Summer retail spend still strong following the Brexit vote September 15, 2016 Retail sales edged downwards in August following the nation's bumper spending spree in July – but sales were more than six per cent higher than last year, indicating consumers were still happy to spend after the Brexit vote. Excluding fuel, sales fell 0.3 per cent month-on-month in August, but sales were up 6.2 per cent on last year, [...]
This entrepreneur is so against Trump he’s made a hilarious card game about it September 15, 2016 What do you do if you're concerned about Donald Trump becoming President and gaining power? If you're one Silicon Valley entrepreneur, you invoke the power of satire. The founder and boss of LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman, has done just that with the creation of "Trumped up Cards", a card game erring into the realm of the ridiculous… not [...]
These are the surprisingly unhealthy high street breakfasts from Pret a Manger, Costa Coffee, Starbucks and Eat September 15, 2016 If you didn't have time to eat breakfast at home this morning, chances are you nipped into a Pret a Manger or Starbucks in the way to work for a last-minute snack. But the illusion that high street coffee and food outlets are healthy has been knocked upside the head by new research from health [...]
Redrow share price boosted by share buyback announcement September 15, 2016 Housebuilder Redrow's share price was boosted three per cent in morning trading after the company said it would be initiating a share buyback programme. The FTSE 250 company recently posted record profits, but said fluctuations in the company's share price meant it would be aiming to buy back 10 per cent of its share capital. [...]
A tale of two retail sectors: Shares in fashion retailers fall as supermarkets jump September 15, 2016 It was the best of times, it was the worst of times in the retail sector today, as shares in retailers led both the risers and the fallers in the FTSE 100. Firmly in the spring of hope was the supermarket sector, where Morrisons led the risers, with shares jumping 7.13 per cent to 207.4p in [...]
Three signs the iPhone 7 will be a huge hit for Apple September 15, 2016 The iPhone 7 received a cautiously optimistic welcome when it was unveiled a week ago. While new features such as being waterproof and a shiny new jet black colour were largely surface changes rather than a revolutionary new direction for the brand, they were certainly likely to dazzle potential buyers, analysts thought. Apple has quite a bit riding [...]
Big brewer “beerhemoth” companies such as AB InBev and SABMiller are putting the craft beer revival under threat September 15, 2016 In a blow to hipsters and ale aficianados, big brewers' ability to provide significantly cheaper beer is at risk of undercutting Britain's thriving community of local, independent beer producers, the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) has warned. More than 200 new breweries opened in the past year alone, with 1,540 now operating in Britain. However, the [...]
New service Stuart brings on demand delivery to customers of UK retailers September 15, 2016 A NEW on-demand service that aims to deliver products to customers in less than an hour by using retail outlets as mini-depots is launching in the UK today. Called Stuart, the French-backed business will focus initially on London after raising €22m in pre-launch funding from French postal service GeoPost, among others. It has developed a [...]
How business and politics reacted to the government go-ahead for Hinkley C September 15, 2016 The UK government gave the green light to plans to build the controversial Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in Somerset today, but with a few revised conditions which should help allay its security concerns. The widely-watched decision has so far received a mixed reception across business and politics. While supporters applauded the project's ability to create [...]
John Lewis warns on job losses due to its commitment to staff pay September 15, 2016 The John Lewis Partnership warned this morning that it may be losing staff "over time" due to its paying its employees higher than the government-imposed national living wage. The company committed to paying workers "well above" the new national living wage, but said this had landed it with £33m in extra costs. If the department store had [...]