Selfridges defies high street turmoil with sparkling Christmas sales January 7, 2019 While other retailers look set to report miserable Christmas trading periods, Selfridges has posted record-breaking results over the festive period. The luxury department store best known for its flagship Oxford Street store bucked the trend of decline on Britain’s high streets with an eight per cent sales boost across its physical and online business in [...]
Aston Martin hires supply chain chief and considers flying in car parts to prepare for no-deal Brexit January 7, 2019 Luxury carmaker Aston Martin has kicked into motion its Brexit contingency plans as the threat of a no-deal Brexit draws ever closer. Aston Martin's chief executive Andy Palmer told Reuters it had hired a supply chain chief and was considering flying in components to deal with the effects of Britain crashing out of the EU without [...]
Lego bricks and mortar: Merlin Entertainment signs £200m deal to open Legoland Korea by 2022 January 7, 2019 Merlin Entertainment has announced it has entered into a partnership agreement to build a Legoland Park in South Korea. The country’s first Legoland Park will be situated on the island of Hajungdo in Chuncheon, a city within a two-hour drive of nearly 24m people, and expects to create 1,600 jobs. The agreement with Gangwon Provincial [...]
Cabinet Office fails to meet its own late payment targets despite private sector crackdown January 7, 2019 The Cabinet Office has missed its own targets on paying invoices on time for more than a year, despite imposing tough new rules on its own contractors who pay suppliers late. New data shows the department, which has promised to pay 80 per cent of invoices in five days and the remaining 20 per cent [...]
No-deal Brexit would be a ‘safe haven’ claims Tory and Labour Leave campaigners January 7, 2019 No deal with the EU would lead the UK to the “safe haven” of World Trade Organisation rules, according to a joint report from Conservative and Labour Brexiters Former Conservative cabinet minister Peter Lilley and Labour Leave activist Brendan Chilton made the claim in a dossier they dub as providing “30 truths” about leaving the EU [...]
NHS England says new 10-year plan could save up to 500,000 lives a year January 7, 2019 NHS England has unveiled its 10-year plan for the health service, which sets out how the £20.5bn funding injection announced by Theresa May will be spent over the next five years. NHS England said the money could save around 500,000 lives by preventing life-threatening diseases such as strokes, heart problems and cancer by detecting them [...]
RBS invests in digital banking startup to rival Monzo and Starling January 7, 2019 The Royal Bank of Scotland has invested in digital current account aimed at students and young people that has set out to rival challenger banks Monzo and Starling. The £2m investment in fintech startup Loot was made through Natwest’s digital-only retail bank Bo, which is due to launch this year, and takes its total shareholding to 25 per [...]
Battersea Power Station set to start energy production after 37 dormant years January 7, 2019 The chimneys of Battersea Power Station will work once more when the site starts producing energy again in 2020, three and a half decades since the factory went quiet. The Grade II*-listed building is at the heart of a 42-acre redevelopment project that will introduce a six-acre park, a town square, a new Tube station as [...]
Supermarkets drop fuel prices for seventh time since October January 7, 2019 Supermarket chains Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons will cut prices at fuel pumps from tomorrow as a lower oil price continues to be passed on to consumers. For the seventh time since late October Asda has said it will lower the price at its 320 petrol stations. Customers will pay 1p per litre less for unleaded petrol, or no [...]
Retail sales provide much-needed eurozone boost but investor confidence falls for fifth consecutive month January 7, 2019 The eurozone has been given a much-needed boost with better than expected retail sales at the end of last year. Retail sales grew 0.6 per cent in November, the same rate as October, and better than forecasts of 0.2 per cent. Eurozone investor confidence fell for the fifth consecutive, with the Sentix index dropping to [...]