M&S sales fall flat as it fails to carve a fashion identity July 10, 2012 THE RETAILER famous for £10 meals and the Per Una brand has stumbled. In this age of austerity, it may come as little surprise that a firm like M&S is falling short. But in reporting its weakest quarterly figures for seven years, its challenges run far deeper. Although M&S’s food sales grew by 2.9 per [...]
Should the government consider removing state benefits from wealthier pensioners? July 10, 2012 YES Alex Burghart The pinch on public spending is, very likely, going to have to get tighter. When it does, the government will need to ask itself some searching questions. Questions like, does Lord Sugar really need £200 for his heating bills this winter? Could Sir Bruce Forsyth afford his own TV licence? Would Lord [...]
RAPID RESPONSES July 10, 2012 Top level failure [Re: Osborne and Tucker have both been damaged by Libor row, yesterday] I’m staggered that both Paul Tucker and Bob Diamond didn’t take notes of their telephone conversations, or indeed have them recorded. Under Financial Services Authority regulations, many of us have to. We’d get fined or disbarred if we didn’t. Quentin [...]
A retailer with a view: Long term partners in London’s 2012 Games July 10, 2012 COUNTDOWN TO THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES 16 DAYS TO GO Q What are your reasons for being involved with the Games? A The history of our involvement goes back years. We signed up to opening our new shop in Stratford before we even knew that London was successful. That decision was generated by our [...]
The new A-Class really is all class July 10, 2012 It’s fair to say the A-Class didn’t exactly set the world alight when Mercedes-Benz first launched it back in 1997. It has always seemed like the odd one out in the Mercedes-Benz line up and the poor relation to its larger siblings. Matters weren’t helped by a stuffy image and poor performance compared to its [...]
FTSE steadies after Alcoa results July 10, 2012 The FTSE 100 was flat today with aluminium giant Alcoa reporting positive results to start the US earnings season which helped steady investors’ nerves. Alcoa saw its quarterly revenue and profit beat Wall Street’s expectations even though prices for its aluminium are at nearly two-year lows. Meanwhile Eurozone finance ministers have agreed to lend Spain [...]
Diamond gives up £20m bonus July 10, 2012 Former Barclays chief Bob Diamond has given up bonuses worth up to £20m as the rate rigging scandal engulfing the bank deepens. Diamond will get up to a year’s salary, pension allowance and benefits worth around £2m. According to the bank’s chairman Marcus Agius he gave up the payment voluntarily. Agius made the announcement on [...]
Manufacturing output rises in May July 10, 2012 Manufacturing output rose unexpectedly in May as an extra working day due to a postponed public holiday allowed for more work, official data showed. However, a downward revision to previous industrial output and manufacturing numbers increased the risk that the overall economy shrank again between April to June, leaving Britain in recession with a third [...]
EU sets Spanish bank aid July 10, 2012 Eurozone ministers have agreed to grant Spain an extra year until 2014 to reach its deficit reduction targets in exchange for further budget savings and set the parameters of an aid package for Madrid’s ailing banks. The decisions were aimed at preventing the currency area’s fourth largest economy, mired in a worsening recession, from needing [...]
VW sales up 13pc in June July 10, 2012 Volkswagen said sales of its flagship VW brand rose 13.7 per cent in June to 498,600 vehicles, extending the increase in year-to-date deliveries to 10.2 per cent. “The VW brand developed positively in the first half of the year despite the difficult situation in western Europe,” VW sales chief Christian Klingler said. “The considerable uncertainties [...]
