Retail sales continue on upwards trend ahead of Christmas shopping season December 15, 2016 The amount Britons spent in November increased 5.9 per cent year-on-year, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). At £34.2bn for the four-week period, retail sales in November were up 0.5 per cent as compared to October. This equated to an average weekly spend of £8.5bn. The ONS said retailers selling household goods had boosted their [...]
Mapped: How much Londoners shell out for a shorter commute December 15, 2016 Many of us go into Zombie-mode first thing and would be keen to get some extra shut eye, but how much do people spend for the pleasure of a shorter commute? Londoners will pay on average an extra £6.60 a week in rent for every minute shaved off their travel time according to some analysis [...]
Meet Tate & Lyle’s new chairman December 15, 2016 Tate & Lyle has announced Gerry Murphy will become the company's chairman next year. Murphy has worked for other food and drinks businesses including Grand Metropolitan (now Diageo) and Greencore, where he was chief executive for four years. He will be taking over from Sir Peter Gershon on 1 April next year. Tate & Lyle's share price was [...]
Liontrust assets to swell by £2.3bn after buying Alliance Trust Investments December 15, 2016 Fund manager Liontrust has agreed to swallow-up Alliance Trust Investments (ATI) in a deal that will swell its assets under management by over a third. The takeover, expected to be completed in 2017, means Liontrust's portfolios will increase from £5.6bn to over £8.0bn. ATI is one arm of three parts of the wider Alliance financial group – the other two [...]
Hundreds of commercial airline pilots fly with untreated depression for fear of losing their jobs, says Harvard study December 15, 2016 Hundreds of commercial pilots may be flying with untreated depression as many fear losing their jobs, according to a new study. A landmark Airline Pilot Health Study, designed to characterise the health and well-being of pilots around the world, has found that hundreds of commercial airline pilots worldwide may be flying with clinical depression untreated. The [...]
Flights into London City Airport hit by cancellations and delays December 15, 2016 Flights in and out of London City Airport have been hit by cancellations and delays this morning, with the airport blaming adverse weather conditions for the disruption. Due to adverse weather there may be some delays & cancellations this morning, passengers are advised to check with airline for flight status — London City Airport (@LondonCityAir) [...]
EasyJet wants to ensure 20 per cent of new cadet pilots are female after doubling its numbers in a year December 15, 2016 Just three per cent of commercial airline pilots worldwide are female and only 450 have attained the rank of captain. So easyJet has pledged to up its intake of female entrant pilots even further, after reaching a two-year target after just 12 months. It has set "a more stretching target" of ensuring that 20 per cent of [...]
JD Sports working conditions: King of Trainers says alleged working practices aren’t in its training manual December 15, 2016 JD Sports has hit back at television reports of draconian working conditions at one of its distribution centres, denying the allegations and saying they are not an "accurate reflection" of working practices. An undercover report by Channel 4 news into the sports retailers Kingsway warehouse in Rochdale revealed staff saying working conditions were "worse than prison". Staff [...]
Online takeaway company Just Eat buys rivals Hungryhouse and SkipTheDishes December 15, 2016 Online takeaway company Just Eat has snapped up two of its rivals, Hungryhouse and SkipTheDishes, a Canadian firm. Shares in the group went up two per cent at the open. Just Eat paid £200m for Hungryhouse, which it bought from Delivery Hero. The group said a further cash amount of up to £40m "may also be payable, subject [...]
Yahoo hit by largest cyber attack of all time in second mega-hack December 15, 2016 More than one billion Yahoo user accounts have been hacked after the search engine revealed it had been the victim of the largest cyber attack in history. The breach is the second mammoth attack on Yahoo uncovered this year and has affected more than double the number of accounts compared with a breach revealed in September [...]