The death of cash: Brits pay by card and mobile instead April 13, 2015 Cash makes up just £18.33 of every £100 spent in the UK, Halifax said today, as card and digital payments take over. The rise of digital payments is starkly outlined in new figures from the bank, which show how quickly Britons have adopted cutting-edge technologies. Cheques account for just 1.2 per cent of all current [...]
Edi Truell looks to sell Tracker Network in £100m IPO April 12, 2015 Venture capitalist Edi Truell has hired investment bankers to advise him on the possible sale of Tracker Network. Truell hopes the vehicle tracking firm, which has sales of around £20m per year, would be worth around £100m. He has hired bankers at Evercore to look into the possibility. Alternative options include debt financing, a trade [...]
London leads UK business activity April 12, 2015 London is leading the way as the UK sees business activity rise at a pace not experienced for seven months, a survey of firms released today shows. Lloyds’ purchasing managers’ index shows all regions across England and Wales were boosted by gains in employment growth.
Sainsbury’s cuts back on Nectar loyalty rewards April 12, 2015 Sainsbury’s has halved the number of Nectar points its customers can earn, sparking fears that frustrated shoppers will turn to discounters such as Aldi and Lidl instead. The retailer made changes to the loyalty scheme this weekend, meaning members now only earn one point for every £1 spent in-store and online, as opposed to two [...]
Zara founder Amancio Ortega’s buying spree on Oxford St April 12, 2015 The billionaire founder of Spanish clothing empire Inditex has snapped up a cluster of buildings on the east end of London’s Oxford Street. Amancio Ortega, who founded the fashion giant Zara in 1975, is understood to have bought a development at 26-48 Oxford Street from property companies Land Securities and Frogmore through his investment vehicle [...]
Investment bankers lead City workers in favouring diversity April 12, 2015 Investment banking staff are the most convinced of all City workers of the benefits of workplace diversity. Workplace diversity was rated as important or very important by 59 per cent of investment bankers, according to survey figures released today by recruiters Astbury Marsden. “Investment banks pride themselves on being fiercely meritocratic – they will take [...]
Zero hours, infinite rows: Is job growth stagnating or recovering? A look at Britain’s labour market April 12, 2015 Expect a screaming match this Friday – the jobs numbers are out. It isn’t every day that official statistics generate this much excitement, but we are in the middle of an election campaign. Economists expect another fall in unemployment, a decent rise in the number of jobs and another month of wages rising faster than [...]
Majestic Wine gets Naked truth from new CEO Rowan Gormley April 12, 2015 The new chief executive of Majestic Wine says he will “unleash” the retailer’s entrepreneurial spirit and shake-up its online business following the £70m acquisition of younger rival Naked Wines. Rowan Gormley founded Naked Wines in 2008 after coming up with the idea of using crowdfunding to help forward-fund independent vineyards in return for exclusive wines [...]
First-time buyers make the most of sudden stall in UK house prices April 12, 2015 First-time buyers snapped up 21,000 houses in February, taking advantage of a short-term blip in house prices, according to estate agents Reeds Rains and Your Move. That is an 11 per cent rise in the number of transactions on the month. The average first-time buyer paid £143,767 for their property, down four per cent on [...]
Survey points to high business optimism and strong hiring plans April 12, 2015 Businesses are planning to take on more workers over the coming months, according to survey figures released today by accountancy firm BDO. BDO’s employment index – an indicator of hiring intentions – scored 113 in March. Despite it being marginally lower than February’s 113.1, it is far above the long-term average of 100. Firms also [...]