France’s undeclared war continues: Germany must do what it can to prevent a European ministry of finance becoming a reality October 9, 2015 While Germany seems set to continue her unhappy role as the ever politically innocent Federal Republic, setting the pace in all international institutions, France remains – despite economic weakness – the country of great projects and political designs. When the ECB’s Benoit Cœuré in a speech addressed to the French ambassadors, postulates the creation of the European ministry of [...]
Amazon Fresh has got plenty to chew over for its UK launch: It could be competing not only with other grocers, but takeaways too October 9, 2015 Surely nobody can be surprised that Amazon has arrived on the UK online grocery scene for a slice of the action: it’s a rapidly growing market. Online grocery sales are increasing at a healthy rate of 14 per cent each year – compared to a near zero per cent growth rate elsewhere in grocery – and [...]
From London property and Tesco to Sports Direct and haunted houses: Here’s what got us talking this week October 9, 2015 It was a week in which plastic bags suddenly became the big new commodity, Google became free to be evil and somewhere lurking in your neighbourhood, proof of "ghost-free" houses became a thing. Here's what got us talking 1) We nailed the property conundrum We don't like to brag but we may have finally found the [...]
Sports Direct chief executive Dave Forsey charged over USC administration on same day staff win legal battle over redundancy pay October 9, 2015 A government agency has charged Sports Direct chief executive Dave Forsey over criminal offences regarding the company's handling of the administration of chain USC. The UK Insolvency Service has started criminal proceedings against the retail boss for “an offence contrary to section 194 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992,” it told City A.M. This [...]
Gender gap: Business is based on the concept of the housewife – it should be redesigned around the househusband October 9, 2015 I get frustrated when I hear the received wisdom that there aren’t enough women in the upper echelons of companies, because ‘sooner or later women want to have kids’. Women don’t drop out of the workforce because they have children and families. They leave or get managed out of the workforce because the entire design [...]
Moody’s to Tesco: Sales and profit performance must improve if you want to retain your credit rating October 9, 2015 Moody's has said Tesco will need to "improve substantially" in the second half of this year if it is to meet its target operating profit of £940m. The embattled retailer this week released its first half results, recording a 55 per cent drop in group operating profit. Tesco also notched up a 1.1 per cent drop in UK [...]
John Lewis and BlackRock to convert Beechwood shopping centre into £30m Cheltenham store October 9, 2015 Cheltenham's Beechwood shopping centre is being converted into a new £30m John Lewis department store, the retailer confirmed today. John Lewis, BlackRock and Cheltenham Borough Council are combining forces (and resources) to transform the centre – which is currently home to rival department store Debenhams and high street staple Next – over the next two [...]
UK house prices: Estate agent group House Network offers “ghost-free certification service” October 9, 2015 If there's something strange in your (future) neighbourhood, who are you going to call? A new service promising to “prove” to buyers that their property isn't haunted might be a start. Sceptics among us might scoff, but the potential that a house might be haunted can force prices down – one recent survey by estate [...]
USC workers win case against Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct October 9, 2015 Workers at fashion chain USC that was put into administration by parent company Sports Direct earlier this year have won a legal battle against the firm, giving them redundancy pay that could run into thousands of pounds each. Staff had complained that they were given just 15 minutes notice before they lost their jobs. In [...]
Top apprentices can earn £50,000 more than university graduates, Sutton Trust study claims October 9, 2015 Apprentices with the highest qualifications can earn £50,000 more than a university graduate over the course of their lifetime, new research claims. Those apprentices who train up to a level five qualification stand to take home almost £1.5m in the course of their career on average, beating the typical person with an undergraduate degree from a non-Russell [...]
