Is the John Lewis Christmas advert never knowingly over commercial? November 11, 2015 Christmas comes but once a year – as does John Lewis’ much-heralded festive TV ad campaign. And, regular as clockwork, its Man on the Moon ad was released on Friday as part of the retailer’s £7m campaign. As usual, it’s a heart-warming story played out over a now customary cover of a classic song, Oasis’ [...]
Fast food chains Domino’s and McDonald’s could have lessons for other retailers November 11, 2015 How do you get stuff to people? This seemingly straightforward question poses a dilemma that continues to bamboozle retail executives throughout the world. While many of us are fascinated by products of the future – driverless cars, 3D printers, the internet of things – an equally significant challenge lies in how to bring today’s goods [...]
Telco giants Vodafone, Sky, TalkTalk, Virgin and BT reignite broadband battle November 11, 2015 The war of words between the UK’s biggest telecoms giants reached new heights yesterday, as the clock ticks down on Ofcom’s probe into the broadband market and decision on whether to carve out Openreach from BT. With Ofcom due to reveal its verdict in January, Vodafone’s boss accused BT of trying to “re-monopolise” the sector, prompting [...]
Not lovin’ it: Standard & Poor’s downgrades McDonald’s over debt plans November 10, 2015 Fast food giant McDonald's has been downgraded by ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P), after announcing plans to increase debt in order to return $10bn (£6.6bn) of cash to investors by the end of 2016. S&P has lowered the firm's credit rating to BBB+ from A, “since the company's various credit metrics will now be [...]
Controversial Trade Union Bill passes third reading in the House of Commons November 10, 2015 The government’s controversial Trade Union Bill was met with strong opposition, but ultimately passed the House of Commons in the third reading. Parliament voted 305 in favour, with 271 against, giving a majority of 34. Under the existing rules, if 100 members are balloted and only five vote and three vote yes and two vote [...]
Accidental email storms are City workers’ big bugbear November 10, 2015 One pet peeve has been causing more grief than the rest of late – the reply-all email. Also known as an “email storm”, the moment when Jack from accounts accidentally sends “sorry I can’t make the charity do, it’s my girlfriend’s birthday” to a 200-strong workforce is one of the worst moments in a fledgling [...]
A little bit of protest will do the EU referendum debate good November 10, 2015 Protest can take many forms. It can be a determined, individual act of resistance or a million-person march through the streets. Anger can mix with optimism, frustration can combine with a sense of purpose. This year, London has witnessed its fair share of marches, occupations, peaceful rallies and violent encounters. What we hadn’t witnessed, until [...]
Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2015: UK shoppers holding out to snap up bargains in November pushed October sales down November 10, 2015 UK retail sales were disappointing last month, according to a survey by the British Retail Consortium released today, suggesting that some shoppers may be holding out for some deals around Black Friday at the end of November. Retail sales decreased 0.2 per cent on a like-for-like basis from October 2014, when they were unchanged from the preceding [...]
Moody’s warns of global shockwaves as fallout from China slowdown threatens growth prospects November 10, 2015 Global economic stability is at risk from financial shocks in the face of a bigger-than-expected fallout from China’s slowing growth, a new report from Moody’s has warned. The credit ratings agency also said that policymakers may find it difficult to act against potential shockwaves as they “lack the ample fiscal and monetary policy buffers” needed to [...]
Hunger Games production firm Lionsgate posts $42m loss for the third quarter November 9, 2015 Lionsgate, the company that produced the Hunger Games, American Pscycho and the gruesome Saw series, recorded a loss of $42.1m (£27.9m) in the three months to September. The company posted a profit of $20.8m during the same period a year ago. However, the firm expects a twist in the tale with Orange is the New Black and the [...]
