Cheers: FTSE closes after festive rally to end 0.18 per cent higher December 24, 2014 The FTSE 100 ended the festive period comfortably above 6,600 today, at 6,609.93, 0.18 per cent up on last night's close. It's a decent (nearly) end to the year for the FTSE, which has gained more than 400 points in recent days as markets rallied in time for the festive period. The Santa rally started [...]
Boxing Day sales kick off early online at Amazon, John Lewis, Currys, Harrods, Next and Debenhams December 24, 2014 Amazon is kicking off its Boxing Day sale on Christmas Day. That’s right, you can start hunting for deals if Santa didn’t bring what you wanted before you’ve even had time to digest Christmas dinner. But there are also a host of retailers waiting to open their doors to sale shoppers on Boxing Day that [...]
How many times has your Football League team been on Sky? Leeds United and Leicester broadcast more than any other club December 24, 2014 For fans of clubs in the Football League, seeing your team play live on Sky Sports is a rare privilege. If you can’t make it to the ground, you’re likely to miss out on seeing anything more than brief highlights of the game. Unlike the multitude of live games, in-depth highlight shows and [...]
Britain’s biggest drinkers: Male, rich, educated and single December 24, 2014 The holiday season is upon and for many of us this means customary gorging on rich food washed down by even richer alcohol. How fortunate it is that at this time of annual indulgence the learned professors at University College London and Keele University have released the results of a decade-long study into the drinking [...]
Smith & Nephew share price soars 8pc on Stryker takeover reports December 24, 2014 Shares in medical equipment group Smith & Nephew surged eight per cent this morning, valuing the business at £10.4bn on the back of reports of a possible takeover by US group Stryker. Stryker, a US surgical implants manufacturer, denied it has any intention to buy the company back in May. However, Last month, it was [...]
Christmas shopping will help high street spending hit record highs December 24, 2014 Spending on the UK's high streets is expected to smash records this year as shoppers splurged over the Christmas period setting tills ringing. Retail sales are expected to reach an all-time high of £342bn this year, a rise of £48bn compared to 2010, government figures suggest. Spending is also expected to break records tomorrow as [...]
Trio of ecigarette adverts banned from UK TV for glamourising tobacco December 24, 2014 A little over a month after the first ecigarette advert featuring vaping was aired on British TV, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned three ecigarette TV ads. The ASA argued that the ads glamourised the use of tobacco, breaking one of the guidelines required for the ads to be shown on TV. Before the [...]
How long would it take you to earn as much as these nine top CEOs? December 24, 2014 Now the Christmas shopping is out of the way, maybe you're looking toward fulfilling those career ambitions in the new year. Whether you're eyeing a new project in your current job or a new challenge entirely, the prospect of a pay rise would be a welcome treat for most workers as wage growth lags behind [...]
Alibaba has spent $160m weeding out counterfeits December 24, 2014 Recently-listed Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has admitted it's spent $160m (£103m) since the beginning of last year sniffing out counterfeit goods on its site. The company, which made the largest stock market debut in history back in September when it raised $25bn on its listing in New York, said today it is planning to increase [...]