Clintons mulls shutting up more than a hundred shops February 13, 2017 Greetings cards chain Clintons is mulling the closure of more than a hundred high street stores. According to The Telegraph, the chain’s US owner American Greetings is contemplating shutting 120 of its 393 Clintons shops, which have not been modernised yet and are “subject to an ongoing strategic review”. American Greetings has also slowed down the programme to revamp [...]
Small businesses at sea over Brexit as the weak pound causes headaches February 13, 2017 Theresa May has not triggered Article 50 yet, but the uncertainty stirred up by Brexit, and the weak pound, are already weighing on small and medium-sized businesses. According to accountancy firm Moore Stephens, the fall in sterling in the wake of the Brexit vote on 23 June has been a key problem for businesses, with [...]
The FCO is leading a delegation of British life sciences firms to China this week February 13, 2017 A Foreign Office minister is leading a delegation of British healthcare and life sciences firms to China this week in a bid to boost trade. Asia-Pacific minister Alok Sharma will be in South China from Monday to Wednesday, before visiting Beijing to meet with Chinese ministers. It comes just days after Downing Street confirmed that Prime Minister [...]
Britain’s small and medium-sized firms are left in a trade limbo because of Brexit uncertainty February 13, 2017 Around half of small firms say Brexit will change their trading habits, but they're not sure how, according to money transfer platform TransferWise. Numerous small firms rely on international income, but Brexit uncertainty is leaving them in a trade limbo. Over a quarter receive more than £100,000 a year in international turnover. With nearly 99 per cent [...]
The average house price in England and Wales has gone above £300,000 February 13, 2017 The average house price in England and Wales has gone over £300,000 for the first time. According to the Your Move house price index, house prices grew 3.1 per cent year-on-year across England and Wales in January, reaching an average of £300,169. However, this was less than half the house price growth (7.3 per cent) [...]
UK’s biggest firms report record results February 13, 2017 The UK’s largest listed companies weathered a difficult political and trading climate last year, posting upbeat results in the final quarter of 2016. Fourth quarter revenues increased by 5.5 per cent on a like-for-like basis, reaching a record of £116bn for the listed companies. Operating profits grew at their fastest rate in the last three [...]
Inflation to hit 1.9 per cent for January as London businesses battle fastest cost rise since 2008 February 13, 2017 Consumer price inflation is expected to reach 1.9 per cent in January, taking it to its highest level since June 2014. It comes as businesses in the capital have faced the fastest rise in input costs for more than eight years during January. IHS Global Insight forecasts a third successive marked increase for the Consumer [...]
Banks stumbling over hurdles as they race to embrace cloud technology February 13, 2017 Worries about overseeing risk and concerns over security breaches are among the hurdles preventing banks from taking up cloud technology as quickly as other firms, according to a study released today. The report by law firm Pinsent Masons and the British Bankers' Association (BBA) highlights how lenders could become more agile and reduce their costs by using [...]
This is why a Silicon Valley entrepreneur believes London could produce the next Facebook February 12, 2017 By the time Clara Shih turned 30, she was a Starbucks board member, had raised $21m (£16.7m) for her social media startup and had become a bestselling author. A Stanford and Oxford graduate, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur founded software company Hearsay Social [now Hearsay Systems] in 2009 to make financial giants look slick on social media [...]
Culture shock: How London’s theatreland will be squeezed by business rates re-evaluation February 12, 2017 London’s theatreland will be forced to pay an estimated £31m in property taxes over the next five years once the government’s planned hike in business rates comes into effect in April. The total rates bill for theatres in the West End will rise by nearly 40 per cent to £6.3m for the 2017 to 2018 [...]