Asda owner Walmart to close 269 stores as it ditches Walmart Express, its smallest-format chain, five years after they launched January 15, 2016 Asda owner Walmart has announced plans to close 269 stores – and scrapped its experiment with small-format stores altogether five years after they first launched. It seems US consumers' buying habits are vastly different to their British counterparts'… The supermarket giant – the world's largest company by number of employees, with 2.1m workers – said it was making the changes to "ensure [...]
Criterion Capita’s LDN just got the thumbs-down from Camden council – so no underground pod hotel for London January 15, 2016 London's first-ever underground pod hotel has been turned down by Camden council. The Evening Standard reported that at a planning meeting last night, councillors said the LDN hotel, which would be on the fourth and fifth basement levels underneath a commercial block on Great Russell Street, will have a "minus five stars" rating thanks to [...]
Prudential Regulation Authority bans former Co-operative Bank bosses from the City for life and fines them more than £250,000 January 15, 2016 The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has banned two former Co-operative Bank bosses from holding senior City positions and slapped them with fines of more than £250,000 over failings when they were running the bank. In a statement today, the PRA said it had banned former chief executive Barry Tootell and Keith Alderson, the former managing [...]
Tim Peake spacewalk: Watch live as the International Space Station resident becomes the first British astronaut to walk in space January 15, 2016 Astronaut Major Tim Peake will become the first British astronaut (rather than British person working as a US astronaut) to go on a spacewalk later this afternoon, as he ventures out to make vital repairs to the International Space Station (ISS) The first Briton to go on a spacewalk was Michael Foale in 1995 – but he was representing the [...]
Disappointing construction data sends pound down against the dollar January 15, 2016 The UK's builders did not have the opportunity to take advantage of the mild lead-up to Christmas, it turns out. Output in the sector showed far bigger drop than expected in November. Not surprisingly, the news sent sterling into a tailspin. Production fell 0.5 per cent in November, compared with the month before – against forecasts of [...]
It’s official, the happiness gene exists: Forget your job and relationships, your genetic makeup is what determines your mood January 15, 2016 We all know some people are just cheerier souls than others. BUt now researchers have found out why: your happiness is determined by your genes, it turns out. Researchers from Varna University of Management in Bulgaria and Hong Kong Polytechnic University found the presence of a certain variant of on gene – known as FAAH – tends to determine how [...]
UK house prices: Bovis Homes share price rises as it posts record profit January 15, 2016 Housebuilder Bovis Homes has ended the week on a high, with the announcement it made a record profit in 2015. Not surprisingly, the news sent shares up. The figures In a statement posted this morning, Bovis said it delivered 3,934 homes in 2015, eight per cent higher than in 2014. Average selling price increased seven per cent to £231,000. Private reservations increased by 10 per [...]
Bank of England monetary policy committee votes 8-1 to hold interest rates as it cuts economic growth, inflation forecasts January 14, 2016 The Bank of England's rate-setting committee held interest rates at historic lows, while it cut forecasts for economic growth and inflation. The monetary policy committee (MPC) voted 8-1 in favour of keeping the benchmark interest rate at 0.5 per cent, with lone hawk Ian McCafferty staying in favour of a rate rise despite a darkening global [...]
London has more international universities than any European country – with Imperial College and UCL at the top January 14, 2016 London has more cosmopolitan universities than any country in Europe – or, indeed, the US, Canada and China. In fact, if London were a country, it would only be beaten by Australia, Switzerland and the UK itself for the number of institutions with a mix of international students. Meanwhile, the UK has by far the [...]
Asos on fleek? Share price dips despite strong sales growth January 14, 2016 Online fashion retailer Asos unveiled results ahead of expectations this morning, with retail sales of £446.9m in the four months to the end of December, up 22 per cent from last year. But that wasn't enough to impress investors. The figures In a statement this morning, the retailer said group revenue had risen 23 per cent to [...]
