John Lewis sales reach £100m a week for the first time this year November 18, 2013 AFTER a warm start to the winter, Christmas shopping began in earnest last week with John Lewis reporting sales in excess of £100m for the first time this year. Sales in the week to 16 November jumped 10.7 per cent from a year ago to £101.4m – the earliest week that sales have ever topped [...]
Consumers ask to help reshape the high street November 18, 2013 BRITAIN’S embattled high street is in the midst of a revolution and consumers want an active role in shaping its future, according to new research from Deloitte. The business advisory firm’s latest consumer study out today, says that despite the highly publicised concerns regarding its future, residents continue to value the high street and want [...]
Two more firms to list as London market booms November 18, 2013 TWO START-UPS floating on London’s Alternative Investment Market (Aim) next month will further boost the London market’s reputation as a popular place for new firms to list. So far 61 companies have floated on the UK’s exchanges in 2013, compared to just 53 throughout 2012. Education group Caredus and on-demand online video firm SyQic will [...]
Sky chief to address Champions League defeat at City conference November 18, 2013 SKY CHIEF executive Jeremy Darroch will address the company’s take on the recent upheaval of TV sport on Wednesday, City A.M. understands, after BT recently won exclusive rights for Champions League football from 2015. Up until now Sky has played down the importance of Champions League content to Sky Sport, as accounting for only three [...]
Christmas cheer arriving at the Guildhall fayre November 18, 2013 STUCK for Christmas present ideas? The British Red Cross Christmas Market, which takes place at the City’s iconic Guildhall tonight and tomorrow, might be the perfect place to get started. Tonight is a preview evening from 5.30pm with an exclusive champagne reception, but tickets are already in short supply. Tomorrow, the doors open from 10.30am [...]
SecretInk follows Snapchat in self-destruct message market November 18, 2013 WARNING – not just pictures are self-destructing in super quick time. Following the success of Snapchat – which deletes images after 10 seconds at most – comes SecretInk, which delivers similarly short-term texts and emails. The firm PowerInbox is launching the system today to send encrypted messages strictly for your eyes only. PowerInbox chief Jeff [...]
Saga considers retail offering for Easter float November 18, 2013 INSURER Saga is weighing plans to offer a Royal Mail-style share offering for retail investors in an initial public offering set to take place next Easter. Saga’s private equity owners Acromas, controlled by Charterhouse, CVC, Permira, moved a step closer to its long awaited market debut after inviting a handful of investment banks to pitch [...]
Banks urged to cut premium rate phone bills for customers November 18, 2013 CONSUMERS are being ripped off by high rate phone charges used by their banks and credit card providers, said consumer group Which?, in a new drive to cut or end the premium rate bills. It comes at Barclays and RBS announced they will offer free or basic-rate phone lines to customers. “With two of the [...]
Family finances show signs of stabilising: Asda November 17, 2013 FAMILY finances are beginning to show signs of stabilisation after months of wild fluctuations, according to Asda’s latest Income Tracker. The grocery chain’s Income Tracker monitors the changes in the amount of disposable income the average UK family has to spend. Households are no better off than they were last year, but their finances are [...]
Retail still struggling to drive footfall despite British growth November 17, 2013 HIGH streets are still recording declining footfall, with little boost from the robust economic growth recorded for the second and third quarters of the year. Footfall in October was down 2.9 per cent across the sector, compared to the same month in 2012, according to data released today by Springboard and the British Retail Consortium [...]
