London house prices: More than £12bn worth of properties are lying empty in the capital – and guess which borough is the worst May 25, 2016 We're used to hearing about how overpriced London houses have become – so research claiming that the capital is home to more than £12bn-worth of empty properties should be a wake up call. Across England, more than 200,000 properties are vacant – equivalent to £38bn. But while Bradford has the biggest vacancy rate of anywhere in [...]
Mrs M&S: Steve Rowe’s first blunder? May 25, 2016 Marks & Spencer's new chief executive Steve Rowe has been on the front foot today, setting out his new strategy of ditching promotions and fashion-focused clothing in favour of cheaper prices and wardrobe staples. It's well needed, given that the retailer announced profits down by almost a fifth today, driven by sluggish clothing sales. Under Rowe's [...]
How do you solve a problem like M&S: What Steve Rowe is pledging to do to fix Marks & Spencer May 25, 2016 Another day, another set of terrible results for Marks & Spencer, which this morning revealed pre-tax profits had slumped by almost a fifth over the last year. As with every other update in the last four or five years, the retailer experienced strong sales in food and a disappointing in clothing. But unlike other results, today's figures [...]
Marks & Spencer profits drop by a fifth as Steve Rowe sets out plans to revive clothing business May 25, 2016 Marks & Spencer's share price fell more than 8.3 per cent this morning, despite pre-tax profits falling by nearly a fifth in the last year, as new management unveiled plans to tackle the struggling clothing division. The figures Group revenue at M&S was up 2.4 per cent to £10.6bn for the 53 weeks to 2 April, while underlying pre-tax [...]
EgyptAir MS804 crash caused by “explosion”, official claims May 24, 2016 Evidence suggests last week's EgyptAir crash – in which 66 people died – was caused by an explosion, a forensic official has claimed. Flight MS804 went missing during its journey from Paris to Cairo, shortly after entering Egyptian airspace. Debris and body parts have since been found, which an unnamed official has said points to an explosion. The [...]
London mayor Sadiq Khan names his deputies for housing, transport and police – but Lord Adonis misses the top job May 24, 2016 The new mayor of London Sadiq Khan has revealed his deputy mayors, who will be charged with overseeing the capital's policing, transport and housing. Val Shawcross CBE, who has been a London Assembly member for 16 years, will be made deputy mayor for transport and deputy chair of Transport for London. For the last eight years she [...]
Now Donald Trump has been rejected…. by North Korea May 24, 2016 Donald Trump is getting used to having politicians around the world reject him. Not only has he ruffled feathers at City Hall for his comments about Muslims (in the form of both Boris Johnson and his successor Sadiq Khan) now it seems he can't even catch a break in North Korea. The Republican Presidential hopeful had proposed that [...]
Nationwide posts strong profit growth as mortgage lending reaches pre-recession levels May 24, 2016 Nationwide lent more money to house-buyers last year than it has done since the financial crash starting in 2007, helping the society to post strong profit growth. The figures Gross mortgage lending at the building society was up 20 per cent to £32.6bn, as the firm helped 57,200 first time buyers into a home of their own. [...]
AA confirms it’s in talks to sell Irish business May 24, 2016 The AA has confirmed it is in talks about selling its Irish business, following reports claiming private equity firm Carlyle Cardinal Ireland was honing in on the firm. The roadside assistance group said this morning it was "exploring options in regards to its Irish business and a further announcement will be made if and when appropriate". [...]
What will Stelios say? EasyHotel first half profits fall on costs – but revenues climb above-expectations May 24, 2016 EasyHotel is enjoying the easy life: revenues were above expectations for the first half of the year – although profits more than halved on costs. The figures Total sales were up 10.4 per cent to £9.66m for the six months ended 31 March, while total revenues climbed 11.6 per cent to £2.59m, slightly ahead of the board's [...]
