With Marc Bolland stepping down, can anyone turn around M&S’s faltering clothing business? January 8, 2016 Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, says Yes. The M&S clothing business can be fixed, starting with these three moves. First, stock availability has to be improved as this has been an issue since 2012. The firm needs to do more dual-sourcing for quick, repeat sales on strong lines. This would maximise full-price sales, help [...]
More to capitalism than good economic growth January 7, 2016 What are the hallmarks of capitalism? Typically you might think of cities, skyscrapers, banks, insurers, people in sharp suits, and so on. These are some symptoms of a market-orientated economy, for sure, but they do not tell the whole picture. There are two factors that accurately signal the degree to which a society is free [...]
Prepare for civil war: Tory Brexit splits will have shades of 1970s Labour January 7, 2016 Was there anyone in the Conservative Party who didn’t see it coming? David Cameron has finally given the Cabinet’s Brexit faction the free vote on the EU they so deeply desired. Given that this follows a series of previous climb-downs on everything from the wording of the referendum question to limits on the use of [...]
As it claims to have tested a hydrogen bomb, does North Korea pose a serious threat to global peace? January 7, 2016 Alan Mendoza, executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, says Yes. The corrosive nature of its regime, coupled with possession of nuclear weapons, makes North Korea a dangerous international menace. At just 32, Kim Jong-un is the despotic ruler of a country cut off from the outside world and with internal dissent stifled by his security [...]
Sainsbury’s should focus on its core offer January 6, 2016 Sainsbury's and Home Retail Group do not at first glance appear obvious bedfellows. If perceptions count for anything, and they do in retail, then Sainsbury’s is very much a supermarket that attempts to cater for the British middle class. Home Retail Group’s Argos doesn’t. But for both the high street and supermarkets, these are desperate [...]
Ignore the gloom-merchants: The UK’s investment-led recovery is sustainable January 6, 2016 We saw some very positive economic news last month, as the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in seven years. The Bank of England also released the results of the major stress test of UK banks which it launched in March 2015. It concluded that “the banking system is capitalised to [...]
How business can talk about Europe without getting its hands burnt January 6, 2016 It's easy to see why business voices might try to steer clear of the EU referendum debate that looks set to dominate the politics of 2016. Getting involved in such an emotional, partisan and polarised campaign carries more than its fair share of risks. No sensible executive wants to get into a political argument if [...]
Could the intensifying spat between Saudi Arabia and Iran erase recent falls in the oil price? January 6, 2016 Alastair McCaig, market analyst at IG, says Yes. Disagreements between Saudi Arabia and Iran are not unusual, and this latest scuffle has also drawn many of the other Opec nations into the fray. Considering the pressure that many of these nations have been under, with falling revenue streams due to the subdued price of oil, this [...]
A bigger London can be an even better London January 5, 2016 London is already Europe’s largest city, with a population in excess of 8.6m. The Greater London Authority expects this figure to climb to 11.3m over the next 25 years, but a fascinating report by Oxford Economics says that the GLA has underestimated the continuing boom, and that our city’s population will reach 12m by 2050. The [...]
As China fears spark a global market rout, is the country the greatest risk to the world economy in 2016? January 5, 2016 Rebecca O’Keeffe, head of investment at Interactive Investor, says YES. You only have to look at the reaction to yesterday’s disappointing data and subsequent global stock market rout to appreciate just how important China has become to international investors. While the US economy is still much larger, relative growth rates mean that China is actually [...]