Twitter picks a man named John Lewis as the star of its new Christmas advert November 20, 2018 Every year, a man named John Lewis in Virginia receives over 50,000 tweets intended for UK department store John Lewis and Partners. This year, he's been made the star of Twitter's Christmas advert. Lewis secured the Twitter username @JohnLewis in 2007, and has become known for his witty responses to people who confuse him for [...]
All I want for Christmas… is for retailers to get real and rethink their festive ads November 20, 2018 TV has long been a staple of Christmas advertising, highlighted by the millions of people who look forward to the annual John Lewis spot. This year, the retailer reportedly spent millions of pounds on a cameo from Elton John, though it is being tight-lipped about exactly how much. However, while the department store’s festive offering [...]
John Lewis reveals 2018 Christmas advert featuring Elton John November 15, 2018 John Lewis has released its highly anticipated Christmas advert featuring music icon Elton John. This year’s offering – named The Boy and the Piano- tells the story of Elton John’s rise to stardom sound tracked to his first major hit “Your Song”. Working backwards through John’s career, it ends with a young Elton being given [...]
Businesses to splash out over £6bn on Christmas advertising November 14, 2018 UK businesses will fork out £6.4bn on festive advertising this Christmas during the final quarter, according to the Advertising Association. The expenditure, which is up 5 per cent on last year’s record amount, shows the growing competition between companies as they vie to make the season’s most popular advert and achieve festive fame. Many of [...]
Consumer spending falls in October as shoppers continue to abandon the high street November 13, 2018 UK consumer spending dipped in October after having risen for two months, with an e-commerce rebound propping up a two per cent fall in face-to-face sales. Expenditure has fallen in six of 10 months so far this year, adding to a cocktail of concerns for bricks-and-mortar retailers, according to Visa UK Consumer Spending Index data [...]
John Lewis chairman announces departure after 99 per cent profit drop November 7, 2018 The chairman of John Lewis will step down in 2020 after the store has found his replacement. Sir Charlie Mayfield decided to leave just two months after blaming Brexit for a 99 per cent drop in half-year profits. The company said it has modernised its selection process, and the new chairman will be announced in the second half [...]
Marks and Spencer results will reflect the high street’s health November 4, 2018 Results from Marks and Spencer’s clothing range – long the weaker twin to its strong food offering – will be closely watched when the retailer reports on Wednesday, after difficult results for several of its rivals. Consensus estimates from 11 analysts suggest the FTSE 100 firm will post half-year profits before tax of £203m, a [...]
Ranked: Sports Direct tops poll of UK’s most loathed brands October 23, 2018 House of Fraser owner Sports Direct is the UK’s most loathed brand, according to consumer finance website Money Saving Expert. However, billionaire Mike Ashley's bottom-placed retail giant may have been hurt by a social media campaign against the company, admitted the website, which asked 7,600 readers to rank 52 household name brands. Read more: Mike [...]
iPhone maker Apple named the UK’s top employer October 22, 2018 US tech giant Apple has been named the UK’s best employer by recruitment website, Indeed. The rankings assessed factors including career progression, flexible working opportunities and salary across millions of reviews. Read more: Apple finds a coffee cup that will track your caffeine intake Apple was commended by its employees for its good pay, positive [...]
Waitrose trials ‘in-home’ delivery service while you’re at work October 5, 2018 Waitrose is testing out a new service where it will put away your food shopping for you while you're out, enabling more customers to receive home deliveries during the work week. Using smart lock technology, customers will be able to grant access to Waitorise drivers by setting a temporary passcode which is then deleted once the [...]