John Lewis cooks up sales growth thanks to homeware goods December 15, 2013 JOHN LEWIS said a rush for roasting tins and carving trays helped drive sales last week up 1.4 per cent on last year to £149.9m. But this growth has slowed from a whopping 11 per cent year-on-year rise in 2012, which one analyst said could be a symptom of a patchy performance on the high [...]
Mayor of New York to set up city advice firm December 15, 2013 NEW YORK’S outgoing mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is setting up a consultancy business to advise other cities on development. Bloomberg, who will leave his mayoral post at the end of December after 12 years and three terms in charge, is taking a number of senior City Hall staff with him to launch the business, named Bloomberg [...]
Specsavers founders awarded £32m dividend December 15, 2013 THE CO-FOUNDERS of Specsavers took home a £32m dividend last year, as the opticians chain reported an 8.4 per cent fall in turnover to £347m due to restructuring costs. Accounts for the year to 28 February show the dividend was paid to parent company Specsavers Optical Group, controlled by Dame Mary Perkins (pictured) and her [...]
Wealthy investors bet on London’s future strength December 15, 2013 ULTRA high-net worth investors are backing London as the world’s most important financial centre in the decades ahead, according to a new survey of their intentions up to 2043. Fleming Family & Partners today reveal the results of a poll of 90 families that collectively hold over £100bn in assets, suggesting the capital will remain [...]
Almost half of small companies are now running at full steam December 15, 2013 A LARGE proportion of small firms are now running at or above capacity, as the climate for business growth in the UK continues to improve. A report released by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) today shows that 32.2 per cent of small enterprises say they are running at full capacity, and 10.3 per cent [...]
Biggest number of small firms since before the financial crisis December 15, 2013 DESPITE difficulties in getting access to credit, the number of small firms is growing at a faster rate than their larger counterparts. According to research published by the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB) today, the number of small and medium-sized enterprises in the country is now at a six-year high of 2.16m. The [...]
UK dealmaking slows despite Eurozone rise December 15, 2013 UK MERGERS and acquisition activity has fallen to its lowest level in eight years, as Britain struggles to keep pace with an increase in dealmaking in Germany and France, figures show. Around 1,900 deals were completed across Britain this year, down 20 per cent compared to 2012, according to the figures from EY. Total deal [...]
Electronic waste on the increase December 15, 2013 China and other emerging economies have overtaken Western nations in dumping old electronic goods, from TVs to mobile phones, and will lead a projected 33 per cent surge in the amount of waste from 2012 to 2017, a UN-backed alliance said yesterday. The report, the first to map electronic waste by country to promote recycling [...]
BlackRock hikes Telecom Italia stake December 15, 2013 BlackRock, the world’s biggest money manager, has become the second-largest shareholder in Telecom Italia, giving it a potentially pivotal role in a shareholder vote on whether to oust the board of the Italian telecoms firm. At the end of November, it increased its combined holding in the Italian company to 10.1 per cent from the [...]
Touchless bus fares pass first year December 15, 2013 More than 6.5m journeys on London’s buses were paid for with contactless bank cards in the first year of the technology’s use, according to Transport for London. This represents less than one per cent of the 2.3bn bus trips taken, but TfL said interest in the scheme is growing as it passes its first anniversary. [...]