Pret A Manger for dinner? Lunch hotspot tries out evening dining menu in Strand April 8, 2015 The saviour of stomachs across the city come lunchtime is branching out with a Pret A Manger "after dark" concept. Never again need you eat anywhere other than Pret – the chain has begun serving up all the major meals in the form of breakfast, lunch and – now – dinner, with a new evening [...]
Aldi knocks Waitrose off its spot as UK’s sixth biggest supermarket April 8, 2015 Aldi has overtaken Waitrose to become the UK's sixth biggest supermarket. The budget supermarket, which has recorded double-digit sales growth for the past four years, now has 5.3 per cent of the country's spend on groceries, according to Kantar Worldpanel. Waitrose is still in growth – in fact just one of three to see [...]
Royal Dutch Shell BG Group mega-merger: Four things you need to know about the takeover deal April 8, 2015 After BG's board recommended a massive £47bn takeover by Shell, these are the four big things you need to know about the deal. 1. It’s the 14th biggest takeover ever The deal swoops into the record books as the 14th largest M&A deal in history. It will create the biggest company on the FTSE. It's [...]
EasyJet fights back in low-cost airline battle – but is Ryanair’s charm-offensive giving it the edge? April 8, 2015 Is Ryanair’s PR drive giving it the edge over EasyJet? After Ryanair revealed it carried 28 per cent more passengers in March than the same month last year, Easyjet’s solid growth figures paled by comparison. The figures EasyJet carried 5.5m passengers in March, compared to 5.1m during the same month last year, a rise of [...]
BG Group agrees to £47bn takeover by Royal Dutch Shell in oil mega-merger April 8, 2015 Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has announced a takeover of BG Group, in a deal valuing gas producer BG at £47bn. Shell will pay a premium of around 50 per cent on BG’s shares, which closed up by 6.74 per cent at 910.40p yesterday, giving it a market capitalisation of £31bn. BG’s board have recommended [...]
TNT Express share price rises on FedEx’s €4.4bn bid April 7, 2015 Shares in Dutch firm TNT Express leapt by a third yesterday after FedEx announced a €4.4bn (£3.2bn) all-cash offer to acquire the beleaguered delivery giant. TNT has struggled since European regulators prevented it from merging with UPS in 2013, with its market share declining by five per cent leading to a €137m loss in the [...]
UK needs an exports revolution says independent commission April 7, 2015 A revolution is required to boost British exports, according to a report by Graham Cole’s independent exports commission. Cole, the chairman of AgustaWestland, was asked to lead the commission by Labour shadow chancellor Ed Balls, and shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna. He told City A.M that “a lot has been done to improve exports. There’s [...]
Ryanair figures soar as charm offensive works April 7, 2015 Irish low-cost airline Ryanair yesterday reported a 28pc rise in passenger numbers last month, as a charm offensive began to take hold. The carrier, which has been on a mission to revamp its poor customer service image, said passenger numbers reached 6.7m in March – 1.5m more than the same period last year. [...]
Boeing fast off the runway as it leaves Airbus trailing on orders April 7, 2015 Boeing started the new year at cruising altitude by beating arch-rival Airbus for new plane orders in the first quarter, it was revealed yesterday. While Airbus recorded 121 new orders, it came unstuck when the Toulouse-based aviation firm was forced to concede that 20 orders had been cancelled, leaving its net booking behind Boeing’s 110 [...]
Deflation sets in as shop prices fall even faster April 7, 2015 Shop prices fell at a record pace in March, with clothing and electrical prices diving, and food prices falling faster than ever before. Overall prices fell by 2.1 per cent on the year, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), with food prices falling by 0.9 per cent. Those are both the fastest declines in [...]