CITY VIEWS: what can virgin do to shake up high street banking? January 11, 2010 ALEX WATKINS | PATERNOSTER “I’ve bought plane tickets from them but I’m not sure I would open a bank account with them. What do they know about banking? They haven’t got any experience of doing that and I like a bank to have an established reputation in the business.” CHRIS CLARK | HUDSON RECRUITMENT GROUP [...]
Co-op’s Christmas price war fuels sales January 11, 2010 THE Co-operative Group’s like-for-like sales rose almost five per cent after slashing prices in a battle with its rivals over Christmas. The UK’s fifth biggest food retailer – which now has 3,000 stores after buying Somerfield last year – was boosted by a massive advertising campaign and overhaul of brands. Like-for-like sales – including VAT [...]
Blacks sales heat up after a boost from the big freeze January 11, 2010 OUTDOOR retailer Blacks Leisure has benefited from Britain’s cold snap as it reported a 12 per cent hike in sales. Blacks, which runs its own brand shops as well as the Millets chain, said it had “significantly enhanced its recovery prospects” after a restructuring with the closure of 87 loss-making stores in the fourth quarter [...]
Jacques Vert in fashion as profits double since last year January 11, 2010 FASHION retailer Jacques Vert has reported pre-tax profits which have more than doubled since last year. The company, which owns the Windsmoor, Precis, Planet and Jacques Vert labels, saw profits rise to £2.9m, compared with £1.1m last year. Meanwhile, sales were 1.6 per cent higher on last year at £55.8m. Shares surged by a third [...]
Shoppers steer clear of the stores as the wintery weather continues January 11, 2010 HEAVY snow and ice is keeping shoppers from the stores, with retail traffic dropping around 21 per cent year-on-year since the latest snowfalls began on 6 January. Overall shopper numbers in non-food stores in the UK on Sunday, 10 January were down 14 per cent from the equivalent Sunday last year, said research company Synovate. [...]
High demand keeps house prices rising January 11, 2010 BRITONS’ unflagging demand for property is continuing to boost house prices, albeit at a slower pace than before, the latest monthly survey from the Royal Institute for Chartered Surveyors (RICS) will say today. The balance of estate agents reporting rising rather than falling prices fell back to 30 per cent in the three months to [...]
Weak economic end to 2009 January 11, 2010 BRITAIN’S chances of posting a strong economic recovery in the fourth quarter of 2009 will suffer a sharp setback today thanks to the latest quarterly economic survey published by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). Although the business lobby’s fourth quarter survey reported improvements in most key national indicators, it said progress had been weaker [...]
OECD: unemployment January 11, 2010 THE Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) provided fresh signs yesterday that the unemployment situation in the world’s major economies is starting to improve. The organisation, which represents 31 of the world’s most advanced economies, said that the jobless rate remained at 8.8 per cent, stable on the previous month but still 2.1 percentage [...]
Fed hints at low interest rates as the world faces a sluggish recovery January 11, 2010 THE US Federal Reserve said its huge liquidity injections were not an inflationary concern yesterday and hinted interest rates would not rise quickly. James Bullard, a senior official, said the Fed would orchestrate monetary policy by adjusting its extensive security purchases rather than raising rates. Playing down December unemployment data which showed joblessness staying steady [...]
Cadbury set for last stand against Kraft January 11, 2010 CADBURY will today mount a last-ditch defence against the hostile bid from American conglomerate Kraft as it reveals strong numbers for 2009. Chief executive Todd Stitzer is expected to tell shareholders that a combination of cost-cutting and robust sales have propelled the company in line with the ambitious expectations outlined in December. In a conference [...]
