Joules: Margins continue to be under pressure as shoppers seek out sale items July 19, 2022 Prestige retailer Joules has said discount-hungry consumers have intensified pressures on margins while expecting yearly profit to surpass expectations. The clothing and lifestyle brand admitted gross margins had “remained under significant pressure” after “consumer appetite” was focused on marked down products. Shoppers have been hunting for reductions amid monster hikes in energy and fuel bills, [...]
Mordaunt supporter Tobias Ellwood loses Tory whip for vote no-show July 19, 2022 Penny Mordaunt supporter Tobias Ellwood has lost the Conservative party whip today for not showing up to support the government in yesterday’s confidence vote. Ellwood, a perennial critic of Boris Johnson, will now be unable to participate in the final two MP votes for the Tory leadership contest. The Defence Committee chair was in Moldova [...]
Hotel Chocolat boss warns of melting profits next year amid cost of living crisis July 19, 2022 Hotel Chocolat revenue has risen more than a third over the past year, as it braces for a spending slow down amid the cost of living crisis in the UK. Revenue hit £226m in the 12-month period, up from £165m a year prior and ahead of market forecasts. However, co-founder and CEO Angus Thirlwell said [...]
Steep losses looming: Made.com warns job cuts are coming to slash costs after dive in consumer spending July 19, 2022 Made.com said this morning it has launched a review its workforce amid efforts to slash costs as a slump in consumer spending is set to send it tumbling to steep losses. The group said it is looking at its operational structure and headcount, as well as improvements to stock buying and warehousing to try to [...]
Santander hands out four per cent pay rises to help 11,000 workers manage cost-of-living crunch July 19, 2022 Santander today pledged to give four per cent pay rises to all 11,000 of its workers on salaries of less than £35,000 a year. The bank said the pay rises, which will be handed out to around 60 per cent of Santander’s entire workforce, are aimed helping its staff deal with the UK’s cost-of-living crisis. [...]
New anti-drone base to be built in Scotland to create Europe’s main hub for high-energy laser weapons July 19, 2022 The defence and intelligence technology firm Raytheon UK said this morning the war in Ukraine has highlighted the threat posed by drones. Therefore, an anti-drone hub is to be built in Scotland to help meet the growing demand for laser weapons which target small attack drones. The firm’s president of electronic warfare systems, Annabel Flores, [...]
Kremlin’s grip on Kyiv: Chaos and mass exodus at Ukrainian security services as Zelensky fires dozens of officials for treason July 19, 2022 Only a day after two senior Ukrainian officials were dismissed over allegations that their agencies harboured “collaborators and traitors”, the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has expanded the shakeup of his security services on Monday by suspending 28 more officials. In his nightly video address, Zelensky said a “personnel audit” of the Security Service of Ukraine [...]
Darktrace hikes profit margin forecast on bumper customer growth July 19, 2022 Cybersecurity giant Darktrace hiked its full-year profit margin forecast to 19.5 per cent today as it said it expected a surge in revenues to $417m for the year to June.
Begbies Traynor bosses expect rising insolvencies in the coming months July 19, 2022 Begbies Traynor’s revenue has jumped more than a third over the past year, as the business recovery and financial advisory firm scoops up ailing firms. Executive chairman of the London-listed group, also a property services consultancy, said a string a acquisitions and a spike in trading has lifted its financials “comfortably ahead of original market [...]
Wise reports jump in revenues as transactions hit £24.4bn July 19, 2022 UK fintech firm Wise said revenues had jumped to £185.9m in the first quarter of the year after a surge in transactions on its platform in the three months to June.