Asset manager Invesco ups stake in Patisserie Valerie amid shareholder bailout November 6, 2018 A top ten investor in Patisserie Valerie has more than quadrupled its stake in the under-pressure cake shop chain. Invesco increased its shareholding to 7.76 per cent on Friday, taking it above the three per cent threshold where investors must disclose their stake. The investor, with around $1.2 trillion (£919bn) in assets under management, held [...]
This Living Wage Week, step up to make sure work always pays November 6, 2018 This week marks the anniversary of the campaign for a Living Wage – a cross-party movement of independent businesses, organisations, and people who believe in making work pay. I had the pleasure of speaking at the Living Wage Foundation’s parliamentary reception last week, which celebrated the extraordinary work that has been done so far and [...]
Forget Trump, the midterms are about populism November 6, 2018 When the results of the US midterms start to come in this evening, some here in the UK will roll their eyes and think “what a crazy country”. Others will wonder why Britain and America are such anomalies with Brexit and Trump, and wish that we could be more like, say, Germany. The truth is [...]
Sugar business misses the sweet spot as eyes turn to Primark November 6, 2018 Primark has today been pinned as next year's source of growth for its owner Associated British Foods (ABF), which is looking to fill a gap left by falling profits from its sugar arm. ABF is hoping that expansion of Primark’s selling space will help deliver expected earnings per share next year, in a bid to [...]
Co-operative Bank reports £87m loss but mortgage completions reach highest quarterly level for five years November 6, 2018 The Co-operative Bank reported a pre-tax loss of £87m in the first nine months of the year but had its best quarter for mortgage completions in five years. The bank posted a third quarter profit of £14.3m – a marked improvement on the £25m loss over the same period the previous year – as it [...]
Greene King boss to step down after 14 years in charge of brewer November 6, 2018 The chief executive of Greene King, Rooney Anand, is set to leave his role at the end of the financial year after 14 years in the job, the company announced today. Anand, who has led the pub chain and brewer since 2005, will step down in April 2019. Greene King said it has already begun the [...]
From artificial intelligence to quantum computing, Britain is a tech superpower November 6, 2018 Thousands of leaders from across the tech industry are descending on Lisbon this week for the annual international Web Summit. I’m excited to be here to champion the success of British tech to a global audience of investors and entrepreneurs. Britain is unmatched in Europe at producing tech-savvy, billion-dollar businesses. Last week, banking startup Monzo [...]
Purplebricks posts sharp revenue growth as boss remains confident despite ‘challenging’ housing market November 6, 2018 The boss of online estate agent Purplebricks sought to ease City nerves this morning, after saying that the firm was confident of its future despite wider troubles within the UK’s housing market. Having posted a 20 per cent rise in year-on-year revenue growth in the six months to the end of October, chief executive Michael [...]
William Hill predicts lower profit for 2018 as regulation offsets US expansion November 6, 2018 Betting firm William Hill today predicted lower full-year profits for 2018, despite efforts to take advantage of the legalisation of sports gambling in many states in the US. Operating profit is predicted to come in between £225m and £245m by the end of the year, compared to operating profit of £291.3m for 2017. The firm's [...]
Morrisons reports rising sales despite slowdown after summer of hot weather and World Cup November 6, 2018 Sales at Morrisons climbed more than five per cent in the third quarter of 2018, although the supermarket chain reported an expected slowdown in growth after a bumper summer bolstered by hot weather and the World Cup. Shares fell more than four per cent in early morning trading. Morrisons posted a 5.6 percent rise in quarterly [...]