions of pounds on marketing as Instagram influencers buy fake followers to boost their reach. A report by US marketing specialist Captiv8 has revealed that $2.1bn was spent on influencer-sponsored Instagram posts in 2017 but more than 11 per cent of engagement on those posts was generated from fraudulent accounts. It said [...]
High street faces chilly week ahead as disappointing festive trading updates expected January 6, 2019 High street retailers are expected to be further under the cosh by the end of the week, with a flurry of quarterly trading updates due in the coming days. Troubled department store Marks and Spencer is one of several set to reveal yet another fall in sales over the festive period, according to analysts at [...]