Lloyds share sale: More than 120,000 investors clamour for £2bn retail shares through Hargreaves Lansdown alone as Treasury reduces stake October 9, 2015 Demand for Lloyds Banking Group shares among individual investors is expected to dwarf that of Royal Mail's sell-off. Earlier this week, the government revealed plans for a £2bn retail sell off of shares, offering investors a discount of five per cent of market price. Those who keep their holding for more than a year will receive [...]
London needs help if it is to spawn more tech unicorns October 8, 2015 Russ Shaw’s piece in this section today rightly highlights London as a great place to be as far as retail technology is concerned – some of the most exciting startups in this space are emerging from the capital. Other sectors, such as fintech, are booming too. However, London doesn’t yet have a great track record when [...]
London house prices: Luxury apartments in Gatti House on the Strand have broken street’s square footage record October 8, 2015 A new luxury development on the Strand has broken the record for the cost of square footage in the central London district. Grade II listed Gatti House was sold as four separate apartments, with the penthouse going for around £2,260 per sq ft, while the first floor was sold for £2,100 per sq ft. This is thought to be the [...]
Flybe’s “Project Blackbird” is taking off: Flights from Exeter and Norwich to Europe from March 2016 October 8, 2015 Flybe has signed a deal to enable flights to run from Exeter and Norwich to mainland Europe from next March under what it terms "Project Blackbird". The five-year contract has been struck with Rigby Group-owned Regional & City Airports (RCA) for one E195 aircraft to be based in Exeter to serve eight routes to five as-yet-unnamed destinations [...]
Tesco’s share price falls: Troubled supermarket reveals profits down 55pc, scraps plans to sell Dunhumby October 7, 2015 Tesco's share price fell this morning as the UK's biggest retailer revealed it was struggling to show signs of an improvement a year after its profit black hole was discovered under new chief executive Dave Lewis. The figures The troubled supermarket's UK like-for-likes fell 1.1 per cent for the six months to August 31, while UK's [...]
National Living Wage: Lidl and Morrisons have boosted perception by adopting salary rises ahead of time October 7, 2015 From a reluctant starting point, British retailers are now falling over themselves to make the most of Living Wage goodwill, announcing wage rises ahead of next year's obligatory rise. Initially there was much gnashing of teeth over George Osborne's ruling that firms must pay staff above the £7.20 minimum for over-25s from April. Wetherspoon's founder [...]
Tesco first half results: Analysts question whether “Drastic Dave” Lewis has been drastic enough October 7, 2015 Tesco may have beaten expectations for UK sales in the first half of this year, but analysts are warning that the troubled supermarket still has a long way to go if it is to shrug off the many problems facing the UK's biggest retailer. Tesco's profits fell 55 per cent in the six months to 31 [...]
Don’t mix your drinks: Diageo offloads stakes in Desnoes & Geddes and GAPL while Heineken sells Guinness Ghana Breweries October 7, 2015 Drinks giants Diageo and Heineken are taking their own advice not to mix different beverages. Diageo has sold its 57.9 per cent holding in Jamaican brewer Desnoes & Geddes to Heineken which will increase Heineken's shareholding in D&G to 73.3 per cent. Heineken will make a mandatory offer for the shares shortly. It has also [...]
Sports Direct swoops in on Heatons parent company Warrnambool October 7, 2015 Sports Direct is swooping in on the parent company of Irish retailer Heaton, taking a majority stake in the business and looking to buy the remaining shareholders out. The Mike Ashley-owned business is acquiring minority shareholder Sandra Minor's holding in Warrnambool, on top of its current 50 per cent stake in the business. The business [...]
Kings Cross evacuated because of overcrowding after severe delays on Hammersmith & City, District, Circle and Metropolitan lines October 7, 2015 Kings Cross station was evacuated because of overcrowding during rush hour this morning, with Tube lines not stopping at the station. British Transport Police confirmed the station was closed because of problems on the Hammersmith & City Line today. Although it has since reopened, BTP warned commuters to allow "extra time" for their journey as [...]
