Property transactions fall in May as end of stamp duty holiday cools market June 22, 2021 UK residential property transactions fell in May, with buying and selling in the coming months likely to reduce further as the stamp duty holiday ends. There were 114,940 residential property transactions in May, according to ONS figures, some 3.9 per cent lower than in April 2021. House prices have boomed in the last year due [...]
Murdoch’s News UK ‘held talks’ over BT Sport tie-up June 22, 2021 Rupert Murdoch’s News UK is said to have eyed up a partnership with BT’s TV division as the mogul looks to secure the future of his media empire. News UK, which publishes The Sun and The Times titles, held talks with the telecoms giant over a potential tie-up with BT Sport. Bankers from Lazard were [...]
Some 300 million extra square feet of warehouse space needed in Europe to support e-commerce boom June 22, 2021 Nearly 300 million square feet’s worth of warehouse space in Europe will need to be found to cope with the e-commerce boom expected in the coming years. E-commerce sales across Europe are expected to increase by $298bn from 2020 to 2025, requiring thousands more industrial warehouses and distribution spaces to meet the growing demand, according [...]
E-commerce grocery sales plateau boosts Aldi’s market share to peak levels June 22, 2021 The growth of e-commerce sales in the grocery market has plateaued, giving the likes of Aldi an opportunity to grow its market share after not making use of online sales in the past year. The percentage of e-commerce sales in the grocery market remained flat at 13.4 per cent in the four weeks to 13 [...]
MPs to write to competition watchdog over potential takeover of Morrisons June 22, 2021 The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee is reportedly preparing to write to the Competition and Markets Authority over the takeover of Morrisons. The MPs’ decision to intervene followed concern from a group of Labour MPs that a private equity takeover of the UK’s fourth biggest supermarket would put thousands of jobs at risk, the [...]
Amazon destroying hundreds of thousands of unsold items every week June 21, 2021 Amazon is destroying hundreds of thousands of unsold items every week, amounting to millions of items each year, many of which are new and unused. An undercover investigation by ITV found Smart TVs, laptops, drones, hairdryers, top of the range headphones, computer drives, books and thousands of sealed face masks were sorted into boxes marked [...]
Treasury planning ‘pensions raid’ to pay for pandemic costs June 21, 2021 The Treasury is looking at pensions taxation as one way to pay for the cost of the pandemic, although there are no plans to make changes to the triple lock. The Treasury is looking at three ways to change the ways in which pension contributions are taxed, the Telegraph first reported. Government is reportedly looking [...]
Heavy rain waters down consumer enthusiasm as footfall slows June 21, 2021 Footfall fell by 3.1 per cent last week across all UK destinations, as rain put off shoppers from heading outside. The high street was the hardest hit area during the last week, with footfall falling 5.4 per cent, according to the latest data from Springboard. In shopping centres and retail parks, where less time is [...]
Amazon retains crown as world’s most valuable brand June 21, 2021 Amazon has retained its place as the world’s most valuable brand, growing 64 per cent this year to $684bn – equivalent to the GDP of Poland. Amazon’s value grew by $268bn in the last year, according to data from Kantar, as a locked down world turned to the retailer for their online shopping. After Amazon, [...]
Hotel Chocolat agrees to buy struggling beauty business for… £4 June 21, 2021 Hotel Chocolat has agreed to fully acquire Rabot, a beauty business that was born through a joint venture with the chocolatier, for £4. Rabot was established in 2016 as a joint venture between Hotel Chocolat and Andrew Gerrie, the chocolate retailer’s non-executive chairman. The business was created to develop a range of beauty products inspired [...]
