Veteran Fevertree chairman announces retirement May 3, 2022 Longstanding Fevertree Drinks chairman Bill Ronald has announced he will be retiring in May next year. Ronald joined the premium tonics and drink mixer maker in June 2013 ahead of Fevertree’s debut on the London Stock Exchange the following year. He has given a year’s notice to allow the company to start looking for a [...]
John Lewis planning to lure hundreds of engineers as it plots big retail push online May 3, 2022 Retail giant the John Lewis Partnership is zooming in further on its online operations as it is planning to recruit for more than 150 roles in engineering and delivery driving. John Lewis, which also owns Waitrose supermarket, said its recruitment drive will help grow its online stores, which together have more than 55m visits a [...]
Card Factory posts revenue growth thanks to store recovery and occasion boom May 3, 2022 Card Factory posted 28 per cent revenue growth this morning to £364.4m thanks to the steady recovery of stores following the easing of lockdown restrictions, alongside an online performance significantly ahead of pre-pandemic levels.
Swingers’ CEO: Offices splash cash on crazy golf with pent up budgets May 3, 2022 Corporate bookings have returned with a bang as bosses are eager to spend two years’ worth of social budgets, the CEO of Swingers said. The crazy golf chain has seen business come “roaring back” since Covid restrictions eased, co-founder Matt Grech-Smith told CityA.M. Work bookings make up 45 per cent of Swinger’s trade, its chief [...]
West End woes: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella cancelled as cast learn of news ‘by press release’ May 2, 2022 Andrew Lloyd Webber’s production of Cinderella has been cancelled after less than a year, after the West End show faced a turbulent launch. Cinderella had faced a tumultuous run and is understood to have suffered heavy losses since its opening night last summer. Equity UK, the trade union for actors and singers, has written to [...]
Netflix abandons work on Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle’s animated series ‘Pearl’ May 2, 2022 Netflix has stopped work on Meghan Markle’s animated family series. The streaming giant announced it would drop the Duchess of Sussex’s ‘Pearl’ series, as it faced plummeting stock prices and falling subscriber numbers. This comes after Netflix announced its first quarter results at the end of last month, with its stock down 26 per cent, [...]
Retail union ups pay ask to £12 per hour as cost of living spikes May 2, 2022 Retail firms should pay a minimum wage of at least £12 per hour, as recent pay hikes offer little respite against soaring inflation, a trade union has urged. In recent weeks, several large employers have hiked wages for shop floor and warehouse staff. Supermarket giant Tesco will raise hourly wages by 5.8 per cent from [...]
Issa brothers mull petrol empire sale as Asda owners eye Boots bid May 2, 2022 The billionaire brothers behind the blockbuster Asda takeover are reportedly in talks to sell their petrol forecourt business for some £12.bn. Zuber and Mohsin Issa are thought to be considering a proposal for Boots, with the high street chemist’s US owners hoping for a £7bn price tag. A sale of EG Group would unlock billions [...]
‘Welfare value’ of Britain’s green spaces stands at £25bn, with Hyde Park topping the list May 2, 2022 The “welfare value” of Britain’s natural open spaces exceeds £25bn, with London’s Hyde Park topping the list at £24m. A new study funded by the government looks at pars, woods, riversides, beaches and country parks across Britain, assessing how locals enjoy the green space. Research by academics at the University of Exeter produced the outdoor [...]
Qantas buys 12 new planes in bid to conquer ‘final frontier’ of 20-hour flights down under from London and New York May 2, 2022 Australia’s national airline Qantas has ordered 12 huge new luxurious planes as it confirmed plans for new long-haul routes from London and New York, to conquer the “final frontier” of aviation. The carrier will launch 20-hour flights on Airbus A350-1000s, complete with wellbeing zones and extra measures for comfort, taking passengers down under from across [...]