Weak retail sales in December have pushed sterling below $1.23 January 20, 2017 The pound plummeted today after retail sales figures were much weaker than analysts expected. Sterling fell 0.47 per cent to 1.2284 against the US dollar. Sales in December fell by 1.9 per cent month-on-month – the largest monthly fall since May 2011 – which was considerably more than the 0.1 per cent drop analysts predicted, Martin Beck, senior economic advisor at EY said. [...]
Here’s how to get £10 off orders over £50 on Amazon (but it’s only today) January 20, 2017 Amazon has been ranked top of a nationwide poll for customer satisfaction among UK brands – and to thank its customers, it's offering them discounts. Hurrah. The online retailer's UK site came top of the UK Customer Satisfaction Index, with a score of 87.3 on the index. That was followed by M&S, P&O Cruises, Greggs [...]
The WSTA wants Theresa May to “empower” British drinks businesses by cutting the wine and spirit duty January 20, 2017 Following Theresa May's long-awaited speech on Brexit, The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) said the best way to "empower" the British drinks industry is a duty cut on wine and spirits. This comes as wine industry has been hit by the impact of historically high duty rates, higher inflation and the devaluation of the pound, [...]
British Fizz: A group is calling for protected status of English sparkling wine (and not everyone is popping a bottle open) January 20, 2017 Yesterday, the UK Vineyard Association said it was applying for protected status from the EU for English sparkling wine under the name "British Fizz", but a branding expert said the name could be an "unmitigated disaster" for the wine industry. Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status would boost the industry's fast-growing product by giving it recognisable, marketable terms [...]
Heineken is in talks to acquire Brasil Kirin, Brazil’s second-largest brewer January 20, 2017 Dutch brewing giant Heineken confirmed today it is in talks to purchase Brasil Kirin, Brazil’s second-largest brewer. Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported Heineken will pay around 100bn yen (£705.5m) for the business. Kirin said the report was not based on any comments made by the company. "These discussions are ongoing and there can be no certainty that [...]
Here are six things we learned about the travel industry from the latest ONS figures January 19, 2017 On the back of reports that the UK's travel industry is facing choppy waters in the year ahead, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) today released figures on how the sector stacked up over the period from July to September 2016. Here are the most interesting things we learned. 1. North Americans are showing a growing interest in Britain [...]
In the doghouse? Pets at Home shares fall on softer merchandise sales January 19, 2017 Pets at Home's latest update announced "softer than anticipated" merchandise sales – knocking its share price down more than nine per cent, at the time of writing, to 216.40p. The figures Group revenue rose 4.4 per cent to £203.7m, though merchandise revenues were flat at £177.4m. The growth was propelled by its services business (including veterinary practices [...]
Halfords share price jumps as investors are rewarded following its spending spree January 19, 2017 Halfords pumped-up its share price by over nine per cent this morning after delivering a podium performance from its retail division and rewarding investors with a special dividend. The figures In the firm's third quarter trading update, group like-for-like revenue for the 15 weeks to December was up 11.4 per cent. Retail performed well, growing by seven [...]
After strong Christmas trading, Revolution Bars expects to hit its financial targets January 19, 2017 Revolution Bars said cheers to Christmas sales as it anticipates half-year results to 31 December will fall in line with the board's expectations. The figures In a trading update today ahead of its half-year results, the operator of 66 premium bars across the UK said like-for-like sales were up two per cent, while overall sales – [...]
Legendary Entertainment’s chief executive has stepped down to be replaced with a Dalian Wanda insider January 19, 2017 Legendary Entertainment's chief executive Thomas Tull told Reuters today he would step down from the business. The Hollywood studio was bought at the start of last year by Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda for $3.5bn (£2.8bn), and now Wanda insider Jack Gao is set to take the top job. Legendary, which has brought films like Jurassic World, The Hangover and [...]