Whitbread’s Costa coffee chain to pay baristas above National Living Wage September 30, 2015 First it was Starbucks. Now coffee chain Costa has also followed suit by announcing a pay hike for its staff ahead of the government’s national living wage. From tomorrow Costa baristas in London (of all ages) will earn a minimum of £8.20 an hour, rising to over £9, the Whitbread-owned chain said. Meanwhile staff working [...]
As Volkswagen’s woes trundle on, Porsche names new chief executive September 30, 2015 Porsche – whose chief executive Matthias Mueller sped off to Volkswagen last week to cope with its ongoing emissions scandal – has wasted no time in installing a new leader behind the wheel: the company named Oliver Blume, a member of its executive board for production and logistics, as new chief executive. Blume has previously [...]
Quindell share price rises on report of loss and dropping sales after rocky period September 30, 2015 The figures The troubled insurance claims processor has reported a pre-tax loss of £35.4m for the first half of 2015. Revenue has dropped to £35m, down from £43m. These figures come just weeks after the company released full-year accounts restating past earnings. Quindell shares were up after the results, trading 2.15 per cent up in [...]
VW emissions scandal: First UK legal move against Volkswagen as law firm Leigh Day calls for “full refund” over emissions-cheat cars as car giant admits 1.2m British cars affected September 30, 2015 A UK law firm has made what is thought to be the first legal move against Volkswagen in the wake of the emissions cheating scandal, as the car giant admits that almost 1.2m UK cars may have been fitted with the cheat device. Volkswagen said this morning that more than 508,000 VW passenger cars sold [...]
The business case for boardroom diversity: Diverse boards outperform male-only peers by £430bn September 30, 2015 Boardroom diversity boosts business, as diverse boards are outperforming their all-male peers by billions. Listed companies in the UK, US and India with at least one woman on their board beat male-only boards by $430bn in 2014, according to a report from Grant Thornton which measured the difference in returns on assets. Although this isn’t [...]
VW emissions scandal: Volkswagen’s reputation has been driven off cliff September 30, 2015 Volkswagen has had better weeks. As the first major car maker caught up in the diesel emissions scandal, the public’s feelings towards the previously loved German marque have plummeted. YouGov’s Buzz score – measuring whether people have heard positive or negative news about the brand in the past two weeks – has declined over [...]
Revolution Bars report increase in profits after successful IPO September 30, 2015 Revolution Bars yesterday posted an increase in revenues and profits in its first results since floating on the London Stock Exchange. The group reported a 2.9 per cent increase in sales, to £111.8m, and profits before tax of £2.9m at the end of June, up from £2.6m in 2014. Shareholders would be paid their first [...]
RBS mulls buying back shares to cut government stake September 29, 2015 RBS is considering buying back its own shares to help the UK government whittle down its 73 per cent stake more quickly, according to the bank's boss. "I would rather participate as the government is selling down … I think it's probably the best thing for all investors, where excess capital goes back through buy-backs," [...]
Glencore share price slips back while reports suggest it held a secret meeting with investors September 29, 2015 Embattled Glencore reportedly held a secret meeting with an influential investor trade body yesterday, over the commodities miner and trader's £1.6bn share placing earlier this month. A meeting took place between the Investment Association – whose members manage £5.5 trillion of client assets – and John Burton, Glencore's company secretary, according to Sky News. The summit focused [...]
Wolseley share price falls as it cuts outlook for revenue growth September 29, 2015 Shares in Wolseley slumped 10.7 per cent to 3,730p per share after the plumbing and heating group slashed its outlook for revenue growth this morning. Wolseley said it expected to generate like-for-like revenue growth of about four per cent in the six months to January 2016, down from a six-month forecast of six per cent it [...]