“Dear colleagues”: Dave Lewis’ letter to Tesco staff on his first day as chief executive September 1, 2014 On his first day at Tesco, new chief executive Dave Lewis has written a letter to staff outlining his initial plans for the supermarket. Lewis introduced himself to Tesco’s more than half-a-million staff, telling them he would be doing “a lot of listening,” to staff, customers, shareholders and investment analysts, and the most important thing [...]
“Boris Island” or Heathrow expansion: Did the CBI just back Heathrow? September 1, 2014 The CBI looks like it has put its weight behind an extension to Heathrow airport in a blow to the London mayor's Thames Estuary airport plans, otherwise known as “Boris Island". It comes just days ahead of a decision due from the Airports Commission as to whether the concept of a new airport on the [...]
Three charts showing the challenges facing new Tesco boss Dave Lewis September 1, 2014 New Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis starts his job today, a month earlier than originally anticipated. The supermarket is clearly desperate: on Friday it issued a profit warning saying it expected full-year profits to hit £2.4bn, rather than the £2.8bn expected. The company has been battling against the increasing might of discounters Aldi and Lidl, [...]
Dreary Eurozone outlook raises pressure on Draghi August 31, 2014 The policymakers of the European Central Bank (ECB) will meet again this week, faced with an increasingly dismal economic outlook and a growing chorus of disapproval. Grim figures released on Friday confirmed that consumer price inflation in the euro area dropped to just 0.3 per cent in August, the lowest level in nearly five years. [...]
EU warns Russia to withdraw from Ukraine as Putin steps up rhetoric August 31, 2014 EUROPEAN leaders, backed by America, have warned Russia’s President Putin that he has a week to withdraw from Ukraine and calm the crisis between the two countries, or face tough new economic sanctions. The warning comes as Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said his country is at breaking point. “We are very close to the point [...]
Dave Lewis begins first day as Tesco boss August 31, 2014 Former Unilever executive Dave Lewis has taken up his role today as chief executive of Tesco – a month earlier than planned – after the troubled food retailer issued its second profit warning in six weeks on Friday. Tesco slashed its interim dividend by 75 per cent and said it would cut its capital expenditure [...]
Nato can save us from Putin – but only if Europe gets serious about its military August 31, 2014 For my sins, early in my Washington career I was sent to literally scores of high-level North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) meetings, frustratingly all on the same beside-the-point topic. Stripped of its finery, basically every conclave revolved around finding another mission for the most successful politico-military alliance in the history of the world, now that [...]
Putin wants to negotiate “statehood” of southeast Ukraine August 31, 2014 As Europe gets ready to place more sanctions on Russia, Vladimir Putin has called for the “statehood” of southeast Ukraine to be negotiated. In a TV interview, the Russian President said: “We must immediately begin substantive, meaningful negotiations, not on technical questions but on questions of the political structure of society and of the [...]
Putin compares Kiev to the Nazis, Ukraine seeks Nato membership August 30, 2014 Ukraine has pleaded for full membership in Nato, signalling a desire for increased Western military protection from Russian aggression. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk told government yesterday that his cabinet would "bring before parliament a law to scrap the non-aligned status of the Ukrainian state and establish a course towards membership of Nato." Nato membership would [...]
Barack Obama: Russia to blame for violence in Ukraine August 29, 2014 Barack Obama has blamed Russia for the violence taking place in eastern Ukraine. As tensions escalate between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian rebels, the US President said that “deep Russian involvement” was the cause of fighting. "There is no doubt that this is not a home-grown, indigenous uprising in eastern Ukraine," he said [...]