Travelling at night is going to get easier as London Overground announces an increase in evening services May 17, 2016 Londoners are now benefiting from an increase in evening services on the London Overground after growing demand for night term services. London Overground said that key services will increase by 50 per cent after 10pm as extra trains have been added to a number of routes on the network. Mike Stubbs, Director of London Overground, said: "This [...]
Stock Spirits showdown gains momentum as first investor reveals it will vote with dissident Luis Amaral at AGM May 17, 2016 The Stock Spirits showdown gained more momentum today as the first investor revealed it will vote in support of dissident Luis Amaral against the company's board at its AGM. The California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) will support the two non-executive director (Ned) nominees put forward by Western Gate investments, which is led by the Portuguese [...]
We’ve hit peak stuff: Why we now spend on “doing” rather than “things” May 17, 2016 Earlier this year Ikea’s head of sustainability suggested the West was approaching “peak stuff” – the idea that consumer appetite to own ever more goods was probably waning. Indeed it seems that we’re seeing a fundamental shift in consumer behaviour from buying products to spending money on experiences. We’ve been keeping an eye on this trend at Visa [...]
ECB chief economist Peter Praet warns of banking “profitability shock” May 17, 2016 Eurozone banks should brace themselves for a profitability crisis, the chief economist of the European Central Bank (ECB) has warned today, predicting that the worst is far from over for the industry. "We have in the sector a severe profitability shock," ECB executive board member Peter Praet told a panel in Brussels this morning. Banks in the [...]
DCC hails “record year” driven by energy sector acquisitions May 17, 2016 DCC shares rose four per cent to 6,395p in early afternoon trade, following what the FTSE 100-listed group described as a "record year". The figures Support services group DCC — whose activities range from oil distribution, waste management and food distribution — posted a 33.5 per cent rise in operating profit to £300.5m from the year ending 31 March. However, revenue [...]
Five challenges Amazon faces plotting its own-brand products May 17, 2016 Reports that Amazon is branching out into private-label groceries make sense for the retail giant. In a sluggish market own label is one of the few healthy areas, growing by 1.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2016. Retailers aren’t seen as credible without an own label range, but developing a strong offer takes time and Amazon will [...]
House prices of the future: London will average more than £1m while properties in much of England will be worth more than £500,000 May 17, 2016 The average price of a home might feel eye-watering today – but by the standards of 2030, they'll seem positively good value. New research claims to have estimated how much prices will go up by across Britain – and all those skinny houses and over-priced garages suddenly look like bargains in comparison. Indeed, if prices [...]
Property prices are continuing to soar – and it’s not just because of stamp duty May 17, 2016 There's yet more evidence that the government's stamp duty changes forced house prices up in March – but experts are warning that a chronic undersupply of housing will continue to push prices up overall. UK house prices increased by nine per cent in the year to March 2016, up from 7.6 per cent in the year to [...]
Twitter’s making a change that’s actually really useful as links and images reportedly dropped from character limit May 17, 2016 Finally, Jack Dorsey is giving us a Twitter change we actually want. Thankfully, the newly returned under pressure boss of Twitter has ditched the rumoured – and ridiculous – 10,000-character limit increase, but the latest change will give you more space. Adding links and images, such as photos and gifs, will no longer count in the 140-character tweet word [...]
Turkey-EU deal could lead to increased risk of terror attacks, EU report says May 17, 2016 Terrorists and criminals are "expected" to attempt to obtain Turkish passports in the hope of reaching Europe, taking advantaged of the visa-waiver deal between Turkey and the EU, the European Commission has warned. The increased risk of an attack would come "as soon as" the programme kicks in and Turkish citizens are free to travel across Europe without visas, a [...]