M&S sales rise but Waitrose wins day January 6, 2010 MARKS & Spencer yesterday reported a rise in sales for the three months to Christmas but warned of a tough year ahead. The retailer saw like-for-like sales rise by 0.8 per cent with record takings on food on 23 December. Food sales overall were 0.4 per cent up on the previous year with general merchandise [...]
Ferguson takes charge of Posh January 6, 2010 FOOTBALL: Former Peterborough manager Darren Ferguson is aiming to join his father in the Premier League with Preston North End. The 37-year-old, son of Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, was unveiled as Preston’s new boss yesterday after signing a three-year deal at Deepdale. “It’s a fantastic football club and I can’t wait to get [...]
Cold weather helps to boost Domino’s January 6, 2010 DOMINO’S PIZZA said yesterday people staying in because of the cold weather helped its sales beat City forecasts. The fast food delivery chain, which has 608 stores in the UK and Ireland, said in a fourth quarter trading update like-for-like sales rose 8.6 per cent in the 13 weeks to 27 December, despite the downturn [...]
Henin into Brisbane last eight January 6, 2010 TENNIS: Former world No1 Justine Henin continued her winning comeback from retirement with a straight-sets victory over Sesil Karatantcheva at the Brisbane International. The Belgian, playing in her first official tournament in almost two years, came through 6-4, 6-3 to set up a quarter-final clash with Hungary’s Melinda Czink. In the men’s draw, top seed [...]
Wine lovers cheer Majestic January 6, 2010 MAJESTIC Wine said its decision to half its minimum purchase to six bottles helped boost its pre-Christmas sales. The wine chain, which has 150 stores in the UK, said like-for-like sales were up 11.7 per cent in the nine weeks from 3 November. Majestic began selling six-bottle batches to customers in September as part of [...]
Haye: I’ve got a weak chin January 6, 2010 BOXING: World heavyweight champion David Haye admits he will always have a suspect chin – but insists it will not stop him in his tracks. The Londoner brilliantly dispatched Russian giant Nikolay Valuev to take the WBA title in November, but critics question whether he can achieve his aim of unifying the belts against the [...]
Shoplifting surges during downturn January 6, 2010 RETAIL crime rose 10 per cent to £1.1bn last year, according to a report published by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) today. The biggest share of this figure is shoplifting, which accounts for 94 per cent of all retail crime incidents and £462m in lost sales, said the BRC’s Retail Crime Survey 2009. The BRC [...]
DO THE M&S FIGURES SPELL RECOVERY? January 6, 2010 RICHARD HUNTER | HARGREAVES LANSDOWN “The news from the High Street remains positive with today’s contribution from M&S underlining the ongoing resilience of the consumer. However, the abolition of VAT relief along with almost inevitable pressure on consumer budgets later in the year will continue to weigh.” JONATHAN JACKSON | KILLIK & CO “M&S has [...]
England face battle to save third Test in South Africa January 6, 2010 KEVIN PIETERSEN suffered yet another Test agony to leave England facing a gruelling uphill battle to save the third Test with South Africa at Newlands. The out-of-form batsman lasted just 22 balls before playing across his stumps to fall lbw to paceman Dale Steyn – adding to his second-ball duck in the first innings. It [...]
CARE HOME MOGUL GETS BOOST FROM REALITY TV January 6, 2010 A REALITY television appearance is usually more of a kiss of death than a gateway of opportunity, but the case of Balhousie Care Group chairman Tony Banks has proved an exception to the rule. Banks became a household name last year when he travelled to Liverpool on Channel 4’s Secret Millionaire programme and subsequently had [...]
