Virgin will reach space in ‘weeks, not months’ says founder Branson, but tickets could set you back £250,000 October 9, 2018 Virgin Galactic will reach space “in weeks, not months”, founder Richard Branson has said. The company's shuttles will be capable of leaving the earth’s orbit soon and the billionaire will be on one of them in just a few months, with commercial passenger flights launching soon after. “We’re more than tantalisingly close now,” Branson told CNBC. [...]
Royal Mail downgrade forces shares below the government’s 2013 IPO price October 9, 2018 Shares in Royal Mail have dropped below their controversial IPO valuation for the first time after the company was downgraded by two banks this morning. The FTSE 100 company, which floated at 330p a share in 2013, briefly dropped as low as 322p in morning trading. A profit warning issued last Monday sent the company’s [...]
Retailers hit as spending drops to its lowest level in a year, and Christmas may not be the saviour October 9, 2018 UK retail sales grew by their lowest rate for almost a year in September, new figures show. An analysis from KPMG and the British Retail Consortium found like-for-like retail sales were down 0.2 per cent, while total sales increased 0.7 per cent. This is far below the 1.3 per cent average over the past 12 [...]
Matalan posts slow growth, facing challenges from weak pound and volatile markets October 8, 2018 Matalan grew revenues by one per cent in its second quarter, while full price sales increased 3.3 per cent as the discount retailer faced challenges from a weak pound, and a “volatile and challenging market.” Its latest results show Matalan boosted revenue to £262.4m, up £2.5m year on year. Online growth was healthier, increasing 25 [...]
Mercedes sales drop in Europe as new emissions testing regime creates backlog October 8, 2018 European sales of Mercedes-Benz plummeted in September as the firm battled a vehicle testing backlog. Globally the company sold eight per cent less last month, with Europe especially badly hit, dropping by almost a tenth. Producers have been hit by a backlog caused by new European testing standards introduced on 1 September. Mercedes was particularly [...]
Tesco scraps best before dates on fruit and veg lines as supermarket aims to cut food waste October 8, 2018 Tesco will remove the best before dates on apples, oranges and dozens of other fruit and vegetables in its latest attempt to help reduce food waste, the company announced today. The store is set to scrap dates on 116 fresh produce products, a move it claimed 69 per cent of customers would support. It wants to [...]
Aston Martin shares slide again, as luxury brand’s stock continues to drop October 8, 2018 Shares in newly listed Aston Martin have fallen again on its first full day of trading, following a challenging week when the company fell short of its targeted valuation. At one point this morning the company’s stock was trading down 96p at 1,604p per share. Shares later recovered a little, down 5.4 per cent to [...]
House of Fraser partner threatens legal action over store’s debt against administrators EY October 8, 2018 A House of Fraser concession partner is considering legal action against the company’s administrator EY, claiming its classification of his business will cost him hundreds of thousands of pounds. Ehab Shouly, who runs three tea rooms in House of Fraser stores, says he is owed over £300,000 from the company – the equivalent of two [...]
The death of nimbyism? Brits now support building in their back yard October 8, 2018 Brits support home-building in their areas and think that local house prices are too high, a new survey has found. Half of voters polled said they would support more houses near their home, while only a third were against. The poll, commissioned by the Centre for Policy Studies, also showed most Brits think house prices [...]
Knight Frank increases profits, despite volatile markets and politics October 8, 2018 Estate agent Knight Frank increased its profit before tax by 14 per cent last year, seeing off challenges from volatile markets and politics. The company increased turnover by £50m to £526m in the year ending March – a ten per cent rise. The increase is payoff for its investment in staff over the last five [...]
