Online sales are set to hit record levels on Black Friday as high street footfall declines November 21, 2018 The proportion of sales made online is likely to hit its highest level ever in November, boosted by a Black Friday internet shopping rush and fewer high street shoppers. Internet sales are expected to exceed 20 per cent of total retail sales for the first time ever this month, according to research by real estate firm [...]
October deficit reaches three-year high despite Hammond’s promise to end austerity November 21, 2018 The UK recorded a much larger than predicted deficit for October, according to official data released today, the same month in which the government signalled an end to austerity measures. Public borrowing rose to £8.8bn last month, up from £7.2bn in October last year, amounting to the largest October deficit for three years, according to [...]
Students shouldn’t have to knock on doors to get the help they need November 21, 2018 | City Talk When I was approached to be the chair of the ACCA Emerging Talent Advisory group it was an opportunity I grabbed instantly. Championing social mobility is something that is very close to my heart, having grown up on a rough council estate in East London, I know exactly what it is like when you want [...]
Trump backs Saudi Arabia regardless of whether Crown Prince was aware of Khashoggi murder plot November 21, 2018 President Donald Trump has said the US would remain a "steadfast partner" of Saudi Arabia whether or not its leader was aware of the assassination plot of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Repeating claims from Saudi representatives that the Washington Post journalist was an “enemy of the state”, Trump said the US would stand with the country regardless of whether [...]
Babcock shares drop sharply as company takes £120m restructuring hit November 21, 2018 Shares in Babcock tumbled by as much as 12 per cent this morning as the defence contractor took a £120m hit to restructure its business. The figures Babcock’s revenue dropped 2.7 per cent to £2.3bn for the six months to the end of September, the company said this morning. Hit by exceptional charges, profit before tax [...]
B&Q owner Kingfisher plans foreign market exit as France drags down sales November 21, 2018 B&Q owner Kingfisher today said it will exit Russia, Spain and Portugal to focus on its struggling French operations after a drop in like-for-like sales in the third quarter, sending shares down more than two per cent in early trading. Total sales rose 1.2 per cent to £3.04bn in the three months to the end [...]
Interpol votes against controversial Russian candidate for new leader November 21, 2018 Interpol has rejected a controversial Russian candidate tipped to land the job, electing South Korea’s Kim Jong-yang instead. Alexander Prokopchuk was widely expected to win the election today, but Interpol’s 194 member states picked Kim instead at the international police body’s annual congress in Dubai. Prokopchuk had been accused of abusing Interpol’s arrest warrant system, [...]
Given the upcoming Brexit hurdles, what’s in store for sterling? November 21, 2018 The long-awaited draft withdrawal agreement was unveiled last Wednesday, and for a fleeting moment, it felt like we were finally getting somewhere. News that Theresa May had reached a deal pushed the pound up a notch against the dollar. But, as is often the case with anything Brexit-related, optimism was short-lived. May’s deal was fiercely [...]
Erm… How your speech skills could be holding you back November 21, 2018 I remember a speech that an influential central banker made recently. The introductory comments contained a lot of filled pauses, like “ums” and “ahs”, as well as stretched and repeated words. When the speaker switched to using a script (that is, reading aloud from paper), the speech pattern totally changed. In speech terms, it was [...]
Whatever the CIA says, the west could turn a blind eye over Khashoggi’s murder November 21, 2018 The murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has put a strain on political and economic relations between Saudi Arabia and the west. On Sunday, word came that the CIA blamed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder, with sources close to the agency saying that it had assessed the evidence in detail. The [...]