Rail operator Southern blamed by six-year-old whose dad is “always late” because of delays January 19, 2015 Delays on our commute are frustrating, but after a bit of a rant at whoever you first see when you eventually get to your destination, they tend to be something most of us put up with. But not six-year-old Ella Porter, who has written a letter to the bosses of Southern, complaining that her [...]
Tesco boss Dave Lewis given dressing down over “toxic culture” as he pulls controversial plans for Ealing Green store January 16, 2015 Tesco has pulled its plans for a controversial new store on Ealing Green – despite it not being on the list of those dropped under Dave Lewis' new strategy. But that still hasn't stopped the new chief executive coming in for a dressing down by an angry campaigner over Tesco's “toxic culture”, claiming [...]
Tesco tells a third of senior directors they face redundancy or demotion as Dave Lewis’ restructure begins to bite January 16, 2015 Tesco has started warning senior directors that they face redundancy or demotion, as part of a restructure designed to get the supermarket back on track. Around a third of these key decision-makers have been told by Tesco top brass that they face redundancy or “changed responsibilities at a lower work level”, according to [...]
Update: Paris hostages freed after gunman hands himself in January 16, 2015 Update: A gunman who took two people hostage in a post office in the Paris suburb of Colombes today has handed himself in to police, with the siege ending without injury. According to French newspaper Liberation the "unbalanced" man, who is believed to have been armed with a Kalashnikov and handgun, had no connection to [...]
John Lewis Partnership hit by multi-million pound burden of new holiday pay ruling January 16, 2015 Lawyers warned us that changes to holiday pay would be an expensive ruling, and lo, it came to pass. The John Lewis Partnership, which includes the eponymous department store and Waitrose, will have to stump up an additional £12m each year to cover costs relating to pension, bonuses and National Insurance. “The majority [...]
Brokers left bruised – and bust – after Swiss franc shock sends ripples through forex markets January 16, 2015 Yesterday's decision to lift a cap on the Swiss franc against the euro has claimed its first casualties in the form of forex brokers. Foreign exchange broker and West Ham sponsor Alpari has today entered insolvency after the “exceptional volatility and extreme lack of liquidity” prompted by the move. The unexpected decision by [...]
“Wintry mix” of snow, sleet and rain to hit London this weekend January 16, 2015 You might want to wrap up warm this weekend. The Met Office is warning that Londoners could see “a wintry mix of rain, sleet and snow”. From Saturday morning, the unholy trinity will spread across Greater London, Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes and Oxfordshire. Between two and four centimetres of snow is expected in areas [...]
Mike Ashley’s USC bought out of administration by… Mike Ashley’s Republic January 16, 2015 Mike Ashley's fast fashion retailer USC has been bought out of administration by… Mike Ashley's fast fashion retailer Republic. A notice of intention to put USC, which was bought out by Sports Direct in 2011, into administration was filed last week, with the threat that the company's 90 stores would shut, putting hundreds of [...]
Why Marks & Spencer’s investors haven’t all revolted on Marc Bolland (yet) in two charts January 15, 2015 Marks & Spencer's chief executive Marc Bolland has come in for a pounding yet again, after the retailer revealed another set of dismal results last week. Like-for-likes in general merchandise, which includes clothing, fell 5.8 per cent for the 13 weeks to December 27, the 14th consecutive quarter M&S has recorded declines in this division. [...]
Young adult Facebook users to decline over next three years January 14, 2015 Market research group eMarketer is predicting that there will be “almost” no new UK users aged 12 to 24 joining the social behemoth in the next three years. In addition, the number of users aged 18 to 24 will fall annually between 2016 and 2018, the group claims. Between 2015 and 2018 the [...]
