US shoppers set for strong holiday season December 11, 2014 US RETAIL sales jumped by 0.7 per cent in November compared to October, data showed yesterday. It marks an improvement on the 0.5 per cent month-on-month increase in October, according to the US Commerce Department. Core sales – which ignores cars, petrol, building materials and food services – climbed 0.6 per cent month-on-month. They were [...]
Brits spend £2,000 on online goods December 11, 2014 PEOPLE in the UK spend an average of £1,968 online on goods from the likes of Amazon, Tesco and Asos every year, far more than people in the US, France or South Korea. Australia followed in second place with an average spend of £1,356 and the US came in third with an average spend of [...]
Chelsea FC becomes first team to pay the living wage of £9.15 an hour in London December 11, 2014 Chelsea has become the first professional football club to be accredited as a Living Wage employer by the Living Wage Foundation, the club said yesterday. The accreditation means that from January, Chelsea will pay all its directly employed staff a living wage – £9.15 an hour in London and £7.85 outside the capital. The rate [...]
Whitbread refreshed as Costa and Premier grow December 11, 2014 WHITBREAD yesterday said it was confident of delivering full-year results in line with expectations, after posting another strong quarter of growth from its Premier Inn hotels and Costa Coffee, as both businesses continued to win market share. In a statement, the group said its strong trading momentum from the first half continued into the third [...]
Zara stays warm during mild autumn December 11, 2014 Zara-owner Inditex yesterday posted a 14 per cent rise in sales for November and early December as it coped well with mild weather. The Spanish firm’s sales for the nine-month period ending October rose 10.5 per cent to €12.7bn (£10.2bn) while net profit was flat at €1.69bn.
Supergroup boss upbeat on prospects despite profits slide December 11, 2014 SUPERGROUP boss Euan Sutherland has said it has drawn a line under its disappointing first half and is confident about its prospects for the rest of the year after September’s warm weather hurt profits. The owner of the Superdry brand said underlying pre-tax profits dropped 30 per cent to £12.5m in the six months to [...]
Evolution founder Griffiths ups his stake in Cupid December 11, 2014 THE FORMER chairman and founder of investment bank Evolution Securities, Richard Griffiths, yesterday became the third largest shareholder of Cupid, the former dating website operator which will soon be renamed Castle Street Investments. Griffiths, who founded Evolution in 2000 and later set up boutique investment firm ORA Capital Partners in 2005, increased his holdings in [...]
Qatari hires veteran banker Ken Costa to board of Songbird December 11, 2014 The Qataris have brought in one of the City’s best-known rainmakers to help win control of the Canary Wharf Estate. The Qatar Holding Shareholder Group said it had appointed Ken Costa as a director of Songbird, the owner of the east London financial district, taking its representation on the board back to three. South African-born [...]
Retail parks win war for shoppers December 11, 2014 THE HIGH street is losing in the battle for shoppers as it succumbs to retail parks. Footfall increased by 0.8 per cent year-on-year in retail parks in November, according to figures released today by Springboard and the British Retail Consortium. However, the high street saw footfall decline by four per cent year-on-year. “The results clearly indicate [...]
Censorship fears over Chinese PlayStation launch next month December 11, 2014 SONY should fear China’s censors almost as much as rival Microsoft when it launches its PlayStation 4 gaming console in the world’s third-largest gaming market next month, tech research firm Gartner suggested yesterday. Sony said the PlayStation 4 would go on sale in China from 11 January as it rushes to capitalise on the end [...]